Willie Mays

Willie Mays
debut
May 25, 1951, New York Giants
Teams
New York Giants (1951-1957) San Francisco Giants (1958-1972) New York Mets (1972-1973)

Willie Howard Mays Jr. (born May 6, 1931 in Westfield, Alabama) was and is a star baseball player and an American icon. Mays, nicknamed The Say Hey Kid was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979, his first year of eligibility. During his playing days, Mays eard two MVP awards and twenty-four appearances as an all-star.

His first major league manager, Leo Durocher described Mays' abundance of talent thusly: "He could do the five things you have to do to be a superstar: hit, hit with power, run, throw, and field. And he had that other ingredient that turns a superstar into a super superstar. He lit up the room when he came in. He was a joy to be around."

Upon his Hall of Fame election, Mays was asked to name the best player that he'd seen during his career. Mays replied, "I don't mean to be bashful, but I was."

Early years

Mays' athleticism was evident from an early age. At high school he played quarterback on the football team, and was offered college scholarships in both football and basketball. Rejecting both, he began to play baseball professionally. He played briefly with the Chattanooga Choo-Choos before returning to his hometown in 1947 to join the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League. Scouted by a number of major league teams, Mays wisely eschewed signing a contract with the Barons. The Red Sox could have signed him first, but the racism of Boston's management cost them the chance to put him in a lineup next to Ted Williams. Only speculation can say how many World Series rings that decision cost Boston, whose bigotry also cost them Jackie Robinson, before he was signed by the Dodgers. In 1950 Mays signed with the New York Giants and went to their Class-B affiliate Trenton, New Jersey.

Mays quickly discovered that his outstanding talent did not make him immune from racism. He was forced to stay in a black-owned hotel away from his teammates during his minor league debut at Hagerstown, Maryland. Mays was also subjected to racial taunts from the crowd, but gained a measure of revenge by hitting two home runs and a double.

After hitting .353 in Trenton, Mays began 1951 playing for the AAA Minneapolis Millers of the minor league American Association. With the Millers, Mays quickly became a fan favorite with his stellar offense and defensive play. Hitting .477 after 35 games, he was called up to the major leagues in May, 1951. Giants owner Horace Stoneham took out a full page advertisement in several Minneapolis newspapers, apologizing for taking him away from the Millers.

New York career

With the Giants, Mays started his career by going hitless in his first 13 at bats. Feeling overmatched, he is said to have cried in the dressing room after a game. "Mr. Leo," the 18-year-old blubbered to manager Leo Durocher, "They're too fast for me. You're gonna have to send me back to Minneapolis." Durocher, who always would be one of Mays' greatest admirers and defenders, refused, telling the boy that he would be the Giants' center fielder for the season. "You're the best damn ballplayer I've ever seen," Durocher later quoted himself as saying. It was that rare situation where such a grandiose claim was probably true. The next day, Mays was the leadoff hitter against the great Warren Spahn of the Boston Braves. The rookie hit the first pitch of the game over the left-field fence for a home run. It was an auspicious start to a major league career hardly to be matched since Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams.

From then on, Mays' hitting steadily improved. Although his .274 average, 68 RBI and 20 homers (in 121 games) would be among the worst of his career, he easily won the 1951 Rookie of the Year Award. Mays ended the regular season as a somewhat nervous on-deck batter, when Bobby Thomson's famous three-run homer won the pennant for the Giants.

Mays hit poorly in the 1951 World Series, as the Giants were beaten 4 games to 2 by the New York Yankees. The series marked the only time that Mays and the aging Joe DiMaggio would play on the same field. Playing a bit part for the Yankees was DiMaggio's heir apparent, and the player who would be most compared to Mays over their long, overlapping careers, the 19-year-old Mickey Mantle.

Mays' ebullient image as "the Say Hey Kid" was cemented by the sight of him playing stickball with local Manhattan children in the streets of Harlem. This image would be in contrast to the latter part of his career, when he was considered more aloof and surly.

Mays served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, but did not see action overseas. He missed part of the 1952 season and all of the 1953 season, as the Giants finished 2nd and 5th in the National League. He returned in 1954, and clinched his only batting title on the last day of the season. Mays hit .345 with 41 home runs, helping to carry the Giants to a 97-57 record, the National League pennant and a four-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians in the World Series.

The Catch: Willie Mays hauls in Vic Wertz's drive at the warning track in the 1954 World Series

In Game 1 of the series Mays made one of the most celebrated defensive plays of all time, a brilliant over-the-shoulder catch of a long drive by Vic Wertz, deep in center field of the spacious Polo Grounds. Many observers consider Mays' throw to the infield to be the superior aspect of the play. Sometimes referred to simply as "The Catch", Mays' defensive gem kept the score tied at 2-2 in the 8th inning.

• "Way back, back! It is... Oh, what a catch by Mays! ...Willie Mays just brought this crowd to its feet with a catch which must have been an optical illusion to a lot of people. Boy!"

--Announcer Jack Brickhouse

Many regular observers of the Giants, including Mays himself, said that the famous play was not the best catch of Mays' career. But it was the World Series, and the catch was immortalized in a much-reproduced sports photo; the image has served to crystallize Mays the fielder. Mays also popularized the "basket catch," in which he would field flyballs with a doublehanded scoop around the belt buckle.

After the 1954 season, Mays was announced as winner of the National League Most Valuable Player Award and the Hickok Belt as top professional athlete of the year.

San Francisco career

Over the next three seasons, Mays continued to play brilliantly, but was frequently the only good player on a poor Giants team. After 1955's third-place finish, Durocher was replaced by Bill Rigney, under whom they finished in sixth place in '56 and '57. When the Giants moved westward to San Francisco for the 1958 season, Mays bought a palatial home in nearby Atherton. As the prime symbol of the Giants' past identity in New York, he was initially frostily received by the San Francisco fans. Many showed more unreserved affection for Willie McCovey and Orlando Cepeda, who debuted as San Francisco Giants. Mays was better loved in the rest of the country; fans turned out just to see him play as the uncompetitive Giants led the league in road attendance every year Mays was with them.

As it had in 1954, Mays' quest for the NL batting title came down to the final game of the 1958 season. This time, despite collecting three hits, Mays was edged out by the Phillies' Richie Ashburn.

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The "Sey Hey" Kid on cover of Time Magainze

The Giants improved a bit in '58, '59 and '60, winning 242 games and losing 220, and Rigney was fired halfway through the 1960 season. His replacement for 1961 was Alvin Dark, formerly Mays' teammate, who immediately made Mays captain. The relationship was not entirely a happy one, however. Dark was a Southern Baptist from Alabama, and was quoted in 1964 as describing the unsuitability of black players for leadership roles; the manager insisted that he had been severely misquoted. Mays managed to defuse a potential strike among the black and Puerto Rican players, but did not speak to Dark again outside the dugout. Jackie Robinson came to Dark's defense, however, describing him as being a gentleman and unbiased.

Nevertheless, under Dark, the Giants won the National League pennant in 1962, with Mays as the star. Playing in 162 games, he hit .304, and led the Giants in runs scored (130), RBI (141), doubles, triples, homers (with 49), stolen bases, on base percentage and slugging percentage as his play down the stretch enabled the Giants to catch the Dodgers. In a scare, Mays collapsed from nervous exhaustion on September 12, missing four games (all Giants losses). The Giants finished the season tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers, then defeated them 2-1 in a three-game playoff series. Mays again was a standout, hitting two home runs in the playoff opener. In the ensuing World Series, however, the Giants lost to the Yankees in seven games. In his last Series appearance as a Giant, Mays hit .250 with only two extra base hits, He was almost a hero, though, in Game Seven. With the Giants trailing 1-0 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and Alou on first, Mays pounded a two-out double to right. But, according to writer Arnold Hano, who wrote much about Mays over the years, the ball was slowed down by deep grass in the outfield, caused by recent rains. Also the Yankees' Roger Maris made a fine play, cutting off the ball before it got past him to the wall, and this kept baserunner Alou from scoring the tying run. With Mays on second and Alou on third, Willie McCovey blasted a screaming line drive that would easily have driven Mays in with the winning run. But McCovey's liner went straight to Yankee second baseman Richardson, who reflexively caught it to end the Series and Willie Mays' last good hope for a second World Series championship.

As he aged, Mays continued to play marvelously. In the '63 and '64 seasons he again scored and drove in over 100 runs, and hit a total of 85 homers. The Giants finished 2nd and 3rd in the league, bested by Los Angeles, where Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, and Maury Wills were in their best years. Mays was the highest-paid player in baseball for several seasons (and for several reasons); in 1964, his annual salary surpassed $100,000. One of the most memorable moments in Mays' career occurred on July 6, 1963, when future Hall of Famers Warren Spahn and Juan Marichal each threw 15 innings of scoreless ball. In the bottom of the 16th inning, Mays finally hit a home run off Spahn's 201st pitch for the 1-0 win.

Mays won his second of two MVP awards in 1965, hitting a career-high 52 long balls. One of those home runs, hit on September 13, off Don Nottebart, was the 500th of his career. Warren Spahn, who had given up the very first, was then finishing his career with San Francisco, and greeted Mays as he returned to the dugout. "Was it anything like the same feeling?" asked Spahn. "It was exactly the same feeling," Mays replied. "Same pitch, too."

Also in 1965, Mays put himself at the center of the year's greatest baseball controversy. On August 22 he, along with Sandy Koufax, acted as a peacemaker during a 14-minute brawl between the Giants and Dodgers at Candlestick Park, sparked by San Francisco pitcher Juan Marichal's notorious attack on Dodgers catcher John Roseboro. Mays helped the bleeding Roseboro off the field, a gesture that earned him considerable respect from Los Angeles fans. Mays was also accepted by nearby Hollywood, which frequently used him for television guest spots on series such as The Donna Reed Show and Bewitched.

Mays played in over 150 games for 13 consecutive years, from 1954 to 1966, his last 100-RBI season. Mays finished 3rd in the NL MVP voting, the ninth and final time he would be among the league's top 5 players. (He also finished 6th in the balloting three times.) In 1970, the Sporting News named Mays as the "Player of the Decade" for the 1960s.

He continued to play with the Giants until partway through the 1972 season, when he joined the New York Mets. The primary motivation for Mays' trade to the Mets was financial. The Giants were losing money, and owner Horace Stoneham could not guarantee Mays an income after retirement, while the Mets offered Mays the option to be hired as a coach after his playing days were over. This was quite important to Mays, as he had made some unwise investments and was not as wealthy as commonly believed (another reason for his frequent paid guest appearances on television). This appeared to be part of a broader pattern of questionable self-management in Mays' personal life, contrasting sharply with the brillance of his performance on the field.

His Met debut was auspicious, with Mays delivering a game-winning home run in the 5th inning. A few days later, Mays was able to win another game for the Mets by knocking the ball loose from the catcher's glove in a 2-1 game. However, Mays' tenure as a Met would be far below the gold standard his New York fans remembered so well; the sight of Mays stumbling awkwardly in the outfield during the 1973 postseason was a particularly unpleasant reminder that those great days were gone.

Mays played with the Mets until his retirement after the 1973 season. The Mets made the World Series in Mays' final year, losing in seven games to the Oakland Athletics. Mays had seven at-bats while playing in the World Series 22 years after his first Series appearance-- the longest such span in baseball history.

Retirement and Legacy

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Willie Mays Statue in front of Pacific Bell Park (2002)

Mays was a coach for the New York Mets and also acted in a public relations role for the club until 1979. He also served as a guest host of The Dick Cavett Show. On January 23, 1979, he was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, appearing on 409 of the 432 ballots cast (roughly 95 percent). Shortly after, he took a $100,000 a year job as a Special Assistant to the President and a greeter of the Park Place (now Bally's Atlantic City) casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, along with Mickey Mantle. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn immediately suspended both men from involvement in organized baseball. Despite the public outcry, the suspension would not be lifted until 1985 by Kuhn's successor, Peter Ueberroth. Having returned to Atherton, Mays is presently employed as Special Assistant to the Giants, and appears often at baseball memorabilia shows.

In 1981, Mays was a focal point of the nostalgic Terry Cashman song "Talkin' Baseball (Willie, Mickey, and the Duke)", which celebrated the three centerfielders who'd played so well for competing teams in New York City during the 1950s.

Mays' number 24 is retired by the San Francisco Giants. Their home ballpark, AT&T Park, is located at 24 Willie Mays Plaza with a larger-than-life statue of Mays in front of the main entrance, surrounded by 24 palm trees, and the right-field wall is 24 feet high, all in honor of Mays.

Mays is the godfather of baseball star Barry Bonds. They share a close bond, and when Bonds tied Mays for third on the all time home run list, Mays greeted him warmly and presented him with a diamond-studded Olympic torch (given to Mays for his role in carrying the Olympic Torch during its tour through the U.S.).

In 1999, Willie Mays ranked number 2 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, making him the highest-ranking living player. Later that year, he was also elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

In the Sporting News' poll of its editors, Mays ranked behind Babe Ruth (1st), and ahead of Ty Cobb (3rd), Henry Aaron (5th), Mickey Mantle (17th), and Ted Williams. Each of these had obvious advantages in one facet or another of the game. Ruth hit more home runs, was also a talented pitcher, and had a higher batting average. Cobb had a considerably higher average and far more lifetime hits, and played with an intensity equalled by Mays, but "Cobbie" added to that an almost violent willingness to run over opponents (particularly infielders) to gain advantage and win games. Aaron, a contemporary who probably had the best hitter's wrists in history, had a rather comparable career but simply outlasted Mays, ending up with nearly 100 more home runs. Aaron did this by having several more "big" batting years, with roughly 35 home runs, a .310 average, and 100 RBIs. If any contemporary was a more overwhelming power hitter than Mays, it would be the switch-hitting Mantle whose broad back and huge muscles arguably gave him more raw power. Mantle hit more truly long balls, including a few that flew completely out of the park. One of these landed 565 feet from home plate; Mays did not do anything comparable. Williams hit over .400 one year, and was overall a bit more productive at the plate than Mays, equally powerful, with considerably higher average. Looking at their entire careers, one suspects that there was something, possibily intangible, about Ruth and Mantle, that allowed them to lead their teams on to victory in a way that Mays, Williams and Cobb did not. Yes, they had the great Yankee supporting cast, but there is a lingering doubt that, were we to replace either Ruth or Mantle with Mays for their entire MLB careers, their teams might not have fared quite as well. In their one direct confrontation in the 1962 World Series, on comparable teams, Mantle's team beat Mays' by inches, but he beat him.

On Mays' behalf, the answer to each of these comparisons is the same, and to many it seems unanswerable: None of them could do ALL of the important things a ballplayer must do as well as Willie. He is the most complete player in history, the Michael Jordan of his sport.

Start the case with fielding: no matter how well his famous counterparts played their position, it is easy to make the case that Mays played his better. In some cases (Ruth and Williams, not superb defensive players), Mays was fabulously superior. In others (Cobb, Mantle, DiMaggio, Aaron), Mays was visibly better, but the margin of superiority was smaller. Mays' command of every part of defensive outfield play was impressive. He made the most famous catch in baseball in 1954, but some feel that the throw he made back to the infield on the same play after the catch, surpassed the catch itself. It is not hard to make the case, though unprovable, that Mays is the best-fielding player baseball has had.

Continue Mays' case with speed and running. Mantle, batting left-handed, by objective measures of timing available in his day, was faster down to first base than anyone in the game, including Willie. Cobb was a very fast, aggressive, often ruthlessly effective base runner. Mays probably matched him, except in ruthlessness; the two were likely the best pair of base runners in history. Either could turn a single into a double when no one expected it, or score from first on batted balls that would have barely delivered other great runners to third. Mays had a way of moving along all the base path, not just down to first, that many considered the best of his era. DiMaggio was a fast and gifted runner, while Ruth and Williams were heavy-footed.

Cobb lacked Mays' power. Ruth and Williams, both slightly better hitters, lacked his speed and defense. Mantle was his equal, or near-equal, but was crippled by injury.

Aaron, it can be argued, equalled Mays at hitting the ball, and bested him in two things--longevity and wrists. Mays caught the ball better than Aaron and threw the ball better than Aaron. He ran the bases better, and had more ability to inspire other players to their best. Mays also lost his cap more gracefully and more often than anyone in history--another superlative! It is easy to suppose that Mays possessed more raw baseball instinct than anyone he played against. At a time when All-Star Games were taken more seriously, Mays dominated the All-Star Game for a decade. Aaron and Mantle, Koufax and Spahn were merely the supporting cast to his starring role. Mays faded in the latter 1960s and Aaron remained powerful, continuining on to best Ruth in lifetime home runs, which Mays failed to do. While they played together in their prime, the best compliment contemporaries could give Aaron was that, on a given day or for a given season, he JUST MIGHT ALMOST be the equal of Willie for a while. But not indefinitely.

The last and most decisive factor in favor of Mays, against all these greats and all other players, was how infectious his love of the game was, and how it could affect his teammates and the fans for the good. All of the others inspired lesser players on to better achievement, but Mays did it more completely and more spontaneously than the rest. He won most hearts for baseball than anyone but possibly Ruth.

This power of inspiration took on another dimension no one else matches when Mays entered into a mutually nurturing relationship with a player who would succeed him as the best player of his generation, Barry Bonds. Part of the credit for Bonds' surpassing success in the last years of his career must go to Mays. Exactly how much is unclear, but it is safe to say that none of the other greats has done anything comparable.

Trivia

• Mays is the only MLB player to have hit a home run in every inning from the 1st through the 16th. He finished his career with a record 22 extra-inning home runs.
• Mays is the only MLB player to have both a 4-home run game and a 3-triple game.
• In 1957, Mays had 20 or more doubles, triples, home runs and stolen bases, only the second player ever to do so (following Frank Schulte in 1911).
• Mays' 7,095 putouts are the record for centerfielders.
• On July 29, 1951, Mays stole his first base. He was then picked off second.
• Mays was part of the first all-black outfield in major league history, along with Monte Irvin and Hank Thompson, in Game One of the 1951 World Series.
• Mays is one of three NL players to have eight consecutive 100-RBI seasons, along with Mel Ott and Sammy Sosa.
• Is mentioned, along with Ty Cobb and Joe DiMaggio, in John Fogerty's popular song "Centerfield."

Origin of "Say Hey Kid" Nickname

When Mays came to the majors, he didn't know everyone's name right away. "You see a guy, you say, 'Hey, man. Say hey, man,' " Mays said. "Ted was the 'Splinter'. Joe was 'Joltin' Joe'. Stan was 'The Man'. I guess I hit a few home runs, and they said there goes the 'Say Hey Kid.' " Mays credits sportswriter Jimmy Cannon with creating the nickname. Other sources trace it to sportswriter Barney Kremenko. [1]

Quotes

• "I don't make history. I catch fly balls."
• "If you ever get hurt, they can't take that brain away from you."

See also

• 50 home run club
• 300-300 club
• 3000 hit club
• 3000-500 Club
• 500 home run club

References

• David Pietrusza, Matthew Silverman & Michael Gershman, ed. (2000). Baseball: The Biographical Encyclopedia. Total/Sports Illustrated.

• "Willie's Time: A Memoir Of Another America", by Charles Einstein