Willie Mays had it all. Size. Speed. Power. Grace. He was the prototypical baseball player.

 

STATS
YEAR
 G AB H 2B 3B HR TB R RBI BB AVG
1951
 121 464 127 22 5 20 219 59 68 56 .274
1952
 34 127 30 2 4 4 52 17 23 16 .236
1954
 151 565 195 33 13 41 377 119 110 66 .345
1955
 152 580 185 18 13 51 382 123 127 79 .319
1956
 152 578 171 27 8 36 322 101 84 68 .296
1957
 152 585 195 26 20 35 366 112 97 76 .333
1958
 152 600 208 33 11 29 350 121 96 78 .347
1959
 151 575 180 43 5 34 335 125 104 65 .313
1960
 153 595 190 29 12 29 330 107 103 61 .319
1961
 154 572 176 32 3 40 334 129 123 81 .308
1962
 162 621 189 36 5 49 382 130 141 78 .304
1963
 157 596 187 32 7 38 347 115 103 66 .314
1964
 157 578 171 21 9 47 351 121 111 82 .296
1965
 157 558 177 21 3 52 360 118 112 76 .317
1966
 152 552 159 29 4 37 307 99 103 70 .288
1967
 141 486 128 22 2 22 220 83 70 51 .263
1968
 148 498 144 20 5 23 243 84 79 67 .289
1969
 117 403 114 17 3 13 176 64 58 49 .283
1970
 139 478 139 15 2 28 242 94 83 79 .291
1971 136 417 113 24 5 18 201 82 61 112 .271
1972 88 244 61 11 1 8 98 35 22 60 .250
1973 66 209 44 10 0 6 72 24 25 27 .211
TOTAL 2992 10881 3283 523 140 660 6066 2062 1903 1463 .302

STORY
Perhaps no player so excited baseball quite the way the "Say Hey Kid" did in the 1950s and 1960s. Willie Howard Mays was electirc. At the plate, on the bases, in the field-especially in the field. He tore the minor leagues up after the New York Giants signed the 19-year-old in 1950. The manager, Leo Durocher, had seen the 5-foot-10, 170 pound Mays at work in the outfield. He could chase down anything that stayed in the park and had the arm strength to make a throw from wherever his fleet feet had taken him. His speed and instincts allowed him to play closer to the infield than most center fielders, so he saved Giants pitchers numerous singles. As he grew older, Mays' power showed no signs of diminishing. Between the ages of thirty and forty, Mays averaged 35 home runs per season at Candlestick Park. In 1971, at the age of forty, Mays stole 23 bases, more than he had in ten years. Say Hey.