With the game tied 2–2 in the eighth inning of Game 1 of the 1954 World Series, the Cleveland Indians had two men on first and second base against the New York Giants. The Indians’ Vic Wertz hit a 425-foot shot to center field, and Willie Mays sprinted towards the wall to intercept the ball. Mays caught it over his shoulder, turned, and gunned it back towards the infield, to shut down the runs. Mays’s catch is widely considered one of the great catches of all time and kept the game tied, allowing the Giants to win the game 5-2 in the tenth inning on a Dusty Rhodes’s pinch-hit home run. With such a deep center field at the Polo Grounds, players regularly scored from second after tagging up. Mays’s throw was right on the money, only allowing the runner at second to get to third. The Giants went on to win the World Series in four games. This photo in its 21 x 25 inch framed display captures this historic moment in baseball. The 16x20 Photo is black and white and has been signed by Willie Mays in black marker. This lot comes with a full LOA from Steve Grad of Beckett Authentications (A82323).

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