The most distinguishing thing that Ken Griffey did last week wasn't hit two homers in a game to move within one of Mark McGwire, 40-39. What stood out more happened the night before, when Griffey made a sensational over-the-shoulder catch. McGwire's chase of Roger Maris' 61 homers defines his career. Based on his homers-to-at-bats ratio, the St. Louis first baseman is the most successful right-handed home run hitter ever.
Griffey's pursuit of Maris constitutes part of his larger story. The Seattle centerfielder is the best all-around player of his time, perhaps the best since Willie Mays.
And Mays remains the standard by whom all-around excellence must be judged.
“When people ask me who's the best player I ever saw,” Yankees coach Don Zimmer said, “I say Willie Mays. I don't even hesitate.”
Zimmer has spent 39 seasons in the big leagues as a player, coach or manager. He played for years against Mays. As a Yankees coach, he periodically has observed Griffey.
Mays in all-time rankings entering this season:
| CATEGORY | PLACE | NO. |
| Homers | 3rd | 660 |
| Total bases | 3rd | 6,066 |
| Extra-base hits | 4th | 1,323 |
| Runs | 5th | 2,062 |
| Games played | 7th | 2,992 |
| RBIs | 8th | 1,907 |
| Slugging percentage | 10th | .557 |
| Doubles | 27th | 523 |
“Ken Griffey is just a great player,” Zimmer said. “Great power, hits for a high average, plays a great centerfield – he's a great player. Probably if you ask 10 baseball people, six, seven or eight – maybe more – might tell you he's the best player in the game.”
When you look at Mays' career, you realize the highest compliment we can pay Griffey is that he is the Mays of our time.
Mays' first big-league manager, Leo Durocher, said, “If somebody came up and hit .450, stole 100 bases and performed a miracle in the field every day, I'd still say …Willie was better. He could do the five things you have to do to be a superstar: hit, hit with power, run, throw and field.”
Find another player who ever produced such high combined marks in those five:
Hitting: Mays hit .302 for his career, and he faced pitching that wasn't watered down as it is now. Six times, he finished in the top three in the batting race, including winning the batting title in '54.
Hitting for power: He ranks third on the all-time list with 660 homers. He twice hit 50 -- 51 in '55 and 52 in '65.
Running: “He was the best baserunner in the league, even though they didn't steal a lot of bases back then,” Zimmer said. Just before Maury Wills and Lou Brock revived the speed game, Mays led the National League in stolen bases four straight seasons with 40, 38, 31 and 27.
Three times, he led the league in triples. “Running while looking backward, he ran faster than anyone else running forward,” Zimmer said. And here we can envision Mays lining a ball the other way up the right-center gap, looking back at the ball as he rounded second – not needing to sight the third-base coach, as other players must. “He didn't need any coach,” Zimmer said. “He looked back at the ball while running full speed. It was amazing.”
Fielding: At the New York Giants' mammoth, horseshoe-shaped Polo Grounds, it was 447 feet to left-center, 440 feet to right-center and 483 feet to dead center. Mays' famous over-the-shoulder catch on Cleveland's Vic Wertz in the 1954 World Series was hardly the only time he went back to rob someone of three bases. More than anyone else, Mays brought truth to these words: “Centerfield at the Polo Grounds: where triples go to die.”
Throwing: “Outstanding arm,” Zimmer said. “He may not have had as great of a strength in his throwing arm as Clemente, even though Clemente played right. But he was an outstanding thrower.”
Roberto Clemente was the Pittsburgh great.
Now let's grade Griffey:
Hitting for average: Griffey entered this season with the same lifetime average as Mays -- .302. In his nine full seasons, he has hit .300 seven times.
Hitting for power: This season, Griffey, 28, hit his 300th homer at a younger age than any other player in history except Jimmie Foxx (who did it at 27). He's headed for his second straight American League home run title and third of his career.
Running: Griffey showed his speed on his epic first-to-home dash with the winning run in the '95 playoff series with the Yankees. He could steal more if he and the homer-heavy Mariners wanted him to.
Fielding: He has won eight straight Gold Gloves, an AL record for outfielders.
Throwing: He's one of the dwindling number of outfielders who can really throw, who can deter runners from taking the extra base. Griffey gets the edge on Barry Bonds as today's best player in part because Bonds plays left and Griffey plays center – demanding longer throws and more range.
Griffey became a big-league regular at 19. Mays became a regular at 20, but he soon missed nearly two full seasons while serving in the military. He played regularly until he was 40, when he led the league in walks and on-base percentage as the Giants finished first in 1971.
Mays hit 660 homers. Had he not missed those 1,000 at-bats while in the military, he would have beaten Hank Aaron to Babe Ruth's record of 714 homers.
When he turns 30, Griffey figures to be closing in on 400 homers. If he's as productive in his 30s as in his 20s, he someday could be chasing the other famous home run record besides Maris'. He could be pursuing Aaron's 755.