Editing Willie Mays (section)

====World Series champion and NL MVP====
[[File:The Catch.png|thumb|right|upright=0.8|alt=Nearly at a wall, Mays reaches up underhanded to catch a ball falling towards him while over 30 feet above, several rows of fans stare down at him|The Catch: Mays hauls in Vic Wertz's drive near the wall in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series.]]

Mays began the 1954 season on [[Opening Day]] with a home run of over {{convert|414|ft}} against [[Carl Erskine]].<ref>[[#Barra|Barra]], pp. 205–206.</ref> After he batted .250 in his first 20 games, Durocher moved him from third to fifth in the batting order and again encouraged him to stop attempting to pull the ball and try to get hits to right field. Mays changed his batting stance and stood straighter at the plate, keeping his feet closer together. He credited these adjustments with improving his batting average, as he batted .450 with 25 RBI in his next 20 games.<ref>[[#Hirsch|Hirsch]], p. 185; [[#Barra|Barra]], p. 206.</ref> On June 25, he hit an [[inside-the-park]] home run in a 6–2 victory over the [[Chicago Cubs]].<ref>[[#Barra|Barra]], p. 207.</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=June 25, 1954 |title=Chicago Cubs vs New York Giants Box Score: June 25, 1954 |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NY1/NY1195406250.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200701035717/https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NY1/NY1195406250.shtml |archive-date=July 1, 2020 |work=[[Baseball Reference]]}}</ref> Mays was selected for the NL [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star team]]; he would be part of 24 straight NL All-Star teams over 20 seasons.{{efn|Major League Baseball held two All-Star Games a year from 1959 through 1962.<ref>{{Cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/sports/baseball/15sandomir.html |title=When Midsummer Had Two Classics |authorlink=Richard Sandomir | first=Richard | last=Sandomir |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=July 15, 2008| url-access=limited |archive-date=April 17, 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417070713/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/sports/baseball/15sandomir.html?ref=sports |url-status=live}}</ref>}}<ref name="HOF"/> Mays became the first player in history to hit 30 home runs before the All-Star Game.<ref>{{cite web |last=Eagle |first=Ed |date=July 7, 2019 |title=Players with at least 30 HR by All-Star Game |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/30-or-more-home-runs-before-mlb-all-star-game-c266214234 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818201910/https://www.mlb.com/news/30-or-more-home-runs-before-mlb-all-star-game-c266214234 |archive-date=August 18, 2020 |access-date=June 23, 2019 |website=[[MLB.com]] |publisher=[[MLB Advanced Media]]}}</ref> He had 36 home runs through July 28. Around that time, Durocher asked him to stop trying to hit them, explaining the team wanted him to reach base more often.<ref>[[#Mays|Mays and Sahadi]], pp. 112–113.</ref><ref name="1954 Mays">{{cite web |title=Willie Mays 1954 Batting Game Logs |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=mayswi01&t=b&year=1954 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200624001004/https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=mayswi01&t=b&year=1954 |archive-date=June 24, 2020 |work=[[Baseball Reference]]}}</ref> Mays hit only five home runs after July 28 but upped his batting average from .326 to .345 to win the team's first batting title since [[Bill Terry]]'s in 1930.<ref name="1954 Mays"/><ref>[[#Mays|Mays and Sahadi]], pp. 114.</ref> Hitting 41 home runs, Mays won the NL [[MLB Most Valuable Player award|Most Valuable Player Award]] and the [[Hickok Belt]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Willie Mays (1954) |url=http://hickokbelt.com/index.php/winners/past-winners/winners/willie-mays/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200629234259/http://hickokbelt.com/index.php/winners/past-winners/winners/willie-mays/ |archive-date=June 29, 2020 |website=[[Hickok Belt]]}}</ref>

The Giants won the [[National League pennant winners 1901-68|NL pennant]] and the [[1954 World Series]], sweeping the [[1954 Cleveland Indians season|Cleveland Indians]] in four games.<ref>[[#Schoor|Schoor]], pp. 239–242.</ref> The 1954 series is perhaps best remembered for "[[The Catch (baseball)|The Catch]]", an over-the-shoulder running grab by Mays of a long drive off the bat of [[Vic Wertz]] about {{convert|425|ft}} from home plate at the Polo Grounds during the eighth inning of Game 1. The catch prevented two Indians runners from scoring, preserving a tie game. "The Catch transcended baseball", Barra wrote, and Larry Schwartz of [[ESPN]] said that of all the catches that Mays made, "it is regarded as his greatest".<ref>[[#Barra|Barra]], pp. 212–216.</ref><ref name="ESPN">{{cite web|last=Schwartz|first=Larry|url=https://www.espn.com/sportscentury/features/00215053.html|title=The Say Hey Kid|website=[[ESPN]]|access-date=March 19, 2009|archive-date=March 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303202222/http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00215053.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |first=Bill |last=Deane |magazine=[[Baseball Digest]] |date=October 2005 |title=Catching up with Vic Wertz's 1954 World Series Drive}}</ref> Mays did not even look at the ball for the last twenty feet as he ran, saying later he realized he had to keep running if he was going to get the ball.<ref>[[#Mays|Mays and Sahadi]], pp. 117–118; [[#Barra|Barra]], p. 218.</ref> The Giants won the game in the 10th inning on a three-run home run by [[Dusty Rhodes (outfielder)|Dusty Rhodes]], with Mays scoring the winning run.<ref>[[#Hirsch|Hirsch]], p. 198.</ref>

Mays added [[Stolen base|base stealing]] to his talents, upping his total from eight in 1954 to 24 in 1955. In the middle of May, Durocher asked him to try for more home runs.<ref>[[#Mays|Mays and Sahadi]], pp. 128–129; [[#Hirsch|Hirsch]], p. 239.</ref> Mays led the league with 51 but finished fourth in NL MVP voting.<ref>[[#Barra|Barra]], p. 229.</ref> Leading the league with a .659 [[slugging percentage]], Mays batted .319 as the Giants finished in third.<ref>[[#Barra|Barra]], p. 228</ref> During the last game of the season, Durocher, who had supported Mays since his career had begun, told him he would not be returning as the Giants manager. When Mays responded, "But Mr. Leo, it's going to be different with you gone. You won't be here to help me," Durocher told his star, "Willie Mays doesn't need help from anyone."<ref>[[#Hirsch|Hirsch]], pp. 104–105, 244–246.</ref>