RIP Willie Mays

[UConnCat]

The Say Hey Kid.

 

[oldude]

Somewhere, Vic Wertz is still shaking his head in disbelief……

 

[nwhoopfan]

I have to say, I'm kinda shocked he was still alive. 93 years, that's a full life.

 

[BobbyJ]

An amazing talent. I grew up with Willie, Mickey, and the Duke. The golden age of baseball.

 

[and one]

Willie was flat out a great, great baseball player. He excelled at every phase of the game, was a great teammate and leader, and carried himself with class and dignity on and off the field. A sad day for baseball.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Willie was on the short list for GOAT. I was a Yankee fan, so I preferred Mickey, but Willie was arguably the most multi-talented player ever.

 

[oldude]

Willie was on the short list for GOAT. I was a Yankee fan, so I preferred Mickey, but Willie was arguably the most multi-talented player ever.

Also a Yankee fan. While Mays was arguably a better all-around player with better career numbers, it would have been a much closer call had Mickey not been plagued by injuries through much of his career.

 

[superjohn]

Willie was on the short list for GOAT. I was a Yankee fan, so I preferred Mickey, but Willie was arguably the most multi-talented player ever.

I posted it on the basketball board. Growing up all the old timers told me Mantle and Mays were the two best players they ever saw.

 

[LoyalFanCT]

He was a legend. As a kid, I got a coin with his image on it in a pack of gum with baseball cards.

 

[Huskee11]

Electrifying and charismatic. IMHO the best player in baseball for the two decade period 1950-1970. Aaron right there as well but Willie had more pizazz.

Just looked him up on baseball reference and he is listed at 5'10" and 170 lbs. Kind of amazing for a guy with 660 career home runs.

The images of him playing stickball in the Bronx led me to believe her grew up there. In fact, he grew up in Alabama.

Tough stretch here for California- based superstars, Walton, West, Mays.

 

[bantamlaker]

 

[MilfordHusky]

Also a Yankee fan. While Mays was arguably a better all-around player with better career numbers, it would have been a much closer call had Mickey not been plagued by injuries through much of his career.

Mickey had more power--akin to Bonds, McGwire, and Judge--and at least comparable straight-away speed before injuries. As he said later in life, "If I had known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself." (Several male family members had died in their 30s or 40s).

Willie was really, really good and may not have had any weaknesses.

 

[Aluminny69]

I have to say, I'm kinda shocked he was still alive. 93 years, that's a full life.

The oldest living Hall of Famer is now Whitey Herzog, 92 years and 8 months old.

Followed by Luis Aparicio, who recently turned 90 years old.

Followed by Sandy Koufax, who is 88 years old.

 

[GoUconn7961]

You have to respect him as a legend regardless of the team you're loyal to.
He had an incredible career.

 

[JellyBean]

When I heard this news yesterday, I had to call my grandfather, who is 95 years old. Willie is/was his favorite player & people growing up. Broke his heart as well as mine. Mr. Mays was such an iconic & inspirational figure. Now I am gonna go kick it with my Pop-pop because, well we never know. RIP, Mr. Mays.

 

[AidanFan20]

Being born in the Bay Area, I was lucky enough to see Willie play in-person a few times... I can still remember this baserunning play he did, and it demonstrates the MIND he had for the game.

Willie was on first, Jim Ray Hart at the plate... Hart hit a single that almost got between two out fielders, and Willie went to second, taking a few steps toward third, but stopping as the throw came in a bit quicker than expected. Willie got into a rundown between 2nd and 3rd as Hart stopped at first.

Willie kept going back and forth, drawing throws as the other team tried to close down on him... But, apparently Willie saw an opening about to appear as he skidded to a halt while headed back to second base. As he turned back toward third, he emphatically waved at Hart to get to second base... Then, he raced to third and beat the play. The Candlestick crowd went nuts!

Seeing that opportunity to not only get to third, but Hart to second showed that Willie was playing 3D chess and the others were still playing checkers.

 

[VA Huskie]

Somewhere, Vic Wertz is still shaking his head in disbelief……

Did you know that that ball was hit about 475 feet!

 

[VA Huskie]

I started rooting for the Giants in 1958. Couple of interesting things to know about Willie: 1) He wasn’t the most popular Giant. Cepeda was, bc he was an SF guy where as Willie was seen as a NYC guy. 2) Willie played in a ballpark where the wind constantly blew in from leftfield. Probably would have hit 50-100 more HRs if he’d played in a normal park. 3) When Barry Bonds got all the hype for his 30/30 years, Willie (who was his godfather) said “ if I’d known it was that big a deal I’d of stolen more bases”.

Not the best hitter I ever saw (that would be Ted Williams), but certainly the best all around player.

RIP - Say hey kid!

 

[oldude]

Did you know that that ball was hit about 475 feet!

Yes. Dead center in the old Polo Grounds was a ridiculous 483 ft.

 

[mrmojack]

I started rooting for the Giants in 1958. Couple of interesting things to know about Willie: 1) He wasn’t the most popular Giant. Cepeda was, bc he was an SF guy where as Willie was seen as a NYC guy. 2) Willie played in a ballpark where the wind constantly blew in from leftfield. Probably would have hit 50-100 more HRs if he’d played in a normal park. 3) When Barry Bonds got all the hype for his 30/30 years, Willie (who was his godfather) said “ if I’d known it was that big a deal I’d of stolen more bases”. Not the best hitter I ever saw (that would be Ted Williams), but certainly the best all around player. RIP - Say hey kid!

 

[mrmojack]

I was also a SF Giant Fan beginning in 1957 when they moved to
SF. I used to listen to the recreated games on my short wave
radio. Les Keiter was the announcer. Those were very good
teams with Mays, Cepeda, McCovey, Marichal, et al.
Good childhood memories.

 

[OldSchooler]

I've been to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown on several occasions, starting when I was a kid with my Dad, and most recently with my own children. But no visit was more memorable than July 25, 1966. That was Hall of Fame Induction Day, and I went because Ted Williams and Casey Stengel were beng inducted. Throughout Williams' career -- one of the few major leaguers to have played in 4 decades, all with the same team -- he had had a running feud with the Boston sportswriters. One even left him off the 10-slot MVP ballot entirely in 1941, the year he hit .406. He didn't care. He had a .344 lifetime batting average, and hit 521 career home runs -- the third highest all-time when he retired -- despite losing five years to military service as a Marine in WW2 and Korea.

But the Boston writers criticized him because he never tipped his cap to the fans after hitting a home run. And he returned the favor by publicly criticizing their "gutlessness" in banning women from the press box. In later years used to spit in their direction each time he crossed the plate on a home run at Fenway. Now, in '66, after being voted into the Hall by the BBWAA in his first year of eligibility, what would he say in his acceptance speech? Would he use his few minutes in the sun to get back at his tormentors?

Casey stole the show that day, and the headlines the next, with a long and rambling acceptance speech about his colorful career from failed dentist to player and manager. Williams' remarks were an afterthought in the press the next day. But not in my mind. He devoted his few minutes to challenging MLB to start opening up the Hall and recognizing the many outstanding black ballplayers who were consigned to spending their entire careers in the Negro Leagues:

"The other day, Willie Mays hit his 522nd home run. He has gone past me, and he's pushing, and I say to him, 'Go get 'em, Willie.' Baseball gives every American boy a chance to excel. Not just to be as good as someone else, but to be better. This is the nature of man and the name of the game. I hope that some day Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson will be voted into the Hall of Fame as symbols of the great Negro players who are not here, only because they weren't given the chance."

This was the first time anyone -- let along someone with the baseball creds of a Ted Williams -- had used such a platform to utter such words. I never forgot it. Robert Peterson quoted this part of Williams' speech on the opening page of his 1970 book, Only the Ball Was White. A year later, Satchel Paige was inducted into the Hall, and Gibson the following year, and since then the floodgates have opened, culminating in MLB's decision this year to consider all Negro League records to be part of major league records. Williams, whom Mel Allen called "the greatest natural hitter of all time," started that ball rolling.

I was fortunate to see Williams toward the end of his career. I was also at the game where Mays got his last hit before the Shea Stadium faithful. He pinch-hit for Ed Kranepool with the bases loaded and none out in the 5th inning of the 5th and final game of the 1973 NLCS against the Reds. Hit the first pitch for a little dribbler in front of the plate that he beat out for a hit and an RBI. In the World Series, he drove in the go-ahead run in the 12th inning of the Game 2 victory in Oakland, but only saw action in three of the seven games.