Neyer: Say, Hey: Are you sure the World Series MVP should be named after Willie Mays?

From SABR member Rob Neyer at The Athletic on October 23, 2017:

Tell your statistics to shut up. — Jim Bouton, Ball Four

On the last Friday of the 2017 regular season, Major League Baseball announced that beginning immediately, the MVP of the World Series will officially be recognized as the Willie Mays World Series Most Valuable Player.

Quoting here from MLB’s press release: “Following Mays’ sprinting, over-the-shoulder grab (http://atmlb.com/2xwIsV1) on a deep fly ball hit by Vic Wertz in Game One at the Polo Grounds, the Giants would go on to complete a four-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians in the 1954 World Series. Overall, Mays played in the Fall Classic four times — in his rookie season of 1951 and again in ’54 with the New York Giants; in 1962 after the Club moved to San Francisco; and in his final Major League season, 1973, as a member of the New York Mets.”

Read the full article here (subscription required): https://theathletic.com/132149/2017/10/23/say-hey-are-you-sure-the-world-series-mvp-award-should-be-named-after-willie-mays/



Originally published: October 23, 2017. Last Updated: October 23, 2017.