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Maurice Morning Wills
Montreal Expos
Third Base
Born: October 2, 1932, Washington, DC
Signed: Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent before 1951 season
Major League Teams: Los Angeles Dodgers 1959-1966; Pittsburgh Pirates 1967-1968; Montreal Expos 1969; Los Angeles Dodgers 1969-1972
World Series Appearances: Los Angeles Dodgers 1959, 1963, 1965-1966
As a Manager: Seattle Mariners 1980-1981
Died: September 19, 2022, Sedona, AZ (age 89)
Maury Wills was an integral part of four Dodgers teams that went to the World Series in the late 1950s and 1960s, winning it all three times - 1959, 1963 and 1965. As the regular shortstop for those Dodgers teams, Wills used his speed to his advantage, and he was nearly unstoppable during his MVP campaign of 1962. Wills stole 104 bases that season, breaking Ty Cobb's modern era single-season record of 96, and edging out Willie Mays (#190) for league MVP honors. He had been named the All-Star Game MVP earlier in the season, the first year the award was handed out. Wills was a seven-time All-Star and a two-time Gold Glove winner. He led the National League six times in stolen bases and his career total of 586 is currently 20th all-time.
Wills played for 14 seasons, accumulating a .281 average, 2,134 hits, 177 doubles and 71 triples. He briefly managed the Mariners for 83 games straddling the 1980 and 1981 seasons, guiding the club to a 26-56 record. Wills returned to the Dodgers organization in the 2000s, working as a club ambassador and spring training guest instructor. His son, Bump Wills, played for six seasons with the Rangers and Cubs between 1977 and 1982.
As a Manager: Seattle Mariners 1980-1981
Died: September 19, 2022, Sedona, AZ (age 89)
Maury Wills was an integral part of four Dodgers teams that went to the World Series in the late 1950s and 1960s, winning it all three times - 1959, 1963 and 1965. As the regular shortstop for those Dodgers teams, Wills used his speed to his advantage, and he was nearly unstoppable during his MVP campaign of 1962. Wills stole 104 bases that season, breaking Ty Cobb's modern era single-season record of 96, and edging out Willie Mays (#190) for league MVP honors. He had been named the All-Star Game MVP earlier in the season, the first year the award was handed out. Wills was a seven-time All-Star and a two-time Gold Glove winner. He led the National League six times in stolen bases and his career total of 586 is currently 20th all-time.
Wills played for 14 seasons, accumulating a .281 average, 2,134 hits, 177 doubles and 71 triples. He briefly managed the Mariners for 83 games straddling the 1980 and 1981 seasons, guiding the club to a 26-56 record. Wills returned to the Dodgers organization in the 2000s, working as a club ambassador and spring training guest instructor. His son, Bump Wills, played for six seasons with the Rangers and Cubs between 1977 and 1982.
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| 2019 Topps Archives 50th Anniversary of the Montreal Expos Autographs #MTLA-MW |
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
In mid-March, Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. My main focus for this show was accumulating as many 1969 Topps commons as possible, which I did by adding a grand total of 193 cards to our set. That's almost 30% of the entire set added in one enjoyable afternoon. I wrote a full summary of the show in a post over at The Phillies Room, found here.
This is the 24th of the 193 commons and semi-stars purchased, pulled and stacked from the first two neon green binders housing 1969 Topps cards at the multi-table spread of Uncle Dick's Cards from Babylon, New York. My method was simple - I pulled up a chair, found a card I needed, picked the best of the group from the binder page and set it aside. After each 100 cards, I'd ask the dealer to tell me how much damage I had done so far. With a budget in mind, I kept going twice, continuing after card #100 and card #200, and stopping at card #298. The final amount due was 17% off the sticker price for the pile of 193 cards, with this card costing me less than two bucks. If I stick to composing posts five times a week, and I'm already slipping off that pace a little, I should go through the stack and be caught up by the week of January 22, 2024!
The Card / Expos Team Set / Accuracy Index -8
Wills famously held out from signing a contract with Topps, making this just his third official appearance in a Topps flagship set. Unofficially, he makes a cameo on a World Series subset card in the 1960 Topps set. He's wearing a Pirates uniform here, in a photo from the same session as the photo used on his 1967 Topps "rookie" card. The back of the card touts his aggressiveness on the base paths and predicts he'd add excitement to the expansion Expos' line-up.
Accuracy Index: Wills scores a -8 for the Pirates uniform (-5) and the blank logo'd hat (-3).
Inserts: Wills is included in the 35 card Topps Deckle Edge insert set and is one of 48 decals in the Topps Decals insert set. He's one of 27 players to appear in both insert sets.
1969 Season
Wills was the first shortstop in Expos franchise history, starting on opening day and in 46 of the team's first 50 games. Bobby Wine (#648) spelled Wills occasionally. On June 2nd, with his heart clearly not into playing in Montreal, Wills requested to be put on the voluntarily retirement list. Wine started at short for a few games, but Wills returned after his brief retirement. A week later, on June 11th, Wills and Manny Mota (#236) were traded to the Dodgers for Ron Fairly (#122) and Paul Popovich (#47). Reunited with the Dodgers and rejuvenated, Wills batted .297 in 104 games for Los Angeles, serving once again as the team's regular shortstop. For the season he batted .274 with 40 stolen bases.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1960 Topps #389
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11): 1960, 1967-1972, 1975, 1977, 1981, 1987
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2023 Topps Living Set #597
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 364 in the Beckett online database as of 5/29/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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Wills was the first shortstop in Expos franchise history, starting on opening day and in 46 of the team's first 50 games. Bobby Wine (#648) spelled Wills occasionally. On June 2nd, with his heart clearly not into playing in Montreal, Wills requested to be put on the voluntarily retirement list. Wine started at short for a few games, but Wills returned after his brief retirement. A week later, on June 11th, Wills and Manny Mota (#236) were traded to the Dodgers for Ron Fairly (#122) and Paul Popovich (#47). Reunited with the Dodgers and rejuvenated, Wills batted .297 in 104 games for Los Angeles, serving once again as the team's regular shortstop. For the season he batted .274 with 40 stolen bases.
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First Mainstream Card: 1960 Topps #389
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11): 1960, 1967-1972, 1975, 1977, 1981, 1987
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2023 Topps Living Set #597
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 364 in the Beckett online database as of 5/29/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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