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I Never Get Tired of Talking About Willie!

For those of us weaned on baseball in the 50s and 60s, we never seem to get enough of Willie Mays. Of course, the reason is simple: To those of us who saw him play, he was an absolutely dynamic player, possibly the greatest all-around player we had ever seen. As a Cub fan back then, I can tell you that the Cubs of that era were no match for the Giants whenever Willie and his Giant teammates rolled into town.

Yesterday while glancing through the This Day in Baseball History website, I stumbled onto this little gem. Back on January 15, 1964—59 years ago today—Willie Mays, already the highest player in baseball, signed the contract offered to him by the Giants for the unheard-of sum of $105,000.

As I read this, I knew right away this would give me another excuse to write about the great “Say-Hey Kid.” It would also give me a chance to recall one of my favorite scenes in all of baseball: the day in 1951 when Leo Durocher consoled a weeping rookie named Willie Mays in the Giants’ clubhouse after his disastrous 0-for-12 start.

The Giants Got Their Money’s Worth!

Anyway, going back to the contract. I’d have to say the Giants got their money’s worth. He responded with another terrific year, hitting .296, with 404 home runs, and 111 RBIs. Of course, this begs the question: Just how much would Willie be worth in today’s market? It’s always fun to look over the salaries of players like Willie and compare those numbers to the mega-millions thrown around like manhole covers in today’s game. Consider that the Cubs just signed a player who hit .216 last year to a one-year contract worth $17 million.

So to start off this little essay about Willie, let’s recall his career stats, with the question always in mind, was he the best ever?

Willie’s Great Career

Over his 22 years in the majors (1951-1973), Willie hit .302 with 3,283 hits (11th all-time), 1903 RBIs (12th all-time), 660 home runs (sixth all-time), a .557 slugging percentage, a lifetime .384 on-base percentage, and 338 stolen bases. Willie hit over 35 homers in 10 seasons, hit 40 homers six times, and won five slugging crowns. He’s one of the few players with 300 steals and 500 home runs. His defensive skills won him 12 Gold Gloves (the award wasn’t even started until he was six years into his career).

Willie is one of only five National League players to have had eight consecutive 100 RBI seasons. In addition, he won four stolen base and three triples titles, six top-three finishes in National League batting races, and he played in a whopping 24 All-Star games, tied for the most ever. He won two MVP Awards and was a two-time All-Star game MVP. His lifetime total of 7,095 outfield putouts remains the major league record. 

Willie Howard Mays was so athletically advanced by age 14 that he was competing with the men on his father’s steel mill team. He played semipro ball at age 16 and was on the Birmingham Black Barons by 1947. He was one of the last players – and likely the best – to come from the Negro Leagues. In 1950, the Giants signed him and sent him to the minors. In 1951 he was batting .477 with the Minneapolis Millers when he got the call to go up to the Giants…thanks to Leo Durocher.

My Favorite Baseball Scene: Leo and Willie, 1951

This also got me thinking about Leo Durocher and Willie Mays, and how Leo acted as a mentor and father-figure for Willie during his rookie year of 1951 as the youngster made his difficult transition to the major leagues, just a few years after Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s odious color barrier. 

Leo had his faults…lots of them. As many players hated his guts as loved him. But, as I’ve been saying for a long time, in spite of what you might think about him, his greatest and most lasting contribution to baseball was taking a young, homesick Willie Mays under his wing and guiding him during his difficult period. In doing so, Leo allowed Mays to blossom into arguably the greatest player in the history of the game. I don’t know if there was anyone else around at the time besides Durocher who could have done this. 

Durocher demanded Mays be promoted after the Giants’ 6-20 start in 1951.  I always love to think about the wonderful scene in the Giants’ clubhouse after rookie Willie Mays got off to his disastrous 0-12 start (which eventually extended to 1-26, until he got hot). Giants’ coach Freddie Fitzsimmons saw Willie sitting alone in front of his locker crying. “Leo,” Freddie said, “I think you better have a talk with your boy over there.”

What would have become of Willie Mays if Leo wasn’t there to console him at this crucial time? I still get goose-bumps whenever I think about it. Leo went over to Willie and asked him, “What’s the matter, son?”

Willie turned to his manager and with tears streaming down his cheeks, replied:

“I don’t belong up here…I can’t play here…I can’t help you Missa’ Leo. Send me back to the minors.”

“You’re the best center fielder I’ve ever seen…”

Leo smiled, patted Willie on the back, and simply said:

“Look son, I brought you up here to do one thing. That’s to play center field. You’re the best center fielder I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been around a long time.  As long as I’m here, you’re going to play center field. Tomorrow, next week, next month. As long as Leo Durocher’s manager of this team you will be on this club because you’re the best ballplayer I’ve ever seen.”

The rest, as they say, is history. On his 13th at-bat, Willie hit a homer over the left-field fence off Warren Spahn who later joked, “I’ll never forgive myself. We might have gotten rid of Willie forever if I’d only struck him out.”

Years later, Willie was asked in an interview to expand on his relationship with Leo. Here’s what he said:

“I had such a good time with Leo. I met so many good people in Hollywood. Jeff Chandler used to come to spring training with me, Pat O’Brien, all the movie stars. Leo was like my father away from home. When I went to California I stayed with Leo in his house. His kid, Chris Durocher, was my roommate on the road. Chris would go to the black areas and stay with me. Leo trusted me. He knew that if his kid was going to stay with me, nothing was going to happen to that kid.”

Yes, Leo Durocher had his faults. He was “the All-American Out” as Babe Ruth so famously branded him. He was a scrappy, marginal player who couldn’t hit, but won three pennants and one World Series title as a manager. So you can debate back and forth whether he belongs in the Hall of Fame. To me, he’s a Hall-of-Famer just for the way he took care of a frightened and homesick rookie named Willie Mays. 

Was Willie the Greatest Ever?

When Willie retired, he held all-time records for games, putouts, and chances for center fielders. His career statistics and longevity in the pre-PED era have led to a growing opinion that Mays was possibly the greatest all-around baseball player in the history of the game. In 1970, the Sporting News named Willie as the 1960s “Player of the Decade.” He placed second on The Sporting News’s “List of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players.” He was a near-unanimous selection to the Hall of Fame in 1979. His number 24 has been retired by the Giants.

Was Willie the greatest ever? You’ll get no argument from me!

Gary Livacari 

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Information: Excerpts edited from Willie Mays Wikipedia page; from Nice Guys Finish Last, by Leo Durocher; stats from Baseball Reference.com