January 7th, 2020 at 8:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka In 1962, Dodgers shortstop Maury Wills set an unfathomable modern-era (since 1900) record, when he stole 104 bases; a record that most baseball fans and experts thought would never be broken. The now 87-year-old should-be-Hall-of-Famer finished his brilliant 14-year MLB career with 586 stolen bases, two World Series rings, a MVP trophy, seven All-Star Game appearances, an All-Star Game MVP trophy, a National League Player of the Year award, and two Gold Gloves. (Did I mention that Maury Wills should be in the Hall of Fame?).
Wills’ modern-era stolen base record was indeed broken – several times, in fact – and currently sits (and probably always will) at 130 by Oakland A’s Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson in 1982. St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Famer Lou Brock and Cardinals great Vince Coleman also eventually topped Wills’ once thought-to-be unbreakable record, with Coleman doing so three times.
So what’s the big deal, you ask? The big deal is that the stolen bases, much like complete games for pitchers, is absolutely positively a lost skill and dying art.
To be fair and much to the credit of catchers like Hall of Famer Iván (Pudge) Rodriguez, future Hall of Famer Yadier Molina, Jason Kendall, Brad Ausmus and even 36-year-old Russell Martin, the running game has changed significantly since the chants of “Go…Go…Go” echoed through the hills of Chavez Ravine whenever Wills got on base.
But stolen bases aren’t completely gone from the game. During the 2019 regular season, Dodgers superstar outfielder/first baseman Cody Bellinger stole a team-best 15 bases – 31 behind Seattle Mariners outfielder and MLB leader Mallex Smith‘s 46, so there’s that.
But for you bottom-line types, especially veteran (old) baseball fans, it is extremely unlikely that we will ever again see anything even remotely close to what Maury Wills accomplished in 1962 during his remarkable 14-year should-be-in-the-Hall-of-Fame MLB career.
Did I mention that Maury Wills should be in the Hall of Fame?
Play Ball!
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I think it will come back. There are too many guys with unbelievable physical speed for it to be igno… https://t.co/OCelLh1ZDY
I agree, Maury Wills should be in the hall of fame, which doesn’t seem to have too many Dodgers in it. At least none from recent years.
Recent Dodger inductees are Mike Piazza and Pedro Martinez. Oops
In those years the a Dodgers were the best team in baseball and were led by their great pitching and their ability to manufacture runs. How many times did Wills get a walk or leg out an infield hit and then score without further hits. And how many times did the Dodgers win 1-0 or 2-1 based on these small ball antics.
1. Wills changed the game ( for a while)
2. You can’t tell the story of baseball in the 60’s without him.
It’s a sin that he is not in the hall of fame.
Maury Willis won 3 World Championships, not two as indicated. Maury was a key factor in World Series wins in 1959, 1963, and 1965.
No Dodger ever contributed more to the offense than Maury Wills.
I’ve never passed on an opportunity to speak up for Maury yet.
Though I still support his HOF induction I’m going to take another track here. Maury should be added to the Dodger Legends this year. As you pointed out, he’s 87. Let’s do it while he’s around to accept the honor.