Willie Mays Career MLB Stats 1951-1973 |
||||||||||||||
G |
AB |
H |
AVG |
HR |
RBI |
R |
SB |
2B |
3B |
BB |
SO |
OBP | SLG% |
OPS
|
2,992 |
10,881 |
3,283 |
.302 |
660 |
1,903 |
2,062 |
338 |
523 |
140 |
1,464 |
1,526 |
.384 |
.557 |
.941
|
Willie Howard Mays was born on May 6, 1931 in Westfield, AL. He is the son of Anna Satterwhite and Willie Howard Mays Sr. There was no question to where one of the greatest baseball players of all time got his athleticism from. Mays Sr. played professional baseball and his mother ran track. His parents parted ways when he was young and he was raised by his father. Mays began learning the game of baseball at age three. By the time he was a teenager, he showed the talent and athleticism to play at a higher level than the kids his age.
Mays attended Fairfield Industrial High School. He was a multi-sport athlete, playing basketball and football. However his high school didn’t have a baseball team. Instead, Mays played semi-pro baseball for the Birmingham Black Barons from the age of 16 until he graduated. The New York Giants acquired Mays once he turned 18.
Awards and Achievements |
|
MVP
|
|
Gold Glove
|
1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968 |
All-Star Selections |
1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971 1972, 1973
|
Batting Titles |
1954
|
Achievements
|
1954 NL Home Run Leader 1955, 1962, 1964, 1965 NL Stolen Bases Leader 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959 1951 Member of MLB All- Century Team Member of MLB All-Time Team |
Willie Mays MLB Career Stats and Notes
Mays spent two years in the minors before getting called up. He made an immediate impact on the team, helping the Giants win the pennant and in the process, being named Rookie of the Year. Mays played 22 seasons in the majors, 21 with the Giants franchise. In 1972, Mays left the San Francisco Giants and headed back to NY, this time joining the Mets via trade. He spent parts of two seasons there, which was his last in the majors. He retired after the 1973 season. Mays was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979.
Willie Mays And The Catch
Every legendary athlete in professional sports has a signature moment. For Willie Mays, he accumulated iconic numbers over the course of a lengthy career with 630 HRs and over 3,200 hits. However on September 29, 1954, the ‘Say Hey Kid’ had his moment that became one of the best plays in all of sports history.
His moment came during Game 1 of the 1954 World Series between the New York Giants and Cleveland Indians at the Polo Grounds in New York. In a 2-2 tie in the top half of the eighth inning, the Indians’ Vic Wertz hits a rocket to deep center field. Mays, tracking the ball from shallow center field, makes an incredible over the shoulder grab on the run. The ball was estimated to have traveled over 400 feet in the spacious Polo Grounds.
Mays had the wittiness to throw the ball immediately back into the infield to prevent a runner from scoring on the play. His legendary catch and throw allowed the Giants to get out of the top frame still tied. The play is simply called ‘The Catch’.