R.I.P. Maury Wills

Maury Wills, who started the 1969 season with the Montreal Expos, has passed away at the age of 89.

September 20, 2022

By Danny Gallagher

Canadian Baseball Network

When the Expos began putting together a roster for the 1969 season, they thought aging shortstop Maury Wills still had some gas left in his tank.

So in the 1968 expansion draft, the Expos selected Maurice Morning Wills as the 21st pick overall.

His best years were behind him and his due date had expired when he played in Montreal but he's still part of franchise lore even though he only toiled part of that inaugural season.

Wills died Sept. 20, 12 days shy of his 90th birthday in Arizona, where he had lived for many years.

The original Expo didn't seem to like playing in Montreal. Even majority owner Charles Bronfman took shots at him in his memoir Distilled released more than 45 years later. That lack of interest showed in Wills' offence. He batted .222 with no homers and eight RBIs and a.295 OBP but he did steal 15 bases in 21 attempts.

During his brief time with the Expos, Wills managed to stir up trouble when he slapped Montreal writer Ted Blackman.

On June11, in what was likely a mutual agreement, the Expos traded Wills and Manny Mota to the Dodgers for Ron Fairly and Paul Popovich. The story goes that Fairly didn't like playing in Montreal either but he was more than fairly good with the Expos from 1969 to 1974.

Back with his first team which he helped to three World Series titles, Wills was rejuvenated. He batted .297 with four homers, 39 RBIs and a .356 OBP. And he stole 25 bases in 40 attempts.

Wills spent 11-plus seasons with the Dodgers and two with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was the first player in the modern era to record 100 stolen bases in a season when he pilfered 104 in 1962, his best season in the majors.

That 1962 season was Wills at his finest. He played in all 165 games, including a three-game tie-breaker series the Dodgers won over the Giants. In 759 plate appearances, he batted .299 with 208 hits, 130 runs, 10 triples and six homers to go with 48 RBI. He struck out only 57 times.

Remarkably, Wills spent nine seasons in the minor leagues before making it with the Dodgers in 1959.

Wills' legacy is with the Dodgers but his half a season with the Expos won't be forgotten.