After showing that Joe Morgan’s career dwarfs those of Alan Trammel, Lou Whitaker, and Ozzie Smith — all great players in their own right — I wanted to find a player who could put Joe Morgan to shame. I wanted to see what the career would like like for a player who could make a claim to being the greatest of all time.
One limitation is that the fielding data I’m using only goes back to 1956. Therefore I’m ignoring the likes of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Ted Williams. (There’s also the issue of league-quality the farther back you go.) After running through the careers of Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds (pre-2000), Rickey Henderson, Mickey Mantle, Mike Schmidt, and a bunch of other guys, Willie Mays came out on top. Take a look at his career graphically, then I’ll point out some of the absurd numbers.
(Each player’s seasonal Wins Above Replacement are sorted in decreasing order from best to worst.)
You just can’t compare those maroon X’s to the other shapes and colors. Joe Morgan had a much better career than Trammel and Whitaker, but looks silly next to Willie Mays. Mays had four seasons better than Morgan’s best, and eleven seasons better than Morgan’s second-best. Mays had fourteen seasons better than Trammel’s best effort and fifteen better than Whitaker’s best. Mays’ career total of 146 wins above replacement is almost two times what Morgan tallied and three times what Trammel contributed. Mays played the same number of seasons as Morgan, two more than Trammel, and three more than Whitaker.
Where does all the value come from? Everywhere:
Year PAs Bat Field Pos WAR 1951 524 1.3 0.4 3.3 1952 144 0.0 0.1 0.6 1954 640 5.8 0.5 8.3 1955 670 5.8 0.5 8.4 1956 650 3.7 0.9 0.5 7.1 1957 668 5.9 -0.2 0.5 8.2 1958 685 5.5 1.2 0.5 9.3 1959 648 4.4 0.5 0.5 7.3 1960 669 4.8 0.8 0.5 8.2 1961 659 4.8 1.0 0.5 8.3 1962 706 5.5 2.2 0.5 10.5 1963 671 6.0 1.4 0.5 10.0 1964 665 5.7 1.5 0.5 9.7 1965 638 6.4 1.4 0.5 10.2 1966 629 3.8 1.9 0.5 8.1 1967 544 1.6 0.5 0.4 4.2 1968 573 3.9 0.1 0.4 6.3 1969 459 1.4 0.0 0.4 3.2 1970 566 2.8 -0.3 0.4 4.6 1971 537 4.1 0.9 0.4 7.1 1972 309 1.4 -0.1 0.2 2.5 1973 239 -0.5 0.5 0.2 0.9
Willie Mays was a monster with the bat, with two seasons at least than six wins better than average, six more better than five wins above average, and four more better than four wins above average. His career batting line was .302/.384/.557 in leagues that averaged .264/.330/.401. His peak seasons were more like .330/.410/.650. He also hit 660 career homeruns in case you’d forgotten.
Mays played his entire career in center field, making his hitting accomplishments that much more valuable to his teams. And his terrific range in center field is not only legendary, but supported by the numbers. He had six seasons at least ten runs better than average, and that’s without considering the equivalent of three full seasons before we have data. If Mays had been a first baseman with an average glove, his seasons would have been between two and two and a half wins less valuable, on average.
This analysis doesn’t even include Mays’ throwing arm or baserunning skills other than stolen bases. I have no reason to believe he wasn’t a monster in those categories as well. You just don’t find baseball players better than Willie Mays. He’s the standard you use when you want to make someone else’s career look trivial.
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Sky is a baseball fan and racket sport afficianado living in upstate NY. His favorite color is orange and is just about ready to give up on his life-long dream to become the next Magnus ver Magnuson (World's Strongest Man). His favorite baseball teams are the Yankees and Red Sox, proving that there's hope in the Middle East.