The Catch: Willie Mays’ over-the-shoulder grab in the 1954 World Series ‘wasn’t a lucky catch’

It became known simply as ‘The Catch’.

But there was little that was simple about it. The Say Hey Kid’s superb grab on a drive by Cleveland’s Vic Wertz in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series against the favored Indians will always be one of his greatest moments, also a key in the 4-0 sweep of the New York Giants to Win The Championship.

“It was not a lucky catch,” Mays pointedly noted years later.

The play showcased the mesmerizing skill of one of the most talented players to ever grace a baseball field and was considered by many to be the Greatest Living Ballplayer before he died Tuesday at the age of 93.

In the top of the eighth inning, with runners on first and second base in a 2-2 game, Mays took off straight back toward the wall, with his head facing the outfield instead of following the ball, and snared him before immediately unleashing a fantastic throw. that receives much less attention than the catch itself.

“Yeah, that was the key there, I thought,” Mays recalled in April 2014. “Because if I hadn’t noticed that, you’d have to get three runs somehow. Vic would have somehow gotten to third place and the other two would have scored. So I think that was the key to the whole World Series.”

It was a play as famous as any in the great history of baseball and was commemorated at the time by Hall of Fame announcer Jack Brickhouse, who said, “Willie Mays just brought this crowd to its feet with a catch which was probably an optical illusion for many people!”

To Mays, it was just a play that happened to take place on the game’s biggest stage.

“I usually catch fly balls like that all the time,” he said. “But you’re talking about a World Series. You’re talking about something that doesn’t always happen. Even when you make a catch like that, which I did in the regular season, but to catch it in a way where the world is watching you, I think that’s remarkable.”

Mays never wanted to say where that play ranked in his career of brilliant catches — and there were a lot of them for a player who won 12 Gold Gloves as one of the game’s best fielders.

“I never ranked the catches,” he said. “It’s important to make sure you try to catch everything. This is my theory, I don’t know how other people think. I just feel like if I ranked them you guys wouldn’t have anything to write about. I’ve never worried about things like that.”

No one knows for sure how far Wertz’s drive was from home plate, with best estimates at perhaps 450 feet. It’s all part of the Mays legend.

Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson said in 2018 that it should still be viewed “as the greatest catch ever.”

“Today’s player climbed the fence, climbed the wall, and that’s pretty cool,” Jackson said. “But I still think we all go back and the greatest outfielder ever is Willie Mays.

“There were guys who covered more ground and ran so fast, he had a certain angle. But I think Willie will be recognized as maybe the greatest athlete that ever played, maybe the best player that fell with (Hank) Aaron, (Babe) Ruth, (Lou) Gehrig and those guys. It’s just kind of an embodiment of his career.”

Mays’ godson, Home Run King Barry Bonds, said years ago that he wants to make sure people appreciate more than just that one moment in a remarkable 23-year career.

There were the two MVPs, the Rookie of the Year Award, the 24 All-Star games, the 660 home runs and the 3,293 hits. It all led to Mays being widely regarded as the game’s best all-around player.

“There are a lot of people who have made great catches in the game of baseball. But he happens to be one of the best players in baseball. That makes it a lot better,” Bonds said. “I think we had our moments of catches. I think the longevity of his career is more important than just the catch to anyone who has played baseball. Playing baseball for twenty years is an achievement in itself. Longevity is much more important than a single catch.

“There are a lot of guys who have made some great catches and played one year, two years, five years. You don’t know who those people are, but to do it for the amount of time he’s done it in his career and played as long as he’s done it in his career, that’s another level. That is much bigger.”

AP Sports Writer Josh Dubow contributed to this report.

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