Maury Wills, R.I.P.

Maury Wills, the first player in MLB history to steal 100 bases in a single season, passed away on Monday. No cause of death has been released. Wills was 89. 

A native of Washington, D.C., Wills signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1951. The Dodgers twice traded away Wills as a minor leaguer first to the Cincinnati Redlegs in 1956 and the Detroit Tigers in 1958 only to reacquire him. 

Wills would finally make his MLB debut with the Dodgers in 1959. By this the Dodgers were in Los Angeles and that year would win their first World Series title on the West Coast. The following year Wills would become the team's everyday shortstop and would lead the NL in stolen bases for six consecutive seasons. 

Wills would have a season for the ages in 1962 when he became the first player to record 100 stolen bases in a season when he swiped 104 bases. For this, Wills would be named the NL MVP though the Dodgers would fall short of a NL pennant to the San Francisco Giants. However, Wills would win two more World Series titles with the Dodgers in 1963 and 1965. During the '65 campaign, Wills would steal 94 bases finishing third in NL MVP balloting behind teammate Sandy Koufax and Willie Mays, the man he bested for the award three years earlier.

Following the 1967 season, the Dodgers traded Wills to the Pittsburgh Pirates in a deal for Bob Bailey. Wills lasted two seasons in Pittsburgh before he was selected in the expansion by the Montreal Expos in 1969. But Wills' stay in Montreal was short-lived as he would return to the Dodgers in mid-season along with Manny Mota for Ron Fairly. Wills remained with the Dodgers through the 1972 season after which he retired. In 14 big league seasons, Wills collected 2,134 hits for a .281 lifetime batting average with 20 HR and 458 RBI along with 586 stolen bases which ranks him 20th on MLB's all-time list, was named to 7 NL All-Star Teams, earned three World Series rings and bestowed with two Gold Gloves. Between 1978 and 1992, Wills appeared on the BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot but never earned more than 40% of the vote. The Golden Era Committee considered Wills' candidacy for Cooperstown in 2015 and again this year but did not induct him. 

After Wills hung up his cleats, he spent several years as a color commentator for NBC while managing in the Mexican League. During the 1980 season, Wills became the third African-American to manage a big league club when he replaced Darrell Johnson to skipper the Seattle Mariners. However, the Mariners would dismiss Wills early in the 1981 season and he would never manage again. During this time, Wills' son Bump played in the major leagues with the Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs and would later play in Japan.

Wills was also an accomplished guitar and banjo player. While Wills was never enshrined into the Baseball Hall of Fame, his banjo has a place in the Country Music Hall of Fame. I leave you with Wills playing guitar and singing the folk standard "Wayfaring Stranger". R.I.P.