You can add your name to the list of supporters to induct Maury into the Baseball Hall of Fame by visiting our Petition Page

HALL OF FAME Background

Special thanks to Andrew Guilford for the following commentary.

There is now a great campaign underway to get Maury Wills into the Hall of Fame, and we need your help. If you agree, and want to join the campaign, simply forward this page to all the baseball fans you know. If you're not yet convinced, review the following irrefutable convincing arguments, and then send this page to all the baseball fans you know. You can find more information at: www.maurywills.com .

MAURY WILLS, HALL OF FAME SHORTSTOP
After he broke Ty Cobb's 47 year-old stolen base record by stealing an incredible 104 bases in 1962, Maury Wills was often referred to as a "Future Hall of Famer." He was generally thought to be the very best shortstop of his time, appearing on 7 All-Star Game rosters. In 1962, he was thought to be the best player in all baseball, winning  the National League Most Valuable Player award, and other awards among those listed below. Many people now are suprised to learn that Mr. Wills is not in the Hall of Fame. His lifetime batting average is higher than many Hall of Fame middle infielders. For example, his average is 21 points higher than Bill Mazeroski, 19 points higher than Luis Aparicio and Ozzie Smith, 12 points higher than Pee Wee Reese, and 8 points higher than Phil Rizzuto. Most dramatically, his place in the Hall of Fame is revealed by the following chart, which shows his statistics alone are as good or better than other Hall of Fame middle infielders playing near his time.

Here is a brief list of the accomplishments of Mr. Wills.

• Set all time season record for stolen bases with 104 in 1962
• 1961 & 1962 winner of the Gold Glove Award
• 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, & 1965 leader in stolen bases
• 1961, 1962, & 1965 The Sporting News Outstanding NL Shortstop
• 1962 National League Most Valuable Player
• 1962 Hickok Belt Award winner as the Professional Athlete of the Year
• 1962 Sporting News Major League Player of the Year
• 1962 Sport Magazine Man of the Year
• 1962 Associated Press Athlete of the Year
• 1962 Winner of the Gold Glove Award
• Tied NL record for most years (4) leading league in singles
• Named Outstanding Citizen of Spokane Washington
• Received Sid Mercer Award, New York Chapter, BBWAA
• Selected to 7 All Star Games
• 1962 All Star Game Most Valuable Player
• 1971 Major League Shortstop of the Year
• First $100,000-a-year shortstop
• In 1962, was 1 hit short of 1922 shortstop hits record
• Was 1 at bat short of season record for at bats in 1962
• Tied for league lead in triples in 1962
• Set all time record for most regular season games played with 165 in 1962
• Hit homers from both sides of the plate in 1 game
• Led NL shortstops in game assists & total chances in 1965
• In 1965 World Series, tied record with 4 hits in 1 game
• In 1965 World Series, Game 5, tied record for shortstops by starting 3 double plays

Maury Wills was the "original" L.A. Dodger superstar. The Dodgers finished next to last in 1958, the year the club moved to Los Angeles. The next season, they won the World Series! The principal difference between the seventh place team and the one that won it all was Maury Wills. Everyone else on the roster (except Wally Moon who was traded from St. Louis) had been on the team when it came from Brooklyn. It is impossible to overstate Maury's importance to the new L.A. Dodger franchise, and thus to baseball itself. He was the difference between a cellar-hugging team and a championship team!

MAURY WILLS, CHOICE OF EXPERTS

During his playing days, and over the last three decades, Maury Wills has been viewed by baseball experts as a Hall of Fame shortstop. Joe Morgan regularly states that Maury deserves to be in the Hall, and he has been joined by Lou Brock and Orlando Cepeda in support of Maury's election to the Hall. As recently as July 23, 2002, ESPN.com carried an article calling for Maury's election because he changed the game. In December 2000, the San Francisco Chronicle ran an article stating that Maury belongs in the Hall because, again, he changed the game. In 2000, former Dodgers Al Downing and Jeff Torborg wrote articles calling for Maury's entry into the Hall. Here is a sample of what baseball experts have said over the years.

"There should be automatic entry for anyone who changed the game: Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, even Maury Wills for his singular impact on the National League's style of play." Bruce Jenkins, S.F. Chronicle, December 24, 2000

"Maury brought back the stolen base. He changed the dynamics of the game. You knew most home run hitters would hit a home run or strike out; you could just play your position. When Maury was on first base, you had to pay attention to him every pitch." Joe Morgan, N.Y. Times, March 13, 2002, calling for Maury's election to the Hall

"Maury Wills started a trend with his 104 steals in 1962...Maury is a phenomenon of modern baseball. He is an all-time master at getting on and around the bases on his own momentum." Jackie Robinson, Sport Magazine, 1966

"The Hall of Fame should be made up of the very best of three types of players: those who were great leaders, those who dominated their era statistically, and those who 'changed the game.' By those criteria, Maury Wills, despite just 20 career homers (Ozzie got there with 28) was considered a Hall of Fame-caliber player during his career, should have been in the Hall a decade ago, and, with the inclusion of Rizzuto, Aparicio and now Ozzie Smith, might be even more deserving now." Bob Stevens, ESPN.com, July 23, 2002

"It will now take a Veterans' Committee push to induct [Maury] into his rightful spot in the Hall of Fame." Bill Plaschke, L.A. Times, September 22, 2002

"What am I doing in a Hall of Fame if Maury Wills or Enos Slaughter can't get in one?" Hall of Fame Journalist Jim Murray, April 6, 1978

"In perhaps the biggest error in baseball, the sportswriters failed to vote Maury into the Hall of Fame. Now it is up to the Veterans Committee to remedy the mistakes. * * * His numbers compare favorably to . . . [Hall of Famers] Pee Wee Reese and Phil Rizzuto. And Wills fits the most important criteria: If he played the game, would it be different? The answer is yes. He was a very unique player who changed the game and should be honored for it." Jeff Torborg, FOXSports.com, July 13, 2000

"What player deserves to be in the Hall . . .? One that immediately comes to mind is an old teammate of mine in Los Angeles. Maury Wills." Al Downing, FOXSports.com, July 13, 2000

"While active, I think it was generally assumed that Wills was a Hall of Fame-caliber player. . . . He was a smart player, and, as a Gold Glove winner, .300 hitter and base-stealing champion on an outstanding team, a player with too many positives to be lightly dismissed." Bill James, Historical Baseball Abstract, 1985, p. 372

"Here's a list of non-Hall of Famers, mostly players of the last five decades, who in their day were considered superstars: Gil Hodges, Phil Rizzuto . . . Maury Wills . . . Nellie Fox. . . . A strong case could be made that some of the shunned were better or as capable players as the incumbents." George Vass, "These Greats Belong in the Hall of Fame." Baseball Digest, January 1981

"Wills belongs in the Hall of Fame with Mantle." Allan Malamud, L.A. Times, August 14, 1995

"In the minds of those baseball writers who vote in the Hall of Fame elections, at least five old shortstops have disappeared -- Luis Aparicio, Harold (Pee Wee) Reese, Phil Rizzuto, Marty Marion, and Maury Wills. . . . Each of the forgotten five certainly deserve to be enshrined." Dave Anderson, N.Y. Times, March 15, 1982

"People who grew up in California . . . lectured me that Wills was as skillful and as accomplished as certain other shortstops in the Hall. * * * Maury Wills is a Hall of Famer." Mike Downey, L.A. Times, January 8, 1992

"I don't think [Rollie Fingers] deserves to make it ahead of . . . Maury Wills. . . . . Wills changed the entire structure of baseball in 1962 when he stole a then-unthinkable 104 bases and . . . he played on four Dodger pennant teams and three World Series winners and . . . he gathered 2,134 hits and . . . he always was at his best in crisis situations." Doug Krikorian

"It's time for Maury Wills, who revolutionized the stolen base, to be elected to the Hall of Fame." Allan Malamud, L.A. Herald Examiner, November 30, 1987

"Maury Wills . . . deserves [making the Hall of Fame] as much as some who might and more than some who have." Jim Murray, L.A. Times, January 10, 1988

Hall of Famer Joe Tinker's "credentials for the Hall of Fame are as good as, and no better than, those of Pee Wee Reese . . . and Maury Wills." Bill James, Historical Baseball Abstract, 1985, p. 370

MAURY WILLS, REVOLUTIONIZER OF BASEBALL
When Maury Wills stole 104 bases in 1962, he revolutionized the game, and made it much more interesting. Incredibly, Maury got caught only 13 times while breaking the record of Ty Cobb who had gotten caught 38 times in stealing 96 bases in 1915! True fans of baseball know its great beauty lies in its inner game of using strategy and skill around the base paths to turn runners into runs. In the fifties, baseball had moved away from this inner game looking to power over speed. Maury single-handedly brought back to baseball the beauty of base running. Maury entered the Majors in 1959, and broke the Major League stolen base record in 1962. That is exactly when the stolen base totals of the National League began to spike upwards. The year before Maury entered the Majors, the National League had a total of 388 stolen bases. In 1962, Maury Wills alone stole over 25% of the league total the year before he made the Majors.

MAURY WILLS, CHAMPION
As noted, Maury Wills came up to the Dodgers in 1959 and immediately helped them win the Pennant and the World Series that year. In the short period between 1959 and 1966, Maury helped the Dodgers win 4 Pennants and 3 Championships. They missed another Pennant and possible World Series by one pitch in the third game of the 1962 playoff with the Giants. (Maury did all he could to win that third game, stealing 3 bases, setting the National League stolen base record at 104, and going 4 for 5.) Most people think post season play is important in electing Hall of Famers, and Maury certainly fits the bill. Fairness should also be a factor. The Giants from 1959-1966 won no World Series and only one Pennant (by that same one pitch in the 1962 playoff). Yet that Giant team now has 5 people in the Hall of Fame: the magnificent Mays (who came in second to Wills in the 1962 MVP voting), the mighty McCovey, the majestic Marichal, Perry, and Cepeda (who publicly has stated that Maury belongs in the Hall). The dominant Dodger team from that era has only 2 Hall of Famers: Koufax and Drysdale (Snider & Sutton were only involved on the margins of the 1959-66 period). Fairness demands that this great Dodger team have at least one more player in the Hall compared to the 5 of their Giant contemporaries, and Maury Wills is the player most obviously a part of that dominant Dodger team, playing a major role in all seasons during the dominant 1959-66 run.

MAURY WILLS, BASEBALL AMBASSADOR TO THE WEST COAST
As noted, Maury Wills was the "original" L.A. Dodger superstar. After Major League baseball came to the West Coast in 1958, Maury soon became the central focus of excitement that riveted a star-studded Los Angeles to the beauty of baseball. Maury's running style and intelligent, engaging personality captivated everyone from the biggest entertainment stars to the man on the street in Los Angeles and indeed, around the country. And with this excitement came championships! The Dodgers finished next to last in 1958, the year the club moved to Los Angeles. The next season, they won the World Series! The principal difference between the seventh place team and the one that won it all was Maury Wills. Everyone else on the roster (except Wally Moon who was traded from St. Louis and helped stabilize the Dodgers) had been on the team when it came from Brooklyn. If you lived in Los Angeles in the early 60s you know that Maury Wills brought the excitement and championships that made Los Angeles one of the most successful baseball franchises, setting incredible attendance records. It is impossible to overstate Maury's importance to the new L.A. Dodger franchise, and thus to baseball itself. He was the exciting difference between a cellar-hugging team and a championship team! Maury has also been a fine ambassador by committing himself to a lifetime of community service for many different worthy causes.

MAURY WILLS, PROFESSOR OF THE GAME
Many students of baseball admire Maury Wills for his intelligent, thoughtful analysis of the game. I saw Mr. Wills purposely drop a pop up to the infield with a fast runner at first and a slow batter, thus brilliantly forcing the fast runner off the bases, replacing him with the slow batter. Many who have watched baseball for many years have never seen this intelligent, intriguing play made by anyone other than Maury. His great knowledge of the game made Maury Wills the third black manager in the Majors.

MAURY WILLS, INSPIRING PERSONALITY
Maury's life is a story of determination. After lingering in the Minors for 8 1/2 years, he made himself a Major Leaguer through perseverance and dedication. Central in this process was learning to switch hit, under the guidance of Bobby Bragan, at a difficult time in the middle of his career. That same intensiveness is probably what created his addiction problem, and then allowed him to overcome that challenge as well. Maury has also given hope to many by showing that there is a place in baseball for smaller players that work hard and play hard and smart. The 1961 baseball season was all about the power hitters Mantle and Maris chasing Ruth's record of 60 homers.

Almost overnight, in 1962, Maury turned the nation's attention to a smaller player chasing Cobb's stolen base record. Thus today, it has been said that baseball, unlike football and basketball, is open to players of average or even diminutive size!

MAURY WILLS, GOLD GLOVE SHORTSTOP
As a shortstop, Maury Wills combined the speed of a sprinter and the quickness of a base stealer. Maury began his career as a pitcher, so he added a great arm to his speed and quickness. The result was a shortstop with great intelligence, great range, and a great arm. Twice he won Gold Glove Awards.

MAURY WILLS, THE COMPLETE PACKAGE
For all these reasons and more, Maury Wills belongs in the Hall of Fame, so please pass this email on to all the baseball fans you know (email the webmaster for a copy).

You can add your name to the list of supporters to induct Maury into the Baseball Hall of Fame by visiting our Petition Page

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