The Ultimate PITA, Maury Wills

[DOUGHBOYS]

They didn't have technology when I was a kid. A transistor radio was THE tech toy of the day.
And that transistor radio was my ticket to the news (boring), music ( To Everything, TURN, TURN, TURN, there is a baseball season, TURN, TURN, TURN), well, at least that's what I heard, and baseball games (heaven).
And an interesting thing would happen with these transistor radios. They became spy gear around World Series time. In the '60's, all games of the World Series were played during daylight. Some of the 'cool teachers' would bring small tv sets to school and we could watch some of the games during lunch or recess.

I hated the Dodgers. I was nine years old and I couldn't believe that any red blooded American could not root for Willie Mays.
Sure the Dodgers had stars too. They had the biggest PITA (pain in the ass) that baseball ever had.
Maury Wills.

The Giants would soak their infield, especially between first and second base to slow Wills down. When the Dodgers complained, to my nine year mind, they were all a buncha babies.
Alvin Dark, the Giants Manager, even walked Don Drysdale with two outs and the bases empty, so that Wills would not lead off the next inning. And really, Drysdale was a more dangerous hitter than Wills anyway, so two birds, one stone.
The Dodgers had other stars too like Tommy Davis who had over 150 rbi one year and his brother, Willie, who covered ground in center field as well as Mays.
And their pitching was epic. During the '60's, they had Koufax, Drysdale, Stan Williams, Johnny Podres, Claude Osteen, and later Don Sutton.

But nobody made a nine year old kid more mad than Maury Wills. He had a knack for hitting flares just beyond the infielders reach. He would bunt seemingly once a game and be successful most attempts. He would make seasoned pitchers like Jack Sanford and Billy Pierce step off the mound or throw over to first base eight or nine times. Sometimes throwing to first base so much that the home fans in Candlestick would boo their own pitcher for delaying the inevitable.

Maury Wills is incomparable. During his reign of terror in the '60's, he was also the best shortstop in the National League.
He came up to the Dodgers in 1959 for awhile. But burst upon the scene in 1960. Then, the Dodgers played their games in the Coliseum waiting for their ball park in Chavez Ravine to be built.
Wills had only played in front of crowds of 1,000 to 2,000 people before reaching the Majors. In 1960, he had capacity crowds of 94,000 people chanting, "GO, MAURY, GO! GO MAURY GO!"
That chant would carry over to Dodger Stadium and I swear that of the 104 bases that that pita stole in 1962, 103 were against the Giants.

But, the Giants won the pennant in '62 and I knew that no matter how good the Yankees were, they didn't have a pita like Wills. Still, the Giants lost the Series to the Yankees. And this little doughboy was 'sick' with a sore throat for the majority of that series. I would yell at the tv from the couch and my mom would subtly tell me that my throat must be feeling better and that school was in the cards for the next day. The next day, I would again be stricken with that darn throat.

In 1963, the Dodgers won the pennant. Wills did not have a usual Wills year in getting hurt. He stole 'only' 40 bases.
I was bound and determined to listen to the Yankees crush those damned Dodgers in the World Series.
I cleverly tucked my transistor radio in my shirt pocket and put the earplug for it in my back pocket.
During reading class when everybody else was listening to our teacher reading, 'Charlotte's Web', I listened to the games.
The Yankees sucked! I wondered how they could have made it to the World Series.
Koufax struck out 15 batters in the first game. Wills went 0-5, but it didn't matter. The Yankees couldn't hit Koufax.
I understood. Neither could the Giants.
The next day, I thought there was hope. The Dodgers throwing Podres instead of Drysdale. All I knew is that Podres was easier to hit. The game started off with a Wills single, then, of course, a stealing of second, then he got picked off second, but danced around and made it safely back. I didn't think I was loud in saying "Ah shoot!"
But my teacher asked me if I needed something. "No, Mrs. Martin", as I covered up my ear with the earplug in it.
Wills did score and the Yankees couldn't hit again. Another Dodgers win.
The third game was Drysdale. He threw a three hitter and I could see the writing on the wall.
I wondered if I should even bring the radio the fourth day. The Dodgers were throwing Koufax again. The Yankees couldn't even hit Podres. Even the Giants could hit Podres. Well, sometimes they could.
I decided to bring it. It was the last game of the season if the Dodgers won. And I wanted to hear the last game. If the Yankees won, it'd be ashamed not to join in their victory over the hated Dodgers.
The game was exciting. Whitey Ford was throwing even better than Koufax! The Yankees had a chance. The Dodgers hadn't gotten a hit off Ford entering the 5th. The class was enjoying 'Charlotte's Web', me, the ball game.
Then, fate convened. Stupid fate.
Our air raid sirens went off. For those younger, there was a constant threat during the early '60's that we could be bombed by the Russians. When these sirens would go off, we were instructed to get away from windows and under our desks. For us in California, they were air raid/earthquake drills.
The noise scared me. My hand flinched and I pulled the earplug from the radio, not my ear. My radio was blaring and once the sound of the World Series was heard, my teacher knew exactly who the culprit was.
"Danny!", yelled Mrs Martin, "As soon as this drill is over I want you to come to my desk!"
As the air raid/earthquake drill ended, Frank Howard of the Dodgers hit a home run and the Dodgers would go on to win the Series. Double whammy!
My radio was confiscated and I was sent to the Principal's office. There, I received a wood paddling. I cried. I cried because it hurt. I cried because the Dodgers would win. And I cried because baseball season was over.
Did I learn my lesson?
No.
I would continue to bring a transistor radio during the World Series through my high school years.
Y'know, the Dodgers only used four pitchers that whole Series. Ron Perranoski finished up game two for Podres and Koufax and Drysdale threw complete games.
Koufax was on the news receiving a new car in New York for winning MVP of that series and as soon as they handed him the keys to that vehicle, New York's finest wrote him a ticket for having a car parked on the sidewalk.
Loved that.
And despite Wills not having a great Series, I still blamed the transistor radio incident on him. He was the pita that made me hate the Dodgers. It wasn't Koufax, or Drysdale, or anybody else. It was that pita Wills.
And to make matters even a little worse, Wills beat out Mays for the National League Most Valuable Player award.
Curse you Maury Wills!
As an adult, I grew to respect the player Wills was. I thought how good of a player he was to make me hate him so.

So, when rostering players during a draft, I am always on the look out for a pita.
A pita like Maury Wills
And I know if I ever do find a pita like Wills, my competitors will be the one receiving the paddling.

[Atlas]

I'm apparently just a touch younger, but I put Ricky Henderson in this category, as I barely remember Wills.

[Bronx Yankees]

Dan - I'm just curious. In some of your posts, you seem almost derisive about big-team base-stealers, referring to them as "Judies," which I understood to mean very fast base-stealers with little to no power that you did not find particularly attractive for fantasy baseball purposes. Was Wills a Judy? If not, what is the difference between a Judy and a PITA that you want to roster (other than, of course, someone who had success against your favorite team).

On an unrelated matter, although I'm a little younger than you, I remember also getting caught in elementary school listening to selected Yankees games on a small radio in the 1970s. Let's just say I found it particularly frustrating that Opening Day would start before you even got out of school! Luckily, by then, things had "evolved" so I was not confronted with any paddling. In fact, I didn't even get in trouble at home because my mother would expect nothing less from me.

Thanks.

Mike

[DOUGHBOYS]

Dan - I'm just curious. In some of your posts, you seem almost derisive about big-team base-stealers, referring to them as "Judies," which I understood to mean very fast base-stealers with little to no power that you did not find particularly attractive for fantasy baseball purposes. Was Wills a Judy? If not, what is the difference between a Judy and a PITA that you want to roster (other than, of course, someone who had success against your favorite team).

On an unrelated matter, although I'm a little younger than you, I remember also getting caught in elementary school listening to selected Yankees games on a small radio in the 1970s. Let's just say I found it particularly frustrating that Opening Day would start before you even got out of school! Luckily, by then, things had "evolved" so I was not confronted with any paddling. In fact, I didn't even get in trouble at home because my mother would expect nothing less from me.

Thanks.

Mike

Good stuff and a good question, Mike.
The game has changed. Wills played on a team that scored very little. With Koufax and Drysdale, they only needed to score a little. His one run was the difference in most games. The game has changed in that now, just about every team has powerful corners both on the infield and outfield. A stolen base was huge back then. Taking away an extra base hit to have to score somebody was gold. Especially for the Dodgers.
I would consider Wills a judy for fantasy purposes. But, listen to this, in 1962, when Wills stole 104 bases, his teammate Willie Davis finished second in baseball with just 32. So, Wills was a one man category filler in the way of stolen bases. It would have taken at least six speedy fellas in a draft to match what he did.

In today's baseball, we don't hold our breath when Pierre or Bourn or Revere steals a base. Well, we might as owners, but the ball park doesn't let out an exclamation as they used to.
A PITA is a guy who hits for a good average and always seems to be filling one category or another. It doesn't have to be stolen bases. Alcides Escobar was a PITA last year and so was Josh Willingham. Wills was one during the early '60's.
They're players that are like gnats. They always seem to be filling a category and never going away.

As far as judy's, I do speak of them that way. Wills scored 130 runs and hit .299 that year too. No judy today will do that. If they did, I would call them a PITA.
What I want from a judy is simply a promise that they will steal a lot of bases. If they do that, the runs may be good, and hopefully they won't hurt my average.
I've noticed that over a little time, Elvis Andrus has fallen in drafts. I think folks saw him as a PITA, but are now realizing, he's a judy....and not even a very good one.
Hopefully in all that gobbledygook, I answered your question.

[Bronx Yankees]

Thanks, Dan, I think you did answer my question.

So, a stud Judy might be Vince Coleman in his prime. No power, not a great average, or even runs scored most years, but a ton of stolen bases. Ricky Henderson was a stud PITA in his prime.

By the way, I agree with you re Elvis Andrus. Last year I thought he might have been the biggest over-rank in fantasy baseball. His ADP is appreciably lower this year, but still too high for me. Never had him on one of my teams. Texas may need to run more this year, so perhaps his line will improve.

Mike