Sport: Year of the Stealer

Last year's spectacle, in the era of the bunny ball, was dour Roger Maris grimly slugging 61 home runs over assorted fences to break Babe Ruth's 34-year-old record. The day seemed not far off when bleacher fans would wear the gloves and ballplayers would drink the beer. But this year, excitement suddenly came back to baseball—at least in ballparks where a coil-spring, 30-year-old shortstop named Maury Wills was playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 161 games, with two games to go, Wills stole an even 100 bases, shattering the record of 96 set by Ty Cobb. and that was way...

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