Mays Makes "The Catch". New York Giant Willie Mays made baseball history when he snagged a long drive to center field over his shoulder in game one of the 1954 World Series. The following Encarta report describes not only that catch but other key plays Mays made as well. . Mays Makes "The Catch" Few players performed with as much talent, enthusiasm, and style as Willie Mays. The quintessential baseball player, Mays hit for power and average, was an excellent base runner, and possessed tremendous defensive skills, including a strong and accurate arm. The one play for which he is best remembered, known simply as The Catch, occurred in game one of the 1954 World Series. The over-the-shoulder catch and spinning throw showcased his athleticism, grace, and ability to make great plays at key moments. It also came early in Mays's career--his second full season, after he had been away from the game for two years in military service--when many fans were just learning about him. Furthermore, it came in the early days of televised baseball, when many people had never actually seen such exploits. Although Mays and other outfielders have probably made stops as spectacular, few, if any, are as memorable because The Catch helped define the amazing talents of the "Say Hey" Kid. Getting to this point had been quite a campaign for Mays. Only four years earlier Mays was playing for the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro National League for $300 a season. While the New York Giants were scouting another player in the league, they noticed Mays and signed him to a minor league contract. Mays broke into the major leagues the next year, 1951, as a 20-year-old. After failing to register a hit in his first several games, Mays grew despondent; at one point he was weeping in the clubhouse when Giants manager Leo Durocher stopped to reassure him. In the next contest Mays hit a home run off pitcher Warren Spahn. Mays eventually recorded 660 home runs and retired second on the alltime list behind Babe Ruth. Mays won the National League (NL) rookie of the year award in 1951 with a .274 batting average, 20 home runs, and 68 runs batted in (RBIs). The Giants won the pennant that season, capping a furious late-season rally with Bobby Thomson's legendary "shot heard 'round the world" home run as Mays waited on deck. Early in the next season Mays was called to military service, and he spent the rest of the 1952 season and the entire 1953 campaign in the United States Army. When Mays returned in 1954, he did so with thunder. He first dazzled the sporting public with his defensive work. The New York sportswriters were gushing in their praise, calling his defense in center field "miraculous," "fantastic," and "unbelievable." After Mays snagged a drive at the base of the outfield wall, one veteran writer called the play "spectacularly routine." As the season progressed, it was clear that Mays was an exceptional hitter, ranking among the league leaders in batting average, home runs, and RBIs. In mid-July Newsweek proclaimed that Mays was "the most astonishing baseball figure in 1954." Said Durocher, "Look, there are only five things a man can do to be great in this game. He can run, throw, hit, field, and think. Willie does them all, better than most and as good as the best of them. So what else can you call him but great?" Mays's thrilling play, quiet charm, and love of the game propelled him to celebrity status that season. He was the subject of an endless series of interviews and profiles, and a New York advertising agency called him "the hottest thing for us since Babe Ruth." Mays finished the regular season atop the league with a .345 batting average and 13 triples. He also registered 41 home runs and 110 RBIs. In the World Series the Giants faced the Cleveland Indians, who had compiled the best record in baseball, 111-43. The Indians had a formidable pitching staff that included Bob Lemon and Early Wynn, each of whom had won 23 games. The team also boasted a strong batting order led by Bobby Avila, who had paced the American League (AL) with a .341 batting average, and Larry Doby, the circuit's top power hitter with 32 home runs and 126 RBIs. Cleveland appeared to have the better team. Game one was held at the Polo Grounds in New York. In the eighth inning, with the score tied, 2-2, the Indians put two men on base, Doby and Al Rosen. Durocher brought in left-hander Don Liddle to face Cleveland first baseman Vic Wertz, who already had three hits in the game, including a two-run triple in the first. Wertz knocked a long drive to center field, the deepest part of the longest outfield in the league. A double or triple would score both runners, giving the Indians a two-run lead and a chance to take the lead in the series with a win in New York. Mays had another idea. He sprinted with his back to home plate, glanced over his left shoulder while on a full run, and snared the ball with a basket catch. He was 460 feet from the plate when he recorded the catch. Not satisfied just to make the catch, Mays immediately spun around and in one motion rifled a throw into the infield that allowed the runners to advance only one base. The Giants retired the Indians that inning without allowing them to score. The game went into extra innings, and in the tenth Wertz again launched a drive that had the potential to settle into the cavernous outfield for a triple or an inside-thepark home run, but Mays raced over and cut off the ball to keep Wertz to a double. Mays later said that he felt that play was more remarkable than The Catch. In the bottom of the tenth, Mays walked, stole second, and scored the game-winning run on pinch-hitter Dusty Rhodes's three-run homer that traveled a mere 260 feet down the right-field line. Life magazine said Mays "saved the first game--and perhaps broke Cleveland's spirit--with one of the greatest of all World Series catches." The Giants swept the Indians in four games. After the World Series he was named NL most valuable player. "In view of his record, his choice was regarded almost as a foregone conclusion," the New York Times said. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
