I have many memories of Maurice Morning Wills. Most of them involve his stealing a base. He was one of my favorite Dodgers in my childhood. He inserted energy into an aging team and helped them towards a pennant, and World Series wins. And the journey to that first year was a long one. He was born on October 2nd, 1932, in Washington, D.C. He was the seventh of thirteen children. His father, Guy, worked as a machinist at the Washington Navy Yard. His mother, Mable, worked as an elevator operator. He had four brothers and eight sisters.
Maury started playing baseball at age 14 in a local semi-pro league. He starred in baseball, basketball, and football at Cardozo High in DC. He earned all-city honors in each sport as a sophomore, junior and senior. In baseball, he pitched and played third base. He also got married his senior year in high school to his sweetheart, Gertrude Elliot. They had six children and later divorced. Several schools wanted Wills for his gridiron skills. He played quarterback on offense, safety on defense, and kicker on special teams. Wills opted to play professional baseball.
In the summer of 1950, Wills signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was hoping for $6,000 dollars, but the Dodger scouts offered him a new suit of clothes. They negotiated some more, and the scouts finally offered $500. Take it or leave it, they said; Guy waited a few seconds and then said, we’ll take it. Wills was 17 at the time, so he needed his parents’ permission. Wills reported to Hornell of the Class-D New York-Pennsylvania-Ontario League. He hit .280 with 54 stolen bases. They promoted him to Santa Barbara in 1952, but Maury felt comfortable in Hornell, so he asked to stay there. He did and stole 54 bases again.
In 53, Wills split time between Class-A Pueblo, of the Western League and the Miami Sun Sox of the Class-B, Florida State League. He hit a combined .286 between the two and earned a promotion to AA San Antonio after a second solid season at Pueblo. He was somewhat over matched, hitting only .220 and was sent back to Pueblo for the 1956 season. He lost a little faith in his ability to make it to the big leagues, but he bounced back hitting .302 and stealing 34 bases.
The Seattle Rainiers, a PCL club, purchased Wills contract on a conditional basis for 1957. Wills, now 24, hit .267 and stole 21 bases. The Dodgers exercised their claim on the journeyman prospect and assigned him to the Spokane Indians, another PCL team. Bobby Bragan, a former MLB catcher, became his mentor. Bragan inspired Wills and he gained confidence. Bragan also told Wills to start hitting as a switch hitter. With his speed he figured Wills could beat out a lot of infield grounders. Why not try? He said. Within a few weeks he had the hang of it. “You’re a switch hitter now kid.” Bragan told him. But Wills Still worried he might be a career minor leaguer. In the spring of 1959, the Dodgers once again sold him on a conditional basis, this time to the Detroit Tigers.
Wills, playing mostly in B games, went 11-23 and stole 8 bases, but the Tigers had traded for SS Rocky Bridges and Wills was returned to the Dodgers who sent him back to Spokane. LA soon needed another SS. Pee Wee Reese had retired. One option, Bob Lillis, had played several years in the minors like Wills had. He hit .391 in 21 games for LA in 58. But he started slowly in 59 and lost his job. Don Zimmer took over, but he broke a toe in June. Bragan recommended Wills. He was hitting .313 with 25 stolen bases at Spokane. Maury finally got his chance.
Wills played his first game for the Dodgers on June 6th, 1959. He went 0-4. After a month he was hitting only .175. Finally, he began to hit ground balls that eluded infielders and his speed allowed him to beat out infield hits. His BA began to climb. Zimmer returned but was in a slump all year and finished with a .165 average. He would have one at bat in the World Series, but Wills played in all six games. For the year, Maury hit .260 and stole 7 bases in 10 tries. He was 5-20 in the series with one stolen base and 2 runs scored.
In April of 1960, the Dodgers traded Zimmer to the Cubs for Ron Perranoski, Johnny Goryl, Lee Handley and 25,000 dollars. Essentially handing the starting SS job to Wills. Maury struggled under the hot sun until he started working with batting coach, Pete Reiser. By the end of the season, his BA was .295 and he had stolen 50 bases. No NL player had swiped 50 in a year since Max Carey of the Pirates in 1923. It was a total change of attitude for Wills from one of despair to one of anticipation. He could not wait to get up to the plate to hit. But the Dodgers fell to 4th place. The transition of the team from old vets to new young blood continued. Newcombe, Furillo, Erskine were all gone as was Reese who had retired after the 1958 season.
1961 would bring some more change. Gil Hodges played his last year as a Dodger, he would go to the Mets in the expansion draft that winter, Charlie Neal would also leave via the draft, also to the Mets, Duke Snider played his last full season in the outfield. He would be a sub in 62. And they played their last season in the coliseum before opening their new home, Dodger Stadium. Wills was firmly entrenched as the SS now. A bunch of new faces were joining him on the field, Tommy Davis, Frank Howard, Ron Fairly. The Dodgers finished 2nd and Maury had a solid campaign, hitting .282 with 35 bags. Maury made his first All-Star team and won his first Gold Glove. He finished 9th in the MVP race. Another player began to make his presence felt in 61, LHP Sandy Koufax.
1962. The Dodgers finally moved from the coliseum after four years into their new Stadium located in Chavez Ravine. It at the time was a pitcher’s park. Especially when the heavy marine layer would move in. With Koufax and Drysdale leading the staff, the team was poised for a new era of Dodger baseball. Wills was the catalyst. Some would say much later that a Dodger rally consisted of a Wills walk, a stolen base, sacrifice bunt, or a well-placed Gilliam hit to the right side of the infield, and a sac fly scoring Maury. The Dodgers led the NL most of the way. Tommy Davis would win the first of two batting titles in a row. Still the last Dodger to do so. Drysdale would win the Cy Young. Koufax was right there with him until a circulatory problem in his finger knocked him out. That injury would for the most part cost the Dodgers the pennant.
Maury hit .299, won the MVP award, played in all 165 games, both All-Star games and won his second gold glove. Along the way he also managed to steal 104 bases. Breaking Ty Cobbs MLB record of 96 and becoming the first player in MLB history to steal 100 bags. The Dodgers finished in a dead heat with the Giants and lost the three game playoff series in a painful fashion.
In his off time, Maury liked to play his banjo and did so in many night spots around LA. He also liked to mingle with the Hollywood crowd. He claimed in his biography that he had an affair with Doris Day, who was a huge Dodger fan. This was a PR nightmare in those days since both were married and Wills was black and Day white. Something not accepted in those days. Day for her part said they were simply friends. Bavasi ordered Wills to stop seeing Day and by all accounts he did so.
1963 rolled around and the Dodgers were poised for another run. This time, with a healthy Koufax, Tommy Davis once again winning the batting title, and Wills doing his thing again, they would win the pennant. Maury hit .302 but stole only 40 bases. His legs were pretty bruised up by all the sliding. But it was Koufax’s year to shine. 25-5, MVP, Cy Young and two additional wins in the World Series sweep of the Yankees including a 15-K performance in game 1 setting the record for K’s in a game. Wills was little help in the series as he went 2-15 with 1 steal and 1 run scored.
The 64 Dodgers would not repeat the success of 63. Another Koufax injury and down years for most of the players. Wills hit .275 and stole 53 bases. He did not make the All-Star team. 65 would see another title run. Maury stole 94 bases, hit .286 and was much better in the World Series against the Twins. Tommy Davis was out for most of the year, breaking his ankle in May, his replacement, journeyman, Lou Johnson, infused a lot of enthusiasm and joy into the team. He was just happy to be there. Howard had been traded to the Senators for pitcher Claude Osteen so LA had a big 3 again. Koufax won his second Cy Young and pitched a perfect game in September.
Pitching was carrying the team more than ever in 1966. Wills and Willie Davis were the speed elements. Tommy Davis was a shell of the player he had been before, but LA still won the pennant and went to face the Orioles in the 1966 World Series. There, the superior O’s pitching totally shut down the meek Dodger offense. A 3-error game by the usually sure handed Willie D doomed them in one game. Koufax, Dysdale and Osteen could do little with the lack of offensive punch and they were swept in four games.
That offseason, the Dodgers were scheduled to take a goodwill trip to Japan. Several players, including Wills, asked to be allowed to skip the trip. O’Malley said they had to play. Wills played a few games and then went AWOL. His knee ached and he wanted to go to Los Angeles and have it checked out. But on the way, he stopped in Hawaii and did a couple of shows with Don Ho and Sammy Davis Jr. He said ” I’ve been relaxing here. Right now, I don’t know when I will return to the mainland.” He added rather brazenly, “The Japanese trip was important to Mr. O’Malley, and I suppose he is rather bitter at me leaving.”
Understatement. O’Malley was already just a wee bit peeved because Koufax, despite pleas from Bavasi to wait until they could make a trade for another starter, had announced his retirement on the 18th of November. An irate O’Malley ordered Bavasi to ship Wills out of LA. He also wrote that Wills had embarrassed the Dodger organization and the nation of Japan. So Buzzie did his job and sent Maury to the Pirates for Bob Bailey and SS Gene Michael. Wills was stunned. He loved LA, and did not want to leave.
Maury would spend two seasons in Pittsburgh. They had some pretty good players, but they would go 161-163 in his two-year stint. In the winter of 68, the NL was expanding, and Wills was exposed to the expansion draft and selected by the Montreal Expos with their 11th pick. Wills did not enjoy his time in Canada. And he played as if he did not care. He hit only .222 and stole 15 bases in 47 games. The Expos owner was pretty fed up, and Wills even asked to be placed on the voluntary retired list. That lasted a few days, and then he recanted. The Expos, by now totally fed up traded Wills and outfielder, Manny Mota to the Dodgers for Ron Fairly and Paul Popovich. Al Campanis had lobbied for his return. Owner Walter O’Malley was not so sure, but he signed off on the deal.
Maury was ecstatic. Wills heard about the deal while the Expos were in San Diego. He hopped in a car and drove up to LA for a Dodger game that evening. Apparently, all was forgiven as there was a note from O’Malley saying welcome home Maury in the clubhouse. Dodger ace, Don Sutton also welcomed Wills back. ” The first time Maury walked into the clubhouse I felt the entire atmosphere changed.” Back in his comfort zone, Maury hit .297 in 104 games, and stole 25 bases to give him 40 for the season. He explained that the Dodgers good pitching kept games close which was where his type of game would come into play.
Maury would play another two seasons for the Dodgers. He hit .270 with 28 bags in 70 and .285 with 15 steals in 71. They finished second both years. Late in 1971, the Dodgers brought up a talented young player named Bill Russell. He was being groomed to be the next Dodger SS and Will’s knew it. But he was not retiring just yet. ” The Dodgers paid me to sit on the bench in 1972.” he said. He hit a woeful .129 in 71 games and then was released. He felt he could play another year.
But instead, he took a broadcasting job on the game of the week on NBC. His son, Bump, made it to the Texas Rangers in 1977. Maury let it be known that he would like to manage in the bigs. Bavasi advised him to take a minor league job first. But the Seattle Mariners felt he was ready. On August 4, 1980, he was hired to replace the fired Darrell Johnson. “He is the best baseball man available.” Mariner’s president Dan O’Brien said. Wills took over a team mired in last place. He thought he could turn it around, but the Mariners went 20-38 under his leadership and that included a 7 game win streak in September
It did not get any easier in 81. The players had no speed, they did not play fundamentally sound baseball. Wills got frustrated and he lost patience. After a dreadful 6-18 start, he was let go. Some of the players were relieved. Richie Zisk said “something had to be done to change the atmosphere in here, we need a positive note.” Reporters also hammered Maury for some blunders. He would call for a pitcher from the pen, but no one was warming up. He called an infielder into his office to demote him to AAA, but when catcher, Brad Gulden walked by the office, he reversed himself and demoted Gulden instead. He also once said Leon Roberts would be his starting CF, problem? Roberts had been traded a month earlier. All in all, the whole experience was nothing short of a disaster.
Those were the least of his problems. His personal life had descended into drugs and alcohol abuse. He battled addiction and went into rehab several times. He spent more than 1 million dollars on cocaine. He was arrested in 1983 on suspicion of car theft and cocaine possession. Tommy Davis, Fred Claire and Don Newcombe encouraged him to get sober.
He went to the Dodgers spring facility in Vero in 2001, serving as a baserunning and bunting instructor. He would continue to do that for about 15 years, also at the Dodgers new home in Glendale Arizona. He was honored by the Washington D.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 2013 and one of his banjo’s was placed on display in the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville. He quit worrying about being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. In his 15 years on the ballot, he never received more than 40.6% of the vote. He also missed election by the revamped Veteran’s Committee in 2014. He moved to Sedona Arizona, and finally seemed to be at peace after all the turmoil in his life. When Maury passed away in September of this year, the Dodger family lost another legendary player. One who brought the stolen base back into baseball, and who inspired thousands of fans into chanting go go go.
I’ll never forget the chants of Go when he got on base. He lit the place up.
Nice write-up, Bear.
Thank you, I loved writing this one.
Good job, Bear! Appreciate your efforts during these most difficult of days. Thank you, sir.
Viva Azul
Been through the difficult days before my friend. 62, 66,74,77,78,80, 83,85, and many others. Joe Morgan hitting a homer off of Terry Forster when he was with the Giants that kept us from tying the Braves, The playoff fails against the Phillies, Cubs, Cardinals, Braves, and now the Padres. Congrats to the Phils for a nice win yesterday over SD. I am pulling for the Phils to win it all since I despise all the other teams in the playoffs.
To bear’s point, we should all be so lucky if these are the difficult days.
“I am pulling for the Phils to win it all since I despise all the other teams in the playoffs.”
So am I for the same reason.
B&P: I am really glad you thought of me when you were writing your post. It’s always nice to be thought of. Let me please respond to your reply to me yesterday.
Unfortunately as has been the case in the past you continue quote inaccurate numbers. LaSorda’s teams only made the post season 6 times (’77, ’78, ’81, ’83, ’85, ’88) not 8 as you said. You can argue payroll (as you do), which I will get to in a minute but 6 out of 22 seasons pales by comparison to 7 out of 7 (Doc’s record).
From 1987-1992 (all LaSorda’s years) the Dodgers payroll is comparable to what Doc’s teams have had. The following shows the ranking of our payroll vs all teams:
1987 1st
1988 4th
1989 1st
1990 4th
1991 2nd
1992 2nd
During those 6 years with a very high payroll relative to the competition, the Dodgers only made the post season once, as opposed to 6 (in the same number of years) by Doc. So please stop with the argument based totally on bias and look at the facts. Your selective memory is unbelievable.
I have absolutely no idea what the reference to Dr Jeckyll…. meant. I would not have even said anything yesterday except you kind of called me out.
I also want to make it quite clear that I am not disparaging Tommy in any way. I loved him and all he brought to our storied team. I just hate all the fast and loose negative commentary about Doc based on either on some sort of misplaced bias or the false conclusion that success is based on only winning the WS.
I get it, and it is not all on Doc, but he did bring a lot of the criticism on himself. Another gaff in pulling a starter too early, Anderson was cruising. Guaranteeing a Championship before the season even began, not exactly smart. Especially when you have no clue how your team is going to look in October. And the team he brought into the playoffs, was very different than the team he left Arizona with. Doc has a great regular season record, and a good record in the playoffs. But like someone said, this team looks a lot like the Braves of the 90’s who won the division 14 times in 15 years and only one World Series. Even with 3, count em, 3 Hall of Fame pitchers. Two of them 300 game winners and all of them Cy Young winners. Maddux won 4 years in a row. No, it is not all on Doc, the players get a lot of the blame for not performing, but SD’s pitching gets a ton of credit for shutting them down. Tommy was a career Dodger except for his short stint with KC. But he also burned out some arms, Hershiser and Valenzuela too.
Bear –
Great article on my first favorite Dodger! He changed the game in the 60s and 70s by bringing the “stolen base” back to baseball. He also inspired many others to steal bases which made the game more exciting for the fans. IMO, it was a more engaging, watchable game back then!!
Thanks Tom, I loved watching Wills play. He infused excitement into the game, even if it was low scoring, as many Dodger games of that era were. I remember a quote from Don Drysdale when told Koufax had pitched a no-hitter, his first response was “did they win?” I am of the mind his #30 should be retired and he should be in the hall. If Mazeroski is there only for his fielding, Maury should be there for revolutionizing and revitalizing the game.
* Great write up Bear on Wills, who happened to stay in a condo right below mine in Arizona. Tommy was a building to the west.
* One of the things I remember as a kid, were the pictures of Maury sliding in to 2nd and the huge dust cloud it created. You couldn’t really see the tag, as so much dust clouded the view. A replay review, as we have now, would have been improbable through the dust fog.
* I played on those dusty old fields frequently with rocks in the dirt. Part of playing SS was to pick up the rocks and toss them to the side. It kept your arm loose. The dirt was drug and watered but mostly dried out quickly, turning to dust. No such thing as guys hand dragging the surface between inning, smoothing out the grenade marks. You smoothed those over with your shoes. The grass was much more sparse as well.
* There is no dust anymore. The field isn’t really dirt. For Major League Baseball, the infield is a mix of 55 percent sand, 30 percent clay, and 15 percent silt that retains the perfect amount of moisture.
Most people have no idea that the infield mix for Major League Baseball comes mostly from Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania. Providing “ dirt” has become an industry unto itself. The infield mix used in a major league ballpark can cost anywhere from $80 to $100 per ton. DuraEdge of Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, provides the infield material for 1,200 to 1,500 infields across the country, ranging in price from $15,000 to $50,000 per infield. At the major league level, DuraEdge provides the infield skin for approximately two-thirds of major league teams.There isn’t a rock within a mile and the grass is putting green perfect.
* Oh how much I would have enjoyed playing on today’s surfaces. I might have booted fewer balls. But I wouldn’t have the memory of Maury Wills stealing a bag in a huge dust cloud kicked up.
Good stuff Bear.
Thanks Phil really appreciated. I remember when the Giants flooded the dirt around first at Candlestick in an attempt to keep Wills from stealing bases. I also remember the delay of the game when the Dodgers complained, and the Giants ground crew came out to try and dry it up some. Since you remember those days as well as I do, do you know who is playing third when Wills stole # 104? Hint, he later played for the Dodgers.
I assume it wasn’t Davenport because I don’t recall his ever playing for the Dodgers.
Yep, Jim Davenport. And you are right, he never was a Dodger, I got him confused with the other Giant 3B-SS who did, Daryl Spencer. My bad. LOL.
Yes, the MLB playoffs are still a crapshoot.
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/yes-the-playoffs-are-still-a-crapshoot/
… won about seven fewer games in the playoffs since 1995 based on what you’d expect from their Pythagorean record, the Pythagorean record of their opponents, and whether they had home field advantage in any particular game. But one thing worth noting is that Los Angeles’ deficit is almost entirely in games played before Andrew Friedman took over after the 2014 season and moved the team in a more sabermetric-oriented direction. From 2015 to ’22, the Dodgers won 47 playoff games against 47.9 expected wins.
Bluto,
Do not post this stuff here. You will only confuse them with the facts. [sarcasm]
lol – A baseball analytics site says the playoffs are random because they can’t use the very thing they focus their time on to predict an outcome. How convenient. Lies, dammed lies and statistics.
Is it a good thing that they went from bad to still bad, but not as bad since the analytics based front office took over?
Bear the pitcher was Marichal and Jimmy Davenport was the third baseman. I love baseball trivia.
Bear said he later played for the Dodgers.
Didn’t Davenport play his entire career for SF?
I once again say I was wrong. I got confused. Happens now and then. The Giant of that era who played in LA was Daryl Spencer. 61-63 with LA.
Dave Roberts is not perfect, and neither is Andrew Friedman.
The fact is that most fans blame the Manager or the Team Architect when their team loses, but Bill Plaschke finally got one right.
https://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/story/2022-10-19/plaschke-blame-dodgers-failure-players-friedman-roberts-betts-freeman
No one in their right mind can blame this on Roberts, even though he made a move or four I do not agree with!
I’m not gonna say a bad word about Roberts long as you are sick.
lol – Your last line was funny.
Plaske wrote a decent piece. I agree with a lot of what he said. Especially about the brushstrokes.
I’ve thought about it and this is what I think, in my opinion, should happen to make for a better team going forward. But the powers that be will do what they are going to do. You can disagree and that’s perfectly fine. It’s just my thoughts.
9 position players on the active roster and obviously on the 40 man roster.
Freeman
Betts
T Turner But a free agent
Smith
J Turner But a free agent
Lux
Outman
Barnes
Vargas
4 more position players needed from free agents preferably and trades, but more depending on free agents above. 2 of them needed are starters for LF and 3B, J Turner is the DH. 2 for the bench to go with Barnes and Vargas.
No reason to explain why I want Taylor, Gallo, Bellinger, Alberto gone. As for Muncy and Thompson. Muncy is a 3 true outcome player and I don’t care for those. Thompson is a platoon player and I don’t care for those.
2 others on the 40 man roster for depth.
Busch
Rios
5 more position players for the 40 man roster needed for depth. But there’s no more minor league position players in AA or above in my opinion that are worth a crap.
13 pitchers on the active roster and of course on the 40 man roster.
Gonsolin
Kershaw But a free agent
Urias
Anderson But a free agent
May
Stone
Martin But a free agent
Phillips
Treinen
Almonte
Hudson
Kahnle But a free agent
Vesia
7 others on the 40 man roster for depth.
Miller
Pepiot
Gonzalez
Graterol
Ferguson
Bickford
Grove
Buehler on the IL with an eventual return.
The reasons why I want these names to be gone: Kimbrel and Price, no need to explain, Price will be gone, he is retiring and Kimbrel most likely will be gone. Heaney because he is a home run allowing machine and a free agent.
Might need some pitchers for the active roster depending on free agents above.
In my opinion, as you can see, there are a lot of position player spots to fill and only some possible pitching spots to fill depending on our free agents.
Seriously where is Jorge ? Has he reported in yet ?
He was last seen jumping off the San Diego – Coronado bridge.
Luckily, he’s a good swimmer.
He hasn’t reported in since the humiliation.
Maybe some one should go check his room. It would somehow make things feel better if Phillies sweep the Padres.
That’s the big question.
Is it better for our psyche if the Padres turn around and lose to the Phils or if they go all the way and win the WS?
I wondered the same thing. But actually it’s a no brainer. I hope they get swept and eat sh!t.
I’m fine with Phillies representing the NL
Me too, but they are going to have to pitch better than they did today.
Still ANGRY that I have to watch some other damn teams like the Phillies and Padres playing for what should have been OUR L.A. WORLD SERIES. And it WAS bad luck. Bad luck to lose Bauer . Bad luck to lose Bueler. Bad luck May had surgery and wasn’t ready. And Treinen. Friedman built a great team, but to much injury bad luck.
… and we still should have won!
Every team deals with luck, good and bad. Was it just bad luck that Tatis crashed his motorcycle?
But it wasn’t luck that brought Gallo to the Dodgers and promoted Vargas from OKC. Roberts used the term “meritocracy” to explain why Kimbrel rightfully lost the closer job. But neither Gallo or Vargas did anything to justify their place on the postseason roster. And it wasn’t luck that caused Dodgers management–be it Roberts or AF of both–to lose confidence in Belli.
Brandon Drury, now with the Padres, and Harrison Bader, now with the Yankees, are two veteran midseason acquisitions that are playing big roles in the playoffs. Drury certainly should have been on AF’s radar–but the Padres nabbed him for prospect thought to be years away from the majors.
I keep coming back to it: AF lost the trade deadline. The Pads and Yankees did a lot to improve their teams–and Roberts wound up with a bench he didn’t want to use.
Love the comments and criticism by all. No Dodger fan deserves another flat, emotionless October showing.
For me the difference in the games turned out to be the fans in San Diego. Man did they push, pull, scream, encourage and otherwise help create that little emotional edge. Hate to say it but we looked like the Padres when it came to winning time. Lack of sense of urgency and complete check out once San Diego came storming back, especially in game 4.
Losing Tatis completely changed the San Diego culture. That and Hader getting his confidence back.
Go Dodger’s! We know you can do better than this.
https://www.teamworkonline.com/baseball-jobs/los-angeles-dodgers-jobs/los-angeles-dodgers/junior-analyst-baseball-strategy-information-2025086
Okay, this is hilarious. Instead of hiring a baseball person to assist with baseball strategy, they’re looking for a STEM grad with an IT skillset. This front office is beyond repair. Maybe they should poach someone from Fangraphs.
Dude every single team in MLB looks for talent like this. Analytics are a huge part of the game and that’s never changing. Your clueless (as usual).