Decisions, Decisions: The 1962 NL MVP

Coming into the 1962 season, it had been a long, long time since the stolen base had mattered. That was particularly true in the National League.

The American League at least had Luis Aparicio, who had led the league in steals for six straight years and would do so three more times before someone else finally caught up to him. Even Aparicio, though, never stole more than 57 bases in a season. The last person in the American League to steal more than that was George Case of the Nationals with 61 steals in the war-depleted 1943 season. That total matched the 61 steals by horrific racist Ben Chapman of the Yankees in 1931, and was two less than Sam Rice’s 63 in 1920. You had to go back to the Dead Ball era to find anything more than that.

Over in the National League they ran even less. Max Carey led the league with 52 steals in 1920, the first Live Ball year, and though he would lead the league four more times, he never matched that total again. Neither did anyone else. Carey’s 52 steals was the most in the league during the 1920s, and no National Leaguer in any of the next three decades would match it. Kiki Cuyler’s 37 steals in 1930 was the most of the 1930s. The 1940s started out even worse, with league leaders routinely topping out in the 20s. Jackie Robinson’s debut changed that a bit, and his 37 steals in 1949 would be the most of that decade, but then things hit a plateau again. Willie Mays stole 40 in 1956, and that would prove to be his career high.

But when the 1960s arrived, and so did Maury Wills.