Notable Black Baseball Families Part 2: SS Maury Wills & 2B Bump Wills
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Notable Black Baseball Families Part 2: SS Maury Wills & 2B Bump Wills
The second entry in an article series on Black families from throughout the entire African diaspora who have had multiple members make notable contributions to the sport of baseball.
Introduction
This article series will focus not only on African-American families that have played in the Negro Leagues, Latin American Winter Leagues, MiLB, and MLB but notable Black families from throughout the entire African diaspora who have had multiple members make significant contributions to the sport.
One of the most underrated father-son duos in MLB history, both of the Wills were switch-hitting middle infielders that could play great defense and run the bases well. They’re both pivotal to a plethora of different aspects of baseball history.
The father toiled in the minors for eight years before becoming a 7x All-Star, winning the NL MVP Award, and securing 3 World Series rings during the 1960s. He would change the game forever by breaking a record deemed immortal by almost everyone.
The son excelled in his father's massive shadow despite the expectations and comparisons. He was a star on the diamond in high school and college, overcoming a major injury to get drafted. He carved out a respectable professional baseball career of his own before injuries took their toll. He played multiple seasons in MLB, the Mexican Pacific League, and the Japanese Pacific League.
Maury Wills
Born in 1932 and raised in the Anacostia district of Washington D.C., Maury Wills was the seventh of 13 children. He did not begin playing organized baseball until he was 14, doing so for a semi-pro league. He was a top-tier multi-sport athlete in high school, excelling at basketball, baseball, and football.
While colleges wanted him to play quarterback or safety, he wanted to play baseball. He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent before the 1951 season at the age of 18, receiving a $500 dollar signing bonus. He married his high school sweetheart and had six children before they divorced.
The switch-hitting shortstop spent eight years in the minor leagues due to the sheer amount of infield talent the Dodgers possessed during the 1950s. They had two Hall of Famers in Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese in addition to competent infielders such as Jim Gilliam and Charlie Neal.
During his long trek through the minors, Wills honed his stolen base technique and was taught to switch hit by the Dodgers development staff. The logic behind the move was based on how fast Wills was since he’d be even more dangerous running out ground balls for base hits from the left-handed batter’s box.
He’d also have the platoon advantage more often since he’d be batting left-handed more often than he would right-handed. The renowned Los Angeles coaching staff helped him with his ability to hit the ball where it was pitched as well.
He was forced to rely on the slash-and-dash approach to all fields since he was a slap hitter that did not hit for much power due to his slight stature. He was 5’11’’, and weighed around 170 pounds.
Pee Wee Reese’s retirement at the end of the 1958 season was the first domino to fall in the series of events that led to the Washington D.C. native’s big break. Don Zimmer got the first shot to win the starting shortstop job during the 1959 season, but he broke a toe during the summer and battled a severe slump for the rest of the season after his return.
A 26-year-old Maury Wills took the Dodgers shortstop job and literally ran with it from then forward. He played 83 games during 1959, going .260/.298/.298 with five doubles and two triples. He played all nine innings in 57 of the 70 games he started. He was the Dodgers starting shortstop during the World Series, recording 20 plate appearances and playing solid defense. The Dodgers would go on to win the World Series, defeating the Chicago White Sox in six games.
It would be one of three World Series rings he would win as the centerpiece of the Dodgers position player group during the 1960s. The ball club that had moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles made speed, defense, and pitching its main calling cards, and Wills was the main reason it happened and was successful. His breaking of Ty Cobb’s single-season stolen base record in 1962 is one of baseball’s most pivotal moments, as many thought that it was an unbreakable feat.
From 1959-1970, Wills was one of the most productive players at his position. Out of 62 qualified shortstops, he ranked second in plate appearances, first in runs scored, first in stolen bases, second in triples, 19th in walk-to-strikeout ratio, second in batting average, and 10th in on-base percentage.
He played the third-most defensive innings of any shortstop from 1959 to 1970. He was third in putouts, second in assists, and fifth in double plays. He won two Gold Gloves, another testament to his defense.
Maury Wills played 12 years with the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2 years with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and parts of one season with the Montreal Expos. He’d play in seven All-Star games, representing the Dodgers in all of his appearances. He won the first MLB All-Star Game MVP Award during the same season in which he’d win the NL MVP for the regular season.
He would go on to be a manager briefly at the MLB level, managing the Seattle Mariners during the 1980 and 1981 seasons. While it would end with him being fired and known as one of the most incompetent managers ever, he would achieve something that had never been done in MLB’s history up to that point. He passed away in 2022 at the age of 89 years old.
Bump Wills
Elliot “Bump” Wills was born in 1952. Raised in Spokane, Washington, his parents had settled there during his father’s 8-year climb through the minor leagues. The third of six children, he was particularly close with his older brother Barry. They even had their own phrase: “Ask no quarter, give no quarter.”
A three-year letterman in basketball, baseball, and football in high school, he developed his competitive spirit by following Barry and his friends around. He played with and competed against them in a variety of different sports.
He got his nickname from his grandfather, and it was originally Bumpy. The story goes that he kicked around in his mother’s stomach frequently while she was pregnant with him, causing family members to often remark in wonder.
One day, his grandfather said he was “bumping” and voila. While in college he would drop the y, thinking that “Bump” was a more mature and appropriate version of his family nickname.
The younger Wills brother would spend his summers off from school in Los Angeles watching his father play shortstop for the Dodgers during the prime of his career. He even got to dress in the clubhouse with the team, shag flyballs, and take in knowledge from the world’s best baseball players by watching games from the dugout.
After graduating high school Wills accepted a scholarship to Arizona State University’s baseball program, playing for College Baseball Hall of Famer Jim Brock for three of his four seasons. He appeared in 3 games during the 1971 season, his freshman year of college.
He learned how to switch hit during his sophomore season and played left field since the infield was crowded. He batted .355 in 1972 with 24 stolen bases. The ASU Sun Devils made it to the College World Series finals, but they lost to USC. Wills played shortstop his junior year and helped ASU return to the CWS finals for a rematch with USC, losing again.
As a senior in 1974, Wills was rising on MLB Draft boards as he hit a career-best .383 and stole another 25 steals. He also hit a career-high eight runs. Two weeks before the draft he broke his leg near his ankle during practice, which plummeted his stock. The lower leg injury he suffered was major and doctors told him that he may never run the same again.
The San Diego Padres drafted him in the 12th round of the 1974 MLB Draft, but he declined to sign. Wills decided to play in Mexico professionally to raise his stock after recovering from his lower leg injury. He played for the Mexican Pacific League’s Naranjeros de Hermosillo, a club where his father was a coach.
He played in 71 games that season, putting up a .244 batting average. The second-generation middle infielder would go on play winter ball for the club that helped him find a path to the majors for ten straight years, doing so even after retiring in the United States and Japan.
He would get drafted with the fifth overall pick of the 1975 MLB Secondary Draft by the Texas Rangers, his father helping him negotiate his signing bonus during the process. The 22-year-old infielder’s minor league career was brief, the complete opposite of his father’s MiLB experience. He went .315/.392/.500 in 1020 plate appearances across two seasons, impressing evaluators with his speed, glove, and on-base skills.
The switch-hitter would make his debut in 1977, five years after the retirement of his father. The 24-year-old played 152 games for the Texas Rangers as the full-time second baseman. He put up a .287/.361/.410 slash line with 28 doubles, six triples, nine home runs, and 28 steals.
He finished third in Rookie of the Year voting in the American League in 1977. When compared to 57 qualified rookies across MLB in 1977, Wills ranks second in fWAR, seventh in wRC+, first in runs scored, fifth in stolen bases, third doubles, and seventh in on-base percentage.
The next season Wills would break the Rangers single-season franchise record for steals, swiping 52 bags while getting caught 14 times. He finished the year fourth amongst all 2B in fWAR and second in stolen bases. He also played some of the best defense of any keystone defender during 1978. He would play another three seasons with the ball club that drafted him before being traded to the Chicago Cubs.
In 703 career games with Texas, he put up a .265/.333/.357 line that didn’t tell the full story. He would play 128 games for Chicago, posting his second-best offensive season with a .724 OPS. After playing for two years in Japan from 1983-1984, he retired.
From his rookie year to his final MLB season in 1982, he was one of the best second basemen in baseball. Amongst qualified second basemen who played between 1977-1982, Wills ranked second in games played, eighth in fWAR, fifth in BsR, second in stolen bases, fourth in walks, and second in runs scored.
Defensively he ranks second in innings played, fourth in putouts, first in assists, and fourth in double plays amongst second basemen that played from 1977-1982.
He would finish as the Rangers all-time leader in stolen bases, a record that wouldn’t be broken until fellow second baseman Ian Kinsler did so in 2013. Beyond stolen bases, he was an elite baserunner that could score runs and take extra bases effectively.
His 39% runs scored percentage was nine percent higher than league average and his stolen base percentage was 10% above average. His extra bases taken percentage was 61% for his career, compared to an MLB average of 45% during that period.
September 25th, 1980: Father-Son History
On September 25th, 1980 Maury Wills became the first manager in the history of Major League Baseball to manage against a team that his son was playing on. It was a Thursday evening game at the Kingdome with a little over 5,000 in attendance. Bump Wills was starting at second base during this match-up, getting a hit and scoring two runs in the matchup.
The game’s box score: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SEA/SEA198009250.shtml
August 27th, 1977: Back-to-Back Inside-The-Park-Home-Runs
Bump Wills was one of the two players who hit back-to-back inside-the-park home runs in a game versus the Yankees during his rookie season. It was his second home run of the game in the 8-2 victory at Yankees Stadium. It is only the second time ever that two players accomplished the feat.
Further Reading/Resources
Catching up with Bump Wills
Maury Wills Stats
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/willsma01.shtml
Bump Wills Stats
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/willsbu01.shtml
Maury Wills Biography by The Society of American Baseball Research
https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/maury-wills/
Bump Wills Biography by The Society of American Baseball Research
https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/bump-wills/#sdendnote15sym
Box Score from September 25th, 1980
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SEA/SEA198009250.shtml