Maury Wills, base-stealing champ who had ties with the Fort Worth Cats, dies at 89

Maury Wills, an icon in the history of Fort Worth and Texas sports as well as one of Major League Baseball’s top base-stealers, has died.

Wills, who intimidated pitchers with his base-stealing prowess as a shortstop for the Los Angeles Dodgers on three World Series championship teams, was 89.

Wills died Monday night at home in Sedona, Ariz., the team said Tuesday after being informed by family members. No cause of death was given.

Before he rose to fame as one of the top players in the National League, he was the first Black player on the Fort Worth Cats, the minor-league affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

In 1955, he batted .203 in 123 games for the Cats. He stole 12 bases. His teammates included Hall of Famers Dick Williams and Sparky Anderson.

“When I came here, I knew I had a chance to make it to the majors,” Wills told the Star-Telegram in 2004. “For a long time I was in the lower classifications, and to get promoted to Fort Worth, that was a sign of hope.”

Wills played on World Series title teams in 1959, ‘63 and ‘65 during his first eight seasons with the Dodgers. He also played for Pittsburgh and Montreal before returning to the Dodgers from 1969-72, when he retired.

During his 14-year career, Wills batted .281 with 2,134 hits and 586 stolen bases in 1,942 games.

Wills broke Ty Cobb’s single-season record for stolen bases with his 97th swipe on Sept. 23, 1962. That season he became the first player to steal more than 100 bases.

The Dodgers honored Wills with a moment of silence before the opener of their doubleheader against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday and showed his career highlights on the stadium video boards. The team will wear a patch in memory of Wills for the rest of this season.

Manager Dave Roberts, an outfielder during his 10-year MLB career, was moved to tears as he recalled Wills’ impact on him.

“He was a friend, a father, a mentor — all of the above for me, so this is a tough one for me,” he said. “He just kind of showed me to appreciate my craft, showed me how to be a big leaguer. He just loved to teach. I think a lot of where I get my excitement, my passion, my love for players is from Maury.”

Wills took an active role in Roberts’ playing tenure with the Dodgers. Roberts stole 42 bases in 2003.

“I remember during games when I played here he would come down from the suite and tell me I need to bunt or I need to do this,” Roberts said. “It just showed that he was in it with me. Even to this day, he would be there cheering for me, rooting for me.”

Wills was one of five players on that 1955 Cats team who went on to be a major league manager. He became the second African-American manager in the majors when Seattle hired him in 1980.

He was the National League Most Valuable Player in 1962, the same year he was MVP of the All-Star Game played in his hometown of Washington, D.C.

Wills stayed at home with his family instead of at the team hotel for the All-Star Game. He arrived at the ballpark carrying a Dodgers bag and wearing a Dodgers shirt. However, the security guard wouldn’t let him in, saying he was too small to be a ballplayer.

Wills suggested the guard escort him to the NL clubhouse door, where he would wait while the guard asked the players to confirm his identity.

“So we walk down there and baseball players have a sick sense of humor, because when I stood in front of the door, with my Dodger shirt and duffel bag, and the man opened the door and said, ‘Anybody in here know this boy?’ and they all looked at me and said, ‘Never saw him before,” Wills told The Washington Post in 2015.

After the game, Wills left with his MVP trophy and showed it to the guard.

“He still didn’t believe me, he thought maybe I was carrying it for somebody,” Wills told the Post.

Wills led the NL in stolen bases from 1960-65, was a seven-time All-Star selection and won Gold Glove Awards in 1961 and ‘62.

He was credited with reviving the stolen base as a strategy. His speed made him a constant threat on the basepaths and he distracted pitchers even if he didn’t try to steal. He carefully studied pitchers and their pickoff moves when he wasn’t on base. When a pitcher’s throw drove him back to the bag, he became even more determined to steal.

Once, in a game against the New York Mets, Wills was on first base when pitcher Roger Craig threw 12 straight times to the bag. On Craig’s next throw, Wills stole second.

By age 32, Wills was bandaging his legs before games because of the punishment of sliding.

Wills struggled with addictions to alcohol and cocaine until getting sober in 1989. He credited Dodgers pitching great Don Newcombe, who overcame his own alcohol problems, with helping him. Newcombe died in 2109.

Born Maurice Morning Wills in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 2, 1932, he was a three-sport standout at Cardozo Senior High. He earned All-City honors as a quarterback in football, in basketball and as a pitcher in baseball when he was nicknamed Sonny.

Wills has his own museum in Fargo, North Dakota, where he was a coach and instructor for the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks from 1996-97.

He is survived by wife Carla, and children Barry, Micki, Bump, Anita, Susan Quam and Wendi Jo Wills. Bump was a former major league second baseman who played for Texas and the Chicago Cubs.

Star-Telegram sports editor Dave Ammenheuser contributed to this Associated Press story.