First, thanks to Clinton Revere who tuned me in to this Willie Mays APBA card. It’s definitely one I have never seen before.
This is what Clinton posted on Facebook:
In the first game involving the Giants legends who passed recently, the dice paid homage.
Willie Mays tied the game against the visiting Cincinnati Reds with his Major League best 41st home run in first inning.
Starters Bob Hendley for the Giants and Jim O’Toole for the Reds swapped scoreless frames until the bottom of the eighth inning, when Mays hit a one-out double and Orlando Cepeda drove Willie home with a single.
Billy Pierce came on and pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 15th save in the 2-1 San Francisco win
Willie Mays is a favorite on Monster Monday obviously. In 1964, he hit 47 dingers while batting .296 for the Giants. He scored 121 runs and drove in 111. Mays stole 19 bases.
Not surprisingly, Willie walked more than he struck out. He trotted 82 times and whiffed just 72 times.
Also, it blows my mind that Willie Mays was already 33 years by 1964 (the year I was born).
| Split | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 Totals | 157 | 665 | 578 | 121 | 171 | 21 | 9 | 47 | 111 | 19 | 82 | 72 | .296 | .383 | .607 |
Why Willie?
The first thing I noticed about this 1964 Mays card was not the hitting numbers but the fact he was rated to play four positions. I had to check and see if he played them in real life.
Yes, he did but he played just one game at shortstop, third and firstbase.
Now, on to the hitting. Mays earned power numbers 1-1-4-5. With such a high percentage of homeruns to extra base hits, a first column 6 wasn’t in the cards for Mays, so to speak. With almost every baserunner situation, Mays will have at least three homeruns on his card, bases empty excepted.
With 19 steals, Willie also earns a 15-11. True to form, he earned four 14s and only three 13s.
Having played 157 games, he’s rated a J-0. I don’t need to tell any baseball fan that he is rated fast and an OF-3.
Thanks, Clinton!!
