The Say Hey Kid
Willie Mays, as great as he was, as jaw dropping as his career totals are, still missed about 274 games of his career to military service. 274 games early in his career. The 1951 National League Rookie of the Year was meant for greatness. Then he was drafted by the Army, and he missed all but 34 games the next two seasons. The year he came back, he was the National League MVP. He hit .345 with 41 HR and 110 RBI. The next season he hit .319 with 51 HR and 127. Between 1954 and 1964, 10 years, he hit .320 with 382 home runs and 1,088 RBI.
So, imagine that we averaged the earliest years of his career and projected what he would have done in those 274 games.
Mays goes from 660 home runs to 727. Mays' career WAR of 156.2 goes up even more.
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