Sept. 23, 1962 - Maury Wills of the Los Angeles Dodgers stole two bases today (Nos. 96 and 97) and broke Ty Cobb’s season record which has held since 1915, but the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the league leaders, 12-2. Wills went one ahead of Ty Cobb’s modern stolen base mark in the seventh inning. After reaching base on a single, he stole second easily. The throw, high over the bag, was not held. He tied Cobb in the third after reaching base on a hit. With a St. Louis crowd of 20,743 roaring its approval, Wills stole second as Carl Sawatski’s throw bounced past Dal Maxvill. Wills, upon breaking the record, received an ovation as he trotted off the field and into the Dodger dugout, where he was congratulated by waiting teammates. When he went to the plate in the ninth, the game was stopped and the public address announcer presented a base to Wills, saying, “And you won’t have to steal this one.” After the game, Wills received the actual base he had stolen to pass Cobb.
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