Willie Howard Mays receives the National League MVP award for the 1954 season in this historic Type I photo from the United Press Association. At 23 years old the "Say Hey Kid" tore up the league in 1954, blasting 41 home runs and batting .345 on his way to becoming the first New York Giant to win a batting title since Bill Terry achieved the feat in 1930. Mays also helped lead his Giants to a 1954 World Series victory, a 4-0 sweep of the vaunted Cleveland Indians where he'd make perhaps the greatest defensive play in baseball history during Game 1 at New York's cavernous Polo Grounds. Mays made "The Catch," an over-the-shoulder grab with his back to the infield, when Cleveland's Vic Wertz launched a deep fly ball to center that Willie tracked down on a dead sprint. 

Original 7" x 9" news service photo is a terrific rendition of Willie Mays posed with National League president Warren Giles as he presents the 1954 NL MVP award at the Polo Grounds on June 5, 1955. Upon close inspection some rounding and general creasing of the emulsion is evident at the corners but this does not appear to impact the central image in any way. Verso remains clean with credit stamping from the United Press Association applied at the center and a large paper caption still affixed at the top edge. Authenticated and encapsulated as a Type I photo by PSA/DNA.