Maury Wills revived the art of base stealing

By JERRY TAPP

Maury Wills, a 15-year MLB veteran who was credited with bringing the stolen base back to the forefront of offensive strategy in baseball in the 1960s, died last Monday at the age of 89.

Here are 12 stats you need to know about Maury Wills:

1. One of 111 MLB players born in Washington D.C., Wills is arguably the best player in MLB history born there. Of those 111 players, Wills ranks first in games played, hits, stolen bases and ranks second in runs scored.

2. Wills had 586 career steals and 458 career RBI. He is one of 37 players to have 400 RBI and 500 steals in MLB history.

3. He is one of 39 players to steal 500 or more bases in a career. He also hit 20 home runs in his 15-year career. Of the 39 players with 500 or more career stolen bases, Wills’ 20 home runs are the fourth fewest of that group. Juan Pierre (18), Patsy Donovan (16) and Otis Nixon (11) had fewer HRs than Wills.

4. Maury led the league in stolen bases six times and led the league in caught stealing seven times. He was caught stealing 208 times, fifth most all-time. Rickey Henderson tops this career category with 335 caught stealing.

5. Wills had 2,134 career hits and 1,067 career runs scored to go along with his 586 career steals. He is one of 32 players to reach the 2,000 hits, 1,000 runs, 500 steals milestones. The last was Ichiro Suzuki.

6. He hit .302 twice in his career and had one season where he hit .299 (1962).

7. Wills finished in the Top 20 in National League MVP voting seven times; he won the N.L. MVP in 1962.

8. Although best known for his 12 years with the Dodgers, Wills also spent two seasons with the Pirates and one with the Expos.

9. In 1962, Wills broke the MLB record with 104 stolen bases. It was previously held by Ty Cobb with 96 in 1915. Wills’ 104 steals were more than any team had that year.

10. He was a three-time World Series champion. In the 1965 Fall Classic, he had 11 hits and batted .367.

11. Wills was on the Hall of Fame ballot for 15 years. The highest percentage of the votes he received in those 15 years was 40.6%.

12. Wills was drafted 21st by the Expos in the 1968 Expansion Draft. He was the Expos leadoff batter in their first game on April 8, 1969.