#250 Willie Mays - San Francisco Giants

Willie Howard Mays
San Francisco Giants
Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'10"  Weight:  170
Born:  May 6, 1931, Westfield, AL
Signed:  Signed by the New York Giants as an amateur free agent, June 20, 1950
Major League Teams:  New York Giants 1951-1952, 1954-1957; San Francisco Giants 1958-1972; New York Mets 1972-1973
Hall of Fame Induction:  1979

In many ways, these posts covering the cards of well-known Hall of Famers are much harder to compose than the posts for the cards of short-time, little known players.  What could I possibly write here about Willie Mays, the "Say Hey Kid," that hasn't already been written or that properly pays tribute to one of the greatest baseball players of all time?

The first line of Mays' Hall of Fame plaque sums up his career fairly well:  "One of baseball's most colorful and exciting stars, excelled in all phases of the game."  Mays was the 1951 Rookie of the Year, the National League's MVP in 1954 and 1965, a 24-time All-Star (a record), a 12-time Gold Glove winner, and the batting champ in 1954, the same season he led the Giants to their first World Series title since 1933.  His Baseball Reference WAR of 156.2 is third all-time for position players behind his godson Barry Bonds and Babe Ruth.  Upon his retirement, he ranked third all-time in home runs (660), runs (2,062) and total bases (6,066).  Mays' #24 was retired by the Giants in 1972, and the World Series MVP trophy was renamed for him in 2017.

He played the game with joyful abandon, and I would have loved to have seen him play live.

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1956 Topps blog.

Building the SetDecember 25, 2021 from Lake Havasu City, AZ - Card #484

Acquired from Kyle's Sports Cards from Lake Havasu City, Arizona in early December, Doug's "big" baseball card Christmas present from Santa was this Mays card.  While he was way more into the PS5 found under the Christmas tree, I like the idea of continuing the tradition started by my Dad and then continued by my Mom of Santa bringing one blockbuster card each Christmas.  Last year it was the Steve Carlton (#477) rookie card, and this year it was the arguably the second or third priciest card needed for our set behind Sandy Koufax (#300) and well behind the Mickey Mantle (#350) card.  To Doug's credit, he of course realize this was an expensive card and I'm proud of him for knowing how important Mays was to the game.

With everyone vaccinated and the pandemic hopefully in our rear-view mirror, this past Christmas was marked by a return to large family gatherings, a ton of food and a lot of laughs.  I wrote about my Mom's baseball-related gifts to me over at The Phillies Room.

1975 Topps #203

1982 Topps Kmart 20th Anniversary #8

1997 Topps Willie Mays Reprints #19

1997 Topps Willie Mays Finest Reprints #19

2016 Topps Berger's Best #B2-1965

The Card / Giants Team Set
I'd consider this a fairly iconic baseball card and it's been reprinted several times over the years when celebrating Mays' second league MVP win in 1965.  Personally, I first saw the card as part of the 1982 Topps Kmart 20th Anniversary set, and then again a few years later on the MVP subset found within the 1975 Topps set my Dad and I were collecting.  The back of the card contains a brief summary of some of Mays' accolades, and then just lines of glorious statistics. 

1965 Season
Mays had an amazing season, and arguably the best of his career.  In 157 games, he batted .317 with 52 home runs (to lead the league) and 112 RBIs.  He led the National League in on-base percentage (.398), slugging percentage (.645), and OPS (1.043).  Mays led off and played center field for the National League All-Stars, playing the entire game and going 1 for 3 with a lead-off home run and a pair of walks.  He won his ninth Gold Glove in a row.  Mays hit his 500th career home run on September 13th in the Astrodome off Astros' pitcher Don Nottebart (#469), joining a club that consisted of only four other players at the time - Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, Mel Ott and Ted Williams.  Following the season, with the Giants missing the World Series when they finished two games behind the Dodgers, Mays won his second MVP award by besting Dodgers' teammates Koufax and Maury Wills.

1951 Bowman #305

1954 Topps #90

1959 Topps #464

1961 Topps #579

1973 Topps #305

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1951 Bowman #305
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (25):  1952-1975, 1986
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2022 Topps Opening Day Bomb Squad #BS-6

2,256 - Mays non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 3/12/22.

Sources:  
1956 Topps Blog

Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
National Baseball Hall of Fame
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Previous Card:  #249 Dave McNally - Baltimore Orioles

Next Card:  #251 Billy Herman MG - Boston Red Sox

#6 1964 N.L. RBI Leaders - Boyer, Santo & Mays

Beginning in 1961, Topps started including league leader cards in its sets and there are 12 league leaders cards kicking off the 1965 Topps set.

Building the Set
November 19, 2020 from Brunswick, OH - Card #175
I hit a lull with our 1965 Topps set additions in the September, October and November timeframe as the postseason ended and we faced another long winter without baseball.  This late fall/early winter would be different of course as we were still dealing with the pandemic and unable to gather inside without being safely masked up and without social distancing measures in place.  Our family continued to find happiness in small things, catching up on television shows together (The Mandalorian, Amazing Race), watching movies and planning for things we'd do in 2021 once things started to approach some sense of normalcy.  Like most of the country, we were glued to our TV in early November as the election results slowly arrived and like most of the country we celebrated the outcome with a sense of genuine relief and hope.  It felt good to be able to hope again.

In mid-November, straddled with a case of general ploppiness, my wife Jenna suggested I look for some new baseball cards to help raise my spirits.  I gladly obliged and decided to try to knock a few more cards off our first series checklist.  I had set a goal for myself to try to complete the first series by the end of 2020, and while I won't accomplish the goal I did come relatively close.  As of this writing, we need 22 of the 88 cards from the set's first series and I'd like to pick up the pace a little once the calendar turns to 2021.

This is one of five cards from the first series purchased from Robbies Cards via eBay and this was the most expensive of the bunch at $15, thanks entirely to the presence of Willie Mays (#250).  Our remaining additions to the set for the year would arrive in the form of Christmas presents.

The Card / Cardinals Team Set / Cubs Team Set / Giants Team Set
Ken Boyer (#100) set his career high in 1964 with 119 RBIs, and this was the only year he'd lead the league in any major offensive category.  His 111 RBIs in 1963 found him in second place behind Hank Aaron's (#170) 130.  Boyer's big year led the Cardinals to a World Series victory and resulted in Boyer's selection as the league's MVP.

Ron Santo (#110) never led the league in RBIs despite topping the 100-RBI plateau in four different seasons.  He had 114 in 1964 and he'd hit his career high in 1969 with 123.  Mays would also never lead the league in RBIs and he possessed a staggering 10 seasons in which he drove in 100 runs or more.  Mays' career high came in 1962 when he drove in 141 runs, but he still finished in second place behind Tommy Davis (#370) and his 153 RBIs.

On the back of the card, Mays' and Santo's places in the ordering of the leaders is swapped for some reason.  Tony Taylor (#296) squeaked onto the back of the card as he drove in his 46th run on the final day of the season on October 4th.

Previous Card:  #5 1964 A.L. RBI Leaders

Next Card:  #7 1964 A.L. ERA Leaders

#4 1964 N.L. Home Run Leaders - Mays, Williams, Callison, Cepeda & Hart

Beginning in 1961, Topps started including league leader cards in its sets and there are 12 league leaders cards kicking off the 1965 Topps set.

Building the Set
April 29, 2020 from Huntington, WV - Card #93

In the middle of the sixth week of the coronavirus lockdown, I decided I needed some cardboard therapy.  The last card I had added for our set was back in the beginning of April when I went searching for the Al Kaline (#130) card upon his passing.  With no clear direction in mind, I went out to eBay and decided I'd pool my budget together for a few of the bigger cards in the set.  I browsed aimlessly until deciding on a reasonable strategy for my search - I'd look for cards in the order we needed them.  We already have cards #1 and #2, so I started looking for cards #3 and #4.  If I use this strategy again, I might start going backwards too, looking for cards #598, #597, etc.  I realize I'm lucky I can still buy baseball cards at this time and I don't take it for granted that I'm able to do so.  I'd like to think that buying these few cards is also helping the sellers in some small way.

I bought this from a seller in Huntington, WV on a Sunday and the card arrived at our house on Wednesday.  Both this card and card #3, the A.L. Home Run Leaders card, arrived on the same day.  The price I paid for it was fair and the happiness it brought me upon its arrival was immediate and much needed.

At the end of April, the end of the lockdown was still no where in sight, although some states had started to (most likely prematurely) ease restrictions.  My family was safe and healthy and we had settled into our new routine, only leaving the house for walks, to play outside or to venture to the grocery store.  What a strange, stressful and scary time.

The Card
This is one of two league leaders cards featuring five players, with the other being the A.L. Pitching Leaders (#9) card.  Seven of the top eight N.L. home run leaders in 1964 were from the Giants (3), Cubs (2) or Phillies (2).  There's an uncorrected error on the back as Willie Mays (#250) is given a team designation of "N.Y." even though the Giants had moved to San Francisco seven years earlier.

Mays ran away with this title, his third to date, and he'd add one more home run title to his resume in 1965 when he hit a career high 52 home runs.  Billy Williams (#220) never led the league in home runs, although he did finish twice in both 1964 and 1970 and he finished in the top ten in the league nine times.

Orlando Cepeda (#360) had led the league in home runs in 1961 with 46.  Johnny Callison (#310) made the cut with his three home run performance on September 25th in a game against the Braves.  Jim Ray Hart (#395) snuck onto the front of this card with his 31st home run on October 2nd, the penultimate game of the season for the Giants.

Flipping to the back, and similar to what Topps did with the A.L. home run leaders card, every N.L. player to have hit a grand slam during the 1964 season is listed.

Giants Team Set / Cubs Team Set / Phillies Team Set

Previous Card:  #3 1964 A.L. Home Run Leaders

Next Card:  #5 1964 A.L. RBI Leaders