Thursday, August 11, 2016
#437-438 Maury Wills
Before Rickey and before Lou there was Maury....5
consecutive year leader for stolen bases
starting in 1960.....Busted the all time season mark of Ty Cobb with 104 in
1962...technically broke the mark by swiping 97 in 156 games avoiding a
Ruth/Maris asterisk situation....Broke in with the Dodgers during the Sophomore year in L.A....prior
to that toiled in minors for 8 seasons..... A Chavez Ravine fixture when it
opened... experienced the Dodger threepeat of WS wins 1959, 1963, and 1965...worked
at his game, actually hitting better in majors than in minors...Took in the L.A. celebrity scene
too singing and playing the banjo ....traded to Pittsburgh who took him away
from his natural shortstop position to third base...not quite sure what the
Bucs were expecting in production, but Maury was offered up for expansion
draft...taken by Expos....less than stellar start resulted in swap with and
return to L.A.....Gave Dodger several
solid years sans the massive stolen base figures...hit .281 with the Dodgers
and .281 for a career....father of Bump Wills....short lived managing with
Seattle 1980-81...holds a record of oddity appearing in 165 games in one season
in his MVP which took place 1962....his in action card is in the right place now.
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If it took him 156 games to pass Cobb, then he wouldn't avoid the Ruth/Maris asterisk, as they only played 154 games prior to the 1960s.
ReplyDeleteHis 1972 year was disastrous.
ReplyDeleteyes time does catch up sometimes very quickly. Dodgers were bringing up a ton of talent at the time so he just couldn't try to work his way out of a 0 for 18 start. By the end of June he was pretty much done and Bill Russell takes over.
ReplyDeleteThe hat looks airbrushed in the 72 card. The hat in his 69 card is obviously airbrushed - as he is wearing a Pirate uniform. His picture in the 70 card is obviously an older picture from his earlier days with the Dodgers.
ReplyDeleteGood point. The photo has a weird a blue screen effect like bad special effects. The 1970 card photo probably was taken at a time he didn't have a TOPPs card.
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