Willie Mays: The Hall of Famer Whose Start Was Not So Major

Willie Mays / 1955 Topps via Virtual Card Collection

Willie Mays is arguably one of the best players ever in the game of baseball. The right-handed centerfielder born on May 6th in Westfield, Alabama, stood 5’10” and weighed 170 pounds. After a prolific 22 season career, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1979, his first year of eligibility.

Surprisingly, this Hall of Famer had a very disappointing start in the majors in 1951 playing for the New York Giants. He was hitless in his first twelve at-bats. This was a shock to everyone, as he had a batting average of .477, along with eight home runs and 35 RBIs in 35 games played in Triple-A Minneapolis. Even before the minors he had a solid reputation, as he led the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League to the championships and helped them win it all in 1948 at the young age of 17.

His first hit was a homer in 1951 over the left field fence of the Polo Grounds off pitcher Warren Spahn of the Braves. Spahn remembered the moment, "He was something like zero for twenty-one the first time I saw him. His first major league hit was a home run off me and I'll never forgive myself. We might have gotten rid of Willie forever if I'd only struck him out." Other than that, his first two years were relatively quiet with 121 games played and 60 strikeouts and .409 slugging.

Then in 1952 Mays was drafted by the Army and served 22 months in the Korean War. His time overseas really sparked his bat, as he had a complete turnaround and led the league in numerous statistical categories. In 1954 he led the league in slugging with .667 and OPS (on-base percentage + slugging) with a total of 1.078.

Later that season he went on to make one of the greatest catches ever seen in baseball history. It occurred in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series between the New York Giants and the Cleveland Indians in the Polo Grounds in New York. The score was 2-2 and it was the top of the 8th inning, with nobody out and runners on 1st and 2nd base. Known simply as "The Catch", Mays was able to make a catch on-the-run over his shoulder while facing the bleachers to record the out. What made this catch possible was the unusually deep center field at the Polo Grounds, which was 483 feet away from home plate. This catch is one of the most memorable ones because in addition to it's degree of difficulty, it is also remembered because of its importance. Immediately after he had the ball, Mays spun and threw the ball with a mighty heave to the infield, losing his hat in the process. This prevented the runners on base from scoring. The Giants then went on to win the game, and later to sweep the Indians in four games, arguably because "The Catch" prevented the Indians from winning the first game.

He later went on to make 24 All-Star Game appearances in 20 seasons and win Gold Gloves every year from 1957-1968. His superstar career proved to be amazing, and its start definitely deceived everyone immersed in the world of baseball.