OT: - The discovery of Willie Mays, by my 8 year old | The Boneyard

OT: The discovery of Willie Mays, by my 8 year old

GemParty

GemParty

Co~host of the Sliders & Curveballs Podcast
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How do you teach children about the history of sports? I’ve chosen, one conversation And game at a time.

Guest, John Shea, co authored “24” with Mr Mays himself and took us through his Hall of Fame life on our Sliders & Curveballs podcast.

One of my favorite guests and episodes.
I hope it will be one of yours too.

Ever seen Willie play? Who’s your baseball hero? Joseph wants to know!

 
I was a (Brooklyn) Dodger fan, but boy; everyone loved Willie
I remember imitating his gait
Trying to catch fly balls like him...didn't work for me.

Of course there was the monster catch in the '54 series against Vic Wertz, in game 1...Turned the whole series into a 4-game rout...
Cleveland's vaunted pitching staff had no chance against the likes of Alvin Dark, Monte Irvin, Willie...and remember Don Mueller, the ultimate powder-puff hitter...never swung hard...but usually made contact...and Sal Maglie, whose curve would break like none other.

And I wasn't a fan...great player, wonderful team.
 
Read "24" in one day. Willie Mays was incomparable. He is my baseball deity. With apologies to Mickey Mantle, Mike Trout, Roberto Clemente, Hank Aaron, and others, Willie Mays is as close to a perfect baseball player that we will ever see.
 
Willie Mays was the best baseball position player I ever saw. He was a fabulous outfielder, had a great throwing arm, was the smartest and the best baserunner of his time, and hit for average with great power. If he hadn't played so many games in Candlestick Park with its blustery, fickle winds, he might have hit another 100 or 200 home runs.

And he always looked like he was having fun.
 
FanHam said:
Willie Mays was the best baseball position player I ever saw. He was a fabulous outfielder, had a great throwing arm, was the smartest and the best baserunner of his time, and hit for average with great power. If he hadn't played so many games in Candlestick Park with its blustery, fickle winds, he might have hit another 100 or 200 home runs.

And he always looked like he was having fun.
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Polo Grounds weren't really a hitter's park either for RH, if I remember correctly. Saw the Mets there before Shea was built.
 
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GemParty said:
How do you teach children about the history of sports? I’ve chosen, one conversation And game at a time.

Guest, John Shea, co authored “24” with Mr Mays himself and took us through his Hall of Fame life on our Sliders & Curveballs podcast.

One of my favorite guests and episodes.
I hope it will be one of yours too.

Ever seen Willie play? Who’s your baseball hero? Joseph wants to know!

Expand ...


Willie Mays is my all time favorite baseball player, period. I always tried to attend at least 1 game whenever the Giants came to LA for a series. I first saw him in person in 1958 at the LA Coliseum. Say Hey!! :)
 
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As an Army family, we moved around a lot. When my dad was transferred to Hawai'i in late 1957 (I was 7 and just discovering baseball), the move coincided with the Giants' move to SF. One of the Honolulu radio stations picked up the Giants' broadcasts, and I was hooked. They were my team, and Willie was my player. The only time I ever really got to see him, until moving back to the states in 1961, was on the old "Home Run Derby" broadcasts in the late '50's-early '60's - empty stadiums with Mays, Matthews, Aaron, Snider and others trying to hit as many as possible. But Russ Hodges's broadcasts carried me through. I remained a Giants' fan well into the '70's, sharing allegiance with my new home town team, the Washington Senators (RIP). Got to see the Willies (Mays and McCovey) in the 1969 all star game at RFK Stadium in DC.
 
Incredible stories and memories. Thank you. I hope the podcast brings back wonderful memories for all of you fans! Let’s go back in time together. Let us know what you think of the episode questions and guest.

We love reading reviews here and on Apple!

Thanks.

Mike & Joseph
 
Steve UConn72 said:
As an Army family, we moved around a lot. When my dad was transferred to Hawai'i in late 1957 (I was 7 and just discovering baseball), the move coincided with the Giants' move to SF. One of the Honolulu radio stations picked up the Giants' broadcasts, and I was hooked. They were my team, and Willie was my player. The only time I ever really got to see him, until moving back to the states in 1961, was on the old "Home Run Derby" broadcasts in the late '50's-early '60's - empty stadiums with Mays, Matthews, Aaron, Snider and others trying to hit as many as possible. But Russ Hodges's broadcasts carried me through. I remained a Giants' fan well into the '70's, sharing allegiance with my new home town team, the Washington Senators (RIP). Got to see the Willies (Mays and McCovey) in the 1969 all star game at RFK Stadium in DC.
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Many of the Home Run Derby contests were filmed at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, which had been the home of the Pacific Coast League Los Angeles Angels. The plan was for the new major league Los Angeles Angels franchise to spend only their inaugural season (1961) at Wrigley Field, then play the next four at Chavez Ravine (Dodger Stadium) until their own ballpark was completed in 1966 in Anaheim. The Angels media broadcasters never referred to Dodger Stadium as "Dodger Stadium" during their TV/radio broadcasts and promotions during the 4 years they played there. They ALWAYS referred to it as Chavez Ravine.

Wrigley Field was built in 1925 by William Wrigley Jr. It's the sister stadium to the Wrigley Field in Chicago. Home Run Derby was filmed there because the field had major league dimensions, it was available, secure (no public access if they chose not to allow fans) and it was cheap to rent. A win-win-win scenario for the show's producers.

1602531001326.png


I attended several games that season. I saw many of the American League greats during that year. I remember some of the team favorites from that season: Ryne Duran, Albie Pearson, Leon Wagner, Ted Kluszewski, and Del Rice, the opening day starting catcher in 1961. I also played in that stadium for 2 seasons of Babe Ruth league youth baseball after the Angels departure. The only time I got to play in a major league ball park. Even though the stadium had fallen into a state of disrepair and neglect, I was in hog heaven those two years, because I was playing on the same dirt and grass as major league players did. :D This stadium was demolished in 1969.

1602531143334.png
 
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JonathanXIV said:
Read "24" in one day. Willie Mays was incomparable. He is my baseball deity. With apologies to Mickey Mantle, Mike Trout, Roberto Clemente, Hank Aaron, and others, Willie Mays is as close to a perfect baseball player that we will ever see.
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Loved the book too. 24 chapters. Designed with a classroom in mind. Incredible player and man.
 
pspr11 said:
Everybody had to try the “basket catch”.
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Absolutely! I can tell you from personal experience, it was NOT as easy as he made it look. Youth baseball coaches hated it. :mad: I dropped more fly balls trying the basket catch (in practice) than I caught. :( Since I always wanted to play, I never tried it in a game. Didn't have the stones. If I did and dropped one, you can imagine how disgusted and PO'ed that coach would have been. Every coach I played for told me not to try it, and to ALWAYS use two hands to catch fly balls. They were right. ;) If I had a dollar for every time a coach told me I WAS NOT Willie Mays, I could have bought several nice dinners.
 
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Carnac said:
Absolutely! I can tell you from personal experience, it was NOT as easy as he made it look. Youth baseball coaches hated it. :mad: I dropped more fly balls trying the basket catch (in practice) than I caught. :( Since I always wanted to play, I never tried it in a game. Didn't have the stones. If I did and dropped one, you can imagine how disgusted and PO'ed that coach would have been. Every coach I played for told me not to try it, and to ALWAYS use two hands to catch fly balls. They were right. ;) If I had a dollar for every time a coach told me I WAS NOT Willie Mays, I could have bought several nice dinners.
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Perfectly said. He was a magician!
 
If memory serves me right (occasionally it happens!) Willie led off the 1965 All Star game and immediately whacked a home run. I thought, wow, what an incredible baseball player he is.
 
GemParty said:
Perfectly said. He was a magician!
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And the thing about Willie was he made his basket catches so "nonchalantly", and I never saw or heard of him dropping one. ;) My apologies for hijacking the thread, but I got carried away.
 
Scud49 said:
If memory serves me right (occasionally it happens!) Willie led off the 1965 All Star game and immediately whacked a home run. I thought, wow, what an incredible baseball player he is.
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Mays was one of several "bad ball" hitters in the league at that time. Henry Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Frank Robinson, Tony Oliva, Elston Howard, Orlando Cepeda and little known Manny Sanquillen (Pittsburgh Pirates) are the ones that immediately come to mind. There were others.
 
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Here’s one of the catches described in our podcast. John Shea, sent this to us after we recorded together. Nice guy. Great storyteller. He’s the MLB writer for The San Francisco Chronicle. Willie going up!

3E0086BB-79A8-41B6-8048-0FFBA6074C91.jpeg
 
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Scud49 said:
If memory serves me right (occasionally it happens!) Willie led off the 1965 All Star game and immediately whacked a home run. I thought, wow, what an incredible baseball player he is.
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And don't forget, he hit that homerun off of one the American League's best pitchers. Many times (not always) the best or most high profile pitcher on the all-star team usually starts and goes an inning or two to give the fans in attendance their monies worth. So Willie didn't hit that HR off an old tin can. That guy was legit!. ;)
 
GemParty said:
Here’s one of the catches described in our podcast. John Shea, sent this to us after we recorded together. Nice guy. Great storyteller. He’s the MLB writer for The San Francisco Chronicle. Willie going up!

View attachment 59800
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The other player here is Bobby Bonds, Barry's father.
 
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Carnac said:
Mays was one of several "bad ball" hitters in the league at that time. Henry Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Frank Robinson, Tony Oliva, Elston Howard, Orlando Cepeda and little known Manny Sanquillen (Pittsburgh Pirates) are the ones that immediately come to mind. There were others.
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The best "bad ball" hitters I remember were: Clemente, Berra, and Sanguillen. I wouldn't call Manny "little known." He had over 1,500 career hits, batted .296 for his career (10th highest all-time among catchers), and received at least some ballots in MVP voting 4 different seasons. Manny has several seasons of 475+ plate appearances, but only 20 or so walks, because he would swing at anything. And usually put his bat on the ball.

Edit: I recall Mays "golfing" some low pitches for home runs. But I remember Yogi, Roberto, and Manny hitting pitches at shoulder height or higher. I believe I saw Manny get a single off a pitch that bounced up to the plate. Most guys who can hit "bad balls" successfully have phenomenal hand-eye coordination. Hitting a baseball is hard, but hitting a baseball between the knees and waist is a lot easier than hitting one at shoulder height or ankle height.
 
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msf22b said:
I was a (Brooklyn) Dodger fan, but boy; everyone loved Willie
I remember imitating his gait
Trying to catch fly balls like him...didn't work for me.

Of course there was the monster catch in the '54 series against Vic Wertz, in game 1...Turned the whole series into a 4-game rout...
Cleveland's vaunted pitching staff had no chance against the likes of Alvin Dark, Monte Irvin, Willie...and remember Don Mueller, the ultimate powder-puff hitter...never swung hard...but usually made contact...and Sal Maglie, whose curve would break like none other.

And I wasn't a fan...great player, wonderful team.
Expand ...
Willie was a well-known stickball player [Harlem] and stickball with a Spaldeen&broomstick was our main game where I grew up in Queens [on the Brooklyn border] in the early 50s, eh?
And yes, Sal "The Barber" shaved the Injuns that year and got a little help from Hoyt Wilhelm & Johnny Antonelli...
 
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