Maury Wills
The man who single-handedly brought stolen bases back from the dead stole 104 bags in 1962 — shattering Ty Cobb's 47-year-old record of 96. Wills didn't just run; he turned baserunning into psychological warfare, forcing pitchers to lose focus and infielders to abandon their positioning.
His .281 career average and 81 OPS+ tell you everything about his offensive limitations. Wills survived 14 seasons because speed was his currency, and he spent it wisely. The five All-Star selections and 1962 MVP award weren't about power — they were about manufacturing runs when home runs were scarce.
Wills proved that in baseball's dead-ball revival of the 1960s, a player could become indispensable without ever hitting for power. His 104 steals stood as the modern record until Lou Brock came along, but Wills had already changed how teams thought about the running game forever.
Career · Batting
14 seasons| Year | Team | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | LAD | 83 | 242 | 0 | 7 | .260 | .596 | — |
| 1960 | LAD | 148 | 516 | 0 | 27 | .295 | .673 | — |
| 1961 | LAD | 148 | 613 | 1 | 31 | .282 | .685 | — |
| 1962 | LAD | 165 | 695 | 6 | 48 | .299 | .720 | — |
| 1963 | LAD | 134 | 527 | 0 | 34 | .302 | .704 | — |
| 1964 | LAD | 158 | 630 | 2 | 34 | .275 | .641 | — |
| 1965 | LAD | 158 | 650 | 0 | 33 | .286 | .660 | — |
| 1966 | LAD | 143 | 594 | 1 | 39 | .273 | .622 | — |
| 1967 | PIT | 149 | 616 | 3 | 45 | .302 | .700 | — |
| 1968 | PIT | 153 | 627 | 0 | 31 | .278 | .642 | — |
| 1969 | LAD | 151 | 623 | 4 | 47 | .274 | .673 | — |
| 1970 | LAD | 132 | 522 | 0 | 34 | .270 | .651 | 92 |
| 1971 | LAD | 149 | 601 | 3 | 44 | .281 | .652 | 96 |
| 1972 | LAD | 71 | 132 | 0 | 4 | .129 | .357 | 54 |
| Career | 1942 | 7588 | 20 | 458 | .281 | — | — | |
Matchups, projections, comps — grounded in Lahman, Retrosheet, and Statcast.