Brandon Brown
Willie Mays, one of the greatest baseball players of all time, passed away peacefully on Tuesday afternoon. He was 93 years old. Mays was a longtime New York/San Francisco Giant and briefly a New York Met, and a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 1979. The ‘Say Hey Kid’ retired with a .301/.384/. 557 batting line and is sixth all-time in home runs (660) and 13th all-time in hits (3,292).
Mays was one of the most talented players of all time and his signature play – and one of the most iconic plays in baseball history – was “The Catch”. In Game 1 of the 1954 World Series, Mays took extra bases from Cleveland first baseman Vic Wertz. I’m sure you’ve seen this highlight before, but it’s best to watch it again:
By itself, the problem is incredible. Mays was running at full speed and reached out to catch the ball with his back to home plate. Anyone making a similar catch nowadays would be featured in highlight videos throughout the rest of the season and likely beyond.
Context is necessary to appreciate the true greatness of The Catch. First, the game was played at the Polo Grounds in New York and was approximately 450 feet from that part of center field. It was 483 feet to the deepest part of center, the cutout to the left of where Mays caught. Yes, 483 feet. It was “only” about 450 feet where Mays made the catch.
For reference, the deepest center field in the game today is 415 feet at Coors Field. Mays made the catch at a point approximately 35 feet beyond that. He made the catch running at full speed and just a few steps in front of the center field wall. The center field wall which was, again, about 150 yards away from the base. Mays came a long, long way to get that catch.
Plus, Mays made The Catch in the World Series, so that immediately raises the importance. It was also the eighth inning of a 2-2 game, and Cleveland had runners on first and second with no outs. If Mays doesn’t get this catch, one run will be scored and most likely two will be found. Instead, an out was recorded and Cleveland did not score in the inning.
The Giants won Game 1 when Dusty Rhodes hit a three-run home run off Bob Lemon in the tenth inning. Mays had previously walked into the frame to start the rally. The final score was 5-2. Mays made what was literally a game-saving catch in the eighth inning and then pitched the game-winning rally in the tenth.
Mays and the Giants won Game 1 and beat Cleveland in the four-game series. It was the seventh World Series title in franchise history and the last the Giants won in New York before moving to San Francisco in 1958.
Truth be told, Mays hasn’t hit well in his 21 career World Series games: .230/.305/.270 with zero home runs. Despite this, MLB renamed the World Series MVP award the Willie Mays World Series MVP award in 2017. The Catch is memorable.
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