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.
