The back end of Willie Mays' historic career

Willie Mays/ Wikimedia Commons

After Willie Mays’ dominant 1965 season where he won his second MVP, his production began to decline. Nonetheless Mays still was a very effective player in this stage of his career. Mays won three more Gold Gloves from 1966-69 giving him twelve for his career which is tied for most all time among outfielders. Despite being in the latter stage of his career he remained a perennial All-Star.


As one would expect, Mays lost much of his power and speed with age. This resulted in a steep decline his home run and stolen base totals. To cope with his deteriorating natural ability he worked on his plate discipline. Mays averaged more walks per 162 games after 1965 than prior to it and was able to set career highs in walks and OBP in 1971 with 112 and .425 respectively. Both of these numbers led the league.

In the twilight of his career Mays was traded to the Mets for pitcher Charlie Williams. Although he was just a part time player with the Mets, the fans were thrilled to see him back in New York. Mays hit a game winning home run in his first game with the Mets and had the opportunity to play in the 1973 World Series in which he drove in the game winning RBI in the twelfth inning of game two. The Mets went on to lose the series in what would be the last season of Mays’ historic career.

Mays retired with an unparalleled resume which includes his 20 All-Star game appearances, 12 Gold Gloves, 2 MVP's and more home runs then any other center fielder in history. Many people consider Mays the greatest player of all time including former San Francisco Giants manager Charlie Fox who claimed, "This man dominates a game like no other player in the history of the game. I don't think there is any play he can't make." Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax agrees with Fox stating, "I can't believe that Babe Ruth was a better player than Willie Mays. Ruth is to baseball what Arnold Palmer is to golf. He got the game moving. But I can't believe he could run as well as Mays, and I can't believe he was any better an outfielder."