Sunday, May 19, 2024

1960S ALL-DECADE TEAM: N.L. OUTFIELDER WILLIE MAYS

Today we have my pick for the second outfielder on my national League team of the 1960s, and about as easy as it gets as I go with the Sporting News Player of the 1960s, all-time great Willie Mays:


The man flat-out raked during the decade of the '60's!
All the man did was finish in the top-10 in M.V.P. voting seven times, taking home the award in 1965 (with many remarking that HE should have won in 1962 over Maury Wills), top 30-homers six times, 40 homers four times, and 50 in 1965 (being the last to reach that mark until George Foster hit 52 in 1977).
Throw in seven 100+ R.B.I. seasons, six 100+ runs seasons, five .300+ years, nine Gold Gloves and all-star appearances every single year, and you see why it was so easy to choose the "Say Hey Kid" as the player of the decade.
Is it me, or is being voted "Player of the Decade" pretty freakin' big?!
I think such an honor speaks volumes historically, and it's a shame it goes so unnoticed through the years.
Anyway, so far an outfield of Roberto Clemente and Willie Mays both in their prime is ridiculously elite! And with the addition of my third outfielder on the N.L. team, which I'm sure you can all guess, it would easily be the greatest outfield the game would ever see if they had the chance to play together.

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