Best Of San Francisco Giants: Top 10 Utility Seasons
By Phil Watson
1. Willie Mays, 1971
| Year ▾ | Age | G | PA | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 40 | 136 | 537 | 82 | 113 | 24 | 5 | 18 | 61 | 23 | 3 | 112 | 123 | .271 | .425 | .482 | .907 | 158 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table Generated 3/4/2014.
STARTS: 77 in CF, 39 at 1B GAMES: 84 in CF, 48 at 1B The 40-year-old Mays cranked it up for one more great season, earning his 22nd All-Star Game appearance and the Commissioner’s Award (now known as the Roberto Clemente Award) for his community involvement and on-field performance. He led the National League with 112 walks, a .425 on-base percentage and 88.46 stolen base percentage (23-for-26) while helping the Giants to their first NL West title and first postseason bid in nine years. He was second in the league with a 20.2 Power-Speed number, fourth with a 158 OPS-plus, fifth with a 6.1 Offensive WAR and eighth with a 6.4 WAR (fifth among position players). Mays was fourth in the NL with a .907 OPS, fifth with 123 strikeouts and eighth with 23 stolen bases. He was also the fourth-oldest player in the NL, trailing only Hoyt Wilhelm (48) of Atlanta and Los Angeles, teammate Don McMahon (41) and Ernie Banks of the Cubs (40, but both more than three months before Mays). Mays was 4-for-15 with two runs, two doubles, a home run, three RBI, a stolen base and three walks as the Giants fell in four games to Pittsburgh in the NLCS.
