Willie Mays, baseball player, 660 home runs, 1951-1973

Willie Mays

⭐ Hall of Fame 1979

Born: 5/6/1931 in Westfield, AL, USA

Died: 6/18/2024 in Palo Alto, CA, USA

MLB Debut: 1951-05-25 | Final Game: 1973-09-09

Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 5'10" | Weight: 170 lbs

Full name: Willie Howard Mays

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Biography

Willie Mays, born in 1931, was a legendary position player whose illustrious career spanned from May 25, 1951, until September 9, 1973. Renowned for his remarkable combination of power and speed, Mays played a pivotal role in shaping the modern game during the mid-20th century, a time marked by the emergence of baseball as America's pastime in the post-war era. His extraordinary achievements included participating in 2,992 games, amassing 3,283 hits, and hitting 660 home runs. Mays finished his career with an impressive .302 batting average, 1,903 RBIs, and 338 stolen bases, solidifying his status as one of the greatest all-around players in baseball history. Mays was a two-time All-Star Game MVP and earned a remarkable 24 All-Star selections throughout his career, showcasing his consistent excellence on the field. He was recognized early in his career as the Rookie of the Year and later received the TSN Rookie of the Year award, underscoring his immediate impact in Major League Baseball. His contributions to the game were further immortalized when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1979. Mays's legacy transcends statistics; he was known for his electrifying playing style, highlighted by his iconic catch in the 1954 World Series, which exemplified his defensive prowess and athleticism. Mays remains a symbol of greatness, representing the golden era of baseball and inspiring generations of players and fans alike.

Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
237.0 198.0 43.0 68.0 12.0 4.0 6.0 43.0 35.0 1.0 11.0 0.343 0.447 0.535 0.982

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting

Season PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
1948 90.0 75.0 13.0 22.0 4.0 1.0 2.0 14.0 14.0 0 1.0 0.293 0.411 0.453 0.864
1949 147.0 123.0 30.0 46.0 8.0 3.0 4.0 29.0 21.0 1.0 10.0 0.374 0.469 0.585 1.054

Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
3005 10924 2068 3293 525 141 660 1909 339 1468 1526 0.301 0.384 0.557 0.940 74031.6

Career AVG .301 vs. league average .252 across their career seasons — +19.4% above league average.

Career OBP .384 vs. league average .321 across their career seasons — +19.6% above league average.

Career SLG .557 vs. league average .378 across their career seasons — +47.3% above league average.

Career OPS 0.940 vs. league average 0.699 across their career seasons — +34.6% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1948 BBB NAL 13 43 6 10 2 1 0 6 1 4 0 0.233 — — — — 0.0
1951 NY1 NL 121 464 59 127 22 5 20 68 7 57 60 0.274 .260 (+5%) .336 (+6%) .385 (+22%) .721 (+15%) 1293.6
1952 NY1 NL 34 127 17 30 2 4 4 23 4 16 17 0.236 .252 (-7%) .326 (avg) .369 (+11%) .696 (+6%) 104.3
1954 NY1 NL 151 565 119 195 33 13 41 110 8 66 57 0.345 .261 (+32%) .333 (+23%) .390 (+71%) .723 (+49%) 5509.2
1955 NY1 NL 152 580 123 185 18 13 51 127 24 79 60 0.319 .258 (+23%) .332 (+20%) .393 (+67%) .726 (+46%) 5376.5
1956 NY1 NL 152 578 101 171 27 8 36 84 40 68 65 0.296 .258 (+15%) .331 (+11%) .397 (+40%) .728 (+27%) 3149.0
1957 NY1 NL 152 585 112 195 26 20 35 97 38 76 62 0.333 .257 (+29%) .323 (+26%) .391 (+60%) .715 (+44%) 5198.3
1958 SFG NL 152 600 121 208 33 11 29 96 31 78 56 0.347 .257 (+34%) .324 (+29%) .394 (+48%) .719 (+39%) 4912.3
1959 SFG NL 151 575 125 180 43 5 34 104 27 65 58 0.313 .256 (+22%) .323 (+18%) .392 (+49%) .715 (+35%) 3935.9
1960 SFG NL 153 595 107 190 29 12 29 103 25 61 70 0.319 .255 (+25%) .323 (+18%) .387 (+43%) .711 (+32%) 3669.7
1961 SFG NL 154 572 129 176 32 3 40 123 18 81 77 0.308 .258 (+19%) .328 (+20%) .399 (+46%) .727 (+34%) 4090.1
1962 SFG NL 162 621 130 189 36 5 49 141 18 78 85 0.304 .257 (+18%) .326 (+18%) .393 (+56%) .719 (+39%) 4893.8
1963 SFG NL 157 596 115 187 32 7 38 103 8 66 83 0.314 .246 (+27%) .308 (+23%) .371 (+57%) .680 (+41%) 4682.6
1964 SFG NL 157 578 121 171 21 9 47 111 19 82 72 0.296 .250 (+18%) .312 (+22%) .377 (+61%) .690 (+43%) 4935.5
1965 SFG NL 157 558 118 177 21 3 52 112 9 76 71 0.317 .245 (+29%) .310 (+28%) .371 (+74%) .682 (+53%) 5751.0
1966 SFG NL 152 552 99 159 29 4 37 103 5 70 81 0.288 .248 (+16%) .309 (+19%) .376 (+48%) .685 (+35%) 3722.8
1967 SFG NL 141 486 83 128 22 2 22 70 6 51 92 0.263 .242 (+9%) .306 (+9%) .357 (+27%) .663 (+19%) 1648.6
1968 SFG NL 148 498 84 144 20 5 23 79 12 67 81 0.289 .236 (+22%) .298 (+24%) .340 (+43%) .638 (+35%) 3213.0
1969 SFG NL 117 403 64 114 17 3 13 58 6 49 71 0.283 .248 (+14%) .320 (+13%) .369 (+18%) .689 (+16%) 1229.8
1970 SFG NL 139 478 94 139 15 2 28 83 5 79 90 0.291 .253 (+15%) .325 (+20%) .385 (+31%) .711 (+26%) 2652.8
1971 SFG NL 136 417 82 113 24 5 18 61 23 112 123 0.271 .249 (+9%) .316 (+34%) .365 (+32%) .682 (+33%) 3196.5
1972 SFG NL 19 49 8 9 2 0 0 3 3 17 5 0.184 — — — — 49.8
1972 NYN NL 69 195 27 52 9 1 8 19 1 43 43 0.267 .243 (+9%) .310 (+29%) .353 (+26%) .664 (+28%) 49.8
1973 NYN NL 66 209 24 44 10 0 6 25 1 27 47 0.211 .256 (-18%) .325 (-7%) .378 (-9%) .703 (-8%) -276.5

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
34 121 17 30 6 0 1 15 17 12 0.248

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1973 NLCS NYN 1 3 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0.333
1973 WS NYN 3 7 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 0.286
1971 NLCS SFN 4 15 2 4 2 0 1 3 3 3 0.267
1962 WS SFN 7 28 3 7 2 0 0 1 1 5 0.250
1954 WS NY1 4 14 4 4 1 0 0 3 4 1 0.286
1951 WS NY1 6 22 1 4 0 0 0 1 2 2 0.182
1948 ALC BBB 7 25 4 7 1 0 0 5 6 0 0.280
1948 NWS BBB 2 7 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.143

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 84 68 657 37 15 61
3B 1 0 0 1 0 0
OF 2854 2610 7112 196 143 60
SS 2 0 0 0 0 0

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1948 BBB OF 12 12 17 1 2 0
1951 NY1 OF 121 0 353 12 9 2
1952 NY1 OF 34 0 109 6 1 2
1954 NY1 OF 151 151 448 13 7 9
1955 NY1 OF 152 152 407 23 8 8
1956 NY1 OF 152 150 415 14 9 6
1957 NY1 OF 150 149 422 14 9 5
1958 SFN OF 151 150 429 17 9 2
1959 SFN OF 147 143 353 6 6 2
1960 SFN OF 152 152 392 12 8 2
1961 SFN OF 153 151 385 7 8 3
1962 SFN OF 161 159 429 6 4 1
1963 SFN OF 157 155 397 7 8 1
1963 SFN SS 1 0 0 0 0 0
1964 SFN 1B 1 0 6 1 0 1
1964 SFN 3B 1 0 0 1 0 0
1964 SFN OF 155 151 370 10 6 4
1964 SFN SS 1 0 0 0 0 0
1965 SFN OF 151 148 337 13 6 4
1966 SFN OF 150 147 370 8 7 2
1967 SFN OF 134 123 277 3 7 0
1968 SFN 1B 1 1 9 0 0 1
1968 SFN OF 142 129 301 7 7 2
1969 SFN 1B 1 1 6 0 0 1
1969 SFN OF 108 96 199 4 5 0
1970 SFN 1B 5 4 34 3 0 3
1970 SFN OF 129 117 269 6 7 3
1971 SFN 1B 48 39 384 27 11 43
1971 SFN OF 84 77 192 2 6 1
1972 SFN OF 14 13 29 0 0 0
1972 NYN 1B 11 9 75 2 1 3
1972 NYN OF 49 44 109 3 3 1
1973 NYN 1B 17 14 143 4 3 9
1973 NYN OF 45 41 103 2 1 0

Career Games by Position

Position Games
First Base 83
Third Base 1
Shortstop 2
Left Field 13
Center Field 2829
Right Field 13

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1971 Roberto Clemente Award
1968 All-Star Game MVP
1968 Gold Glove OF
1967 Gold Glove OF
1966 Gold Glove OF
1966 TSN All-Star OF
1965 Gold Glove OF
1965 Most Valuable Player
1965 TSN All-Star OF
1965 TSN Player of the Year
1964 Gold Glove OF
1964 TSN All-Star OF
1963 All-Star Game MVP
1963 Gold Glove OF
1963 TSN All-Star OF
1962 Gold Glove OF
1962 TSN All-Star OF
1961 Gold Glove OF
1961 TSN All-Star OF
1960 Gold Glove CF
1960 TSN All-Star OF
1959 Gold Glove CF
1959 TSN All-Star OF
1958 Gold Glove CF
1958 TSN All-Star OF
1957 Gold Glove CF
1957 TSN All-Star OF
1954 Most Valuable Player
1954 TSN All-Star OF
1954 TSN Major League Player of the Year
1954 TSN Player of the Year
1951 Rookie of the Year
1951 TSN Rookie of the Year

Featured In Rankings

#4
Top 30 Outfielders in History of MLB Baseball
Ranked 4 of 30
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Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1971 Most Valuable Player NL 19th 11.0 336 0
1968 Most Valuable Player NL 13th 14.0 280 0
1966 Most Valuable Player NL 3rd 111.0 280 0
1965 Most Valuable Player NL 1st 224.0 280 9
1964 Most Valuable Player NL 6th 66.0 280 0
1963 Most Valuable Player NL 5th 102.0 280 0
1962 Most Valuable Player NL 2nd 202.0 280 7
1961 Most Valuable Player NL 6th 70.0 224 0
1960 Most Valuable Player NL 3rd 155.0 336 0
1959 Most Valuable Player NL 6th 85.0 336 0
1958 Most Valuable Player NL 2nd 185.0 336 3
1957 Most Valuable Player NL 4th 174.0 336 1
1956 Most Valuable Player NL 17th 14.0 336 0
1955 Most Valuable Player NL 4th 165.0 336 0
1954 Most Valuable Player NL 1st 283.0 336 16
1951 Rookie of the Year NL 1st 18.0 24 18