Willie Mays - Compare to Twins HOFers

[strumdatjag]

I’m sure some of you are having an “OK Boomer” moment as you watch the accolades given to Willie Mays (who died yesterday).   Really, you watch “The Catch” and you will say that you see the equivalent on Sportscenter ten times every season, right?
Wrong - Mays combined all five tools with longevity like nobody before or since.
By the time I started paying attention to baseball in the sixties, Mays had played over a decade of his phenomenal style five tool baseball and he was still the best player in the game.   In 1971, at age 40, he had an OPS of .907.   Willie Mays excelled at all five tools with longevity.   Comparing Mays to the greatest Twins:

Killebrew:  Didn’t have the speed 

Puckett and Oliva: Didn’t have the longevity

Mauer and Carew: Didn’t have the power

Mays was the Michael Jordan of Baseball in his day - and that should be “OK” with the rest of you, even if I am a “Boomer”. 

 

 

 

[stringer bell]

He was the best I ever saw. All five tools and as much charisma as Royce Lewis. When he wasn't unanimously picked to the HOF, I thought it would never happen for anyone.

I'm too young to remember that great catch in the World Series, but he routinely made great defensive plays. He led the NL in homers several times, even while playing at Candlestick Park, hardly a hitter's paradise. Willie missed almost two full years due to military service. If not for that, he would have easily had more homers than the Babe and been neck and neck with Aaron. 

He won his only World Series when he was 23. That tells me that if you win hardware, cherish it, because it might not come your way again. 

[strumdatjag]

8 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

He was the best I ever saw. All five tools and as much charisma as Royce Lewis. When he wasn't unanimously picked to the HOF, I thought it would never happen for anyone.

I'm too young to remember that great catch in the World Series, but he routinely made great defensive plays. He led the NL in homers several times, even while playing at Candlestick Park, hardly a hitter's paradise. Willie missed almost two full years due to military service. If not for that, he would have easily had more homers than the Babe and been neck and neck with Aaron. 

He won his only World Series when he was 23. That tells me that if you win hardware, cherish it, because it might not come your way again. 

Mays actually won two World Series: 1951 (He was in the on-deck circle when Bobby Thomson hit the “Shot Heard Round the World” to win the Series)  AND the 1954 Series which the Giants swept and in which Mays made “The Catch”!!!

Both series finished before I was born,   I didn’t start paying attention to baseball until 1961 (barely) but became a fanatic long before the Twins appearance in the 1965 World Series. 

[Seth Stohs]

Willie Mays is the greatest player ever to play the game... 

[stringer bell]

5 minutes ago, strumdatjag said:

Mays actually won two World Series: 1951 (He was in the on-deck circle when Bobby Thomson hit the “Shot Heard Round the World” to win the Series)  AND the 1954 Series which the Giants swept and in which Mays made “The Catch”!!!

Both series finished before I was born,   I didn’t start paying attention to baseball until 1961 (barely) but became a fanatic long before the Twins appearance in the 1965 World Series. 

The Giants won the pennant in '51, but lost the World Series. They won the pennant in SF in '62, but lost to the Yankees in seven games. Willie was only on one world champion.

[strumdatjag]

3 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

The Giants won the pennant in '51, but lost the World Series. They won the pennant in SF in '62, but lost to the Yankees in seven games. Willie was only on one world champion.

Ooops.  Thanks for the correction of my faulty correction. Now I remember. The legend obliterated the truth.  

[DJL44]

11 minutes ago, Seth Stohs said:

Willie Mays is the greatest player ever to play the game... 

Possibly. Ruth was better compared to his competition but his competition was segregated. Mays was the greatest living ballplayer until yesterday. Now I think that has to be Barry Bonds.

[PDX Twin]

24 minutes ago, Seth Stohs said:

Willie Mays is the greatest player ever to play the game... 

Something about the words 'Willie Mays" is just magical! None of the other stars of his era or since---I can't speak for before---ever rivaled his talent at every phase of the game and his charisma, almost mystique! I cried when I read the obits yesterday and I don't cry often. Great man and the greatest ballplayer!

Growing up in an American League place, the only time I ever saw him in person was at the 1965 All-Star Game, which probably had the greatest outfield ever to play in a game: Aaron, Mays, Clemente, with Frank Robinson on the bench! Being only 11, I don't remember the details of the game except that the NL won. They always did in those days because they simply had the better players.

If you haven't read Arnold Hano's A Day in the Bleachers, you are missing something special. It's a brilliantly narrated story of Hano's day at Game 1 of the 1954 World Series, from waking up and heading to the Polo Grounds hoping to get a bleacher seat through a thrillingly tense game to "the catch" right below him and Dusty Rhodes's winning homerun. It's about more than Willie, but the iconic catch in centerfield is a centerpiece and, to me, represents Willie's greatness as much as any single moment. He simply did things you didn't think were possible.

RIP.  

[tony&rodney]

Babe Ruth will always be remembered as larger than life and synonymous with baseball. His exploits, real or otherwise, are simply legendary beyond comparison. 

Barry Bonds controlled the game of baseball in our era with his ability to crush strikes and take bases on balls.

There have been a number of other fantastic athletes who accomplished amazing feats playing baseball in short spurts or over long careers. I have always believed Willie Mays to be the greatest baseball player of all time based on his ability to excel at all elements of the game in addition to having more charisma than any player in the past 75 years. 

In 1979 I bought a Willie Mays SF jersey. Mays' #24 is the only MLB jersey I have ever purchased or worn. You can easily see who my two favorite players were all time, both Twins.

[Craig Arko]

1 hour ago, Seth Stohs said:

Willie Mays is the greatest player ever to play the game... 

With the possible exception of Josh Gibson, I would agree.

[Irishman]

If managers, owners, and commissioners hadn't suspended Babe Ruth, he could have easily hit over 800 home runs. In addition, before becoming a full-time outfielder, he was a great pitcher.

Babe Ruth remains the greatest player of his era.
Wille Mays was the greatest player, too.

[strumdatjag]

Willie Mays was much better than Twins Pitcher Joe Mays!

[bean5302]

Willie Mays was absolutely outstanding, and his "prime" lasted for over a decade. A truly legendary player. I'm not sure why the OP had to take such a combative tone right out of the gate since I can't imagine anybody with a brain is going to discount Mays' heroics. If he were playing in modern times with the kind of value he produced back then, he'd have owned 10 MVP Trophies at the end of his career. Literally in the running for greatest baseball player to ever play the game.

[USAFChief]

RIP. Certainly in the conversation for best player of all time.  

I'd give that distinction to Ruth, though. 

For one thing, Babe Ruth won 94 MLB games with a 2.33 career ERA as a pitcher. 

 

[Vanimal46]

3 hours ago, strumdatjag said:

Willie Mays was much better than Twins Pitcher Joe Mays!

Was he better than Willie Mays Hayes?

 

[Craig Arko]

 

[Linus]

The term “5 tool player” gets thrown around a lot. Willie was truly a 5 tool player. He had an incredible amount of stolen bases for a great power hitter. 

[Scott51104]

My favorite non-Twin in the 1960s. Was at Met Stadium when he homered in the 1965 ASG.