Go ... go ... go ...

A Kurt Streeter column in Monday’s L.A. Times tried to make the case for Maury Wills to get into the baseball Hall of Fame. Wills, the spark plug of the Dodgers teams of the early ’60s, was a career .281 hitter but his renown came from his 586 stolen bases — especially the then-record 104 he swiped in 1962.

With all due respect Streeter’s argument, I don’t think Wills had a Hall-of-Fame career.

That being said, I grew up in L.A. in the ’60s, saw my first major league game in 1963, and I can tell you, nothing was more exciting for a young fan than the sight of Wills on first base.

Throw after throw from the pitcher trying to hold Wills close to the base, while 50,000 people chanted “Go! … Go! … Go!” (on their own — no electronic prompting needed). Finally a pitch, a dash to second, a safe sign and a roar.

Sandy Koufax and Wills were the heart of the early-60s Dodger teams.

As Streeter notes, Wills had a tough time post-career, flopping as a manager in Seattle and battling addiction — along with the bitterness of feeling he was dissed by baseball by being left out of the Hall of Fame and dissed by the Dodgers by not having his No. 30 retired.

Streeter says Wills at 75 — is that possible? — is wiser and happier now. I hope so. On his Hall-of-Fame credentials, Steeter and I disagree. But we can agree on this: To Dodgers fans in the early '60s, he was something very special.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/baseball/mlb/dodgers/la-sp-streeter18-2008aug18,0,7674790.column