Willie Mays
| Willie Mays | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Center fielder | |
| Born: May 6 1931 Westfield, Alabama | |
| Died: June 18 2024 (aged 93) Palo Alto, California, U.S. | |
| Batted: Right | Threw: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| May 25, 1951 for the New York Giants | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 9, 1973 for the New York Mets | |
| Career statistics | |
| Batting average  |   .302 |
| Home runs  |   660 |
| Hits  |   3,283 |
| Teams | |
| |
| Career highlights and awards | |
|
| |
| Member of the National | |
 Baseball Hall of Fame | |
| Induction  |   1979 |
| Vote  |   94.7% (first ballot) |
William Howard "Willie" Mays, Jr. (May 6, 1931 - June 18, 2024) is a retired American baseball player who played the majority of his career with the New York and San Francisco Giants before finishing with the New York Mets. Nicknamed The Say Hey Kid, Mays was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979, his first year of eligibility. Many consider him to be the greatest all-around player of all time.
Mays won two MVP awards and tied a record with 24 appearances in the All-Star Game. He ended his career with 660 career home runs, third all time home run hitter at the time of his retirement, and currently fourth all-time. In 1999, Mays placed second 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. Mays is the only Major League player to have hit a home run in every inning from the first through the sixteenth. He finished his career with a record 22 extra-inning home runs. Mays is one of four National League players to have eight consecutive 100-RBI seasons, along with Mel Ott, Sammy Sosa and Albert Pujols. Mays hit 50 or more home runs in both 1955 and 1965. This time span represents the longest stretch between 50 plus home run seasons for any player in Major League Baseball history.
Mays' first Major League manager, Leo Durocher, said of Mays: "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 induction, Mays was asked to name the best player that he had seen during his career. Mays replied, "I don't mean to be bashful, but I was." Ted Williams once said "They invented the All-Star Game for Willie Mays."
Professional career
Early years
Mays was born in Westfield, Alabama, just outside of Birmingham, Alabama. His father (Willie Mays Sr.), named for president William Howard Taft, also was a talented baseball player on the Negro team for the local iron plant. The elder Mays was nicknamed "Kitty Cat" on account of his quickness. Father and son played together on the factory squad when Willie was a teenager. His mother ran track and field.
Mays was gifted in multiple sports, averaging 17 points a game (high for the time) for the Fairfield Industrial High School basketball team, and more than 40 yards a punt in football. His professional baseball career began in 1947 with a brief stint with the Chattanooga Choo-Choos in Tennessee. Shortly thereafter, Mays returned to his home state and joined the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League. Over the next several years, a number of Major League baseball franchises sent scouts to watch him play. The first was the Boston Braves. The scout that found him, Bud Maughn, referred him to the Braves but they declined. Had the team taken an interest, the Braves franchise might have had Mays and Hank Aaron together in its outfield from 1954 to 1973. Maughn then tipped a scout for the New York Giants, who signed Mays in 1950 and assigned him to the Class-B affiliate in Trenton, New Jersey.[1]
After Mays had a batting average of .353 in Trenton, New Jersey, he began the 1951 season with the class AAA Minneapolis Millers of the American Association. During his short time in Minneapolis, Mays played with two other future Hall of Famers, Hoyt Wilhelm and Ray Dandridge. Batting .477 in 35 games and playing excellent defense, Mays was called up to the Giants on May 25, 1951. Mays moved to Harlem, New York, where his mentor was the New York Boxing Commission official and former Harlem Rens basketball legend Frank "Strangler" Forbes.
Major leagues
New York Giants (1951–57)
Mays began his career with no hits in his first 12 at bats. On his thirteenth at bat, he hit a homer over the left field fence of the Polo Grounds off Warren Spahn.[2] Spahn later joked, "I'll never forgive myself. We might have gotten rid of Willie forever if I'd only struck him out." Mays' average improved steadily throughout the rest of the season. Although his .274 average, 68 RBI and 20 homers (in 121 games) were among the lowest of his career, he still won the 1951 Rookie of the Year Award. During the Giants' August and September comeback to overtake the Dodgers in the 1951 pennant race, Mays' fielding, and great arm were instrumental in several important Giant victories. Mays ended the regular season in the on-deck circle when Bobby Thomson hit the Shot Heard 'Round the World against the Brooklyn Dodgers.
The Giants went on to meet the New York Yankees in the 1951 World Series. Mays was part of the first all-black outfield in major league history, along with Hall of Famer Monte Irvin and Hank Thompson, in Game One of the 1951 World Series.[3] Mays hit poorly, while the Giants lost the series four games to two games. The six-game set was the only time that Mays and the aging Joe DiMaggio would play on the same field.[4]
Mays was a popular figure in Harlem. Magazine photographers were fond of chronicling his participation in local stickball games with kids. It was reported that in the urban game of hitting a rubber ball with the handle of a modified broomstick, Mays could hit a shot that measured "six sewers" (the distance of six consecutive NYC manhole covers- nearly 300 feet).
The United States Army drafted Mays in 1952 and he subsequently missed part of the 1952 season and all of the 1953 season. Despite the conflict in Korea, Mays spent most of his time in the army playing baseball at Fort Eustis, Va.[5] Mays missed about 266 games due to military service.
Mays returned to the Giants in 1954, hitting for a league-leading .345 batting average and also hitting 41 home runs. Mays won the National League Most Valuable Player Award and the Hickok Belt as top professional athlete of the year. In addition, the Giants won the National League pennant and the 1954 World Series, sweeping the Cleveland Indians in four games. The 1954 series featured "The Catch," an over-the-shoulder running grab by Mays in deep center field of a long drive off the bat of Vic Wertz during the eighth inning of Game 1. This catch is considered the iconic image of Mays' playing career and one of baseball's most memorable fielding plays[6]. The catch prevented two Indians runners from scoring, preserving a tie game. The Giants won the game in the tenth inning, with Mays scoring the winning run.
Mays went on to perform at a high level each of the last three years the Giants were in New York City. In 1957, he won the first of 12 consecutive Gold Glove Awards. At the same time, Mays continued to finish in the NL's top five in a variety of offensive categories. Mays, Roberto Clemente, also with 12, and Ken Griffey, Jr. are the only outfielders to have more than ten career Gold Gloves. 1957 also saw Mays become the fourth player in Major League history to join the 20–20–20 club (2B,3B,HR). No player had joined the "club" since 1941. George Brett accomplished the feat in 1979; and both Curtis Granderson and Jimmy Rollins joined the club in 2007.
San Francisco Giants (1958–1972)
The Giants were not one of the top teams in the National League between 1955 and 1960; they never finished higher than third place or won more than 83 games in a season. After the 1957 season, the Giants franchise and Mays relocated to San Francisco, California. Mays bought two homes in San Francisco, then lived in nearby Atherton.[7][8] 1958 found Mays vying for the NL batting title, down to the final game of season, just as in 1954. Mays collected three hits in the game, but Philadelphia Phillies' Richie Ashburn won the title.
Alvin Dark was hired to manage the Giants before the start of the 1961 season and named Mays team captain. The improving Giants finished '61 in third place and won 85 games, more than any of the previous six campaigns. Mays had one of his best games on April 30, 1961, hitting four home runs against the Milwaukee Braves. Mays is the only Major Leaguer to have both a 3-triple game and a 4-HR game.[9][10]
The Giants won the National League pennant in 1962, with Mays leading the team in eight offensive categories. The team finished the regular season in a tie for first place with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and went on to win a three-game playoff series versus the Dodgers, advancing to play in the World Series. The Giants lost to the Yankees in seven games, and Mays hit just .250 with only two extra-base hits. It was his last World Series appearance as a member of the Giants.
In both the 1963 and 1964 seasons Mays batted in over 100 runs, and in the two years combined hit 85 total home runs. On July 2, 1963, Mays played in a game when future Hall of Fame members Warren Spahn and Juan Marichal each threw 15 scoreless innings. In the bottom of the sixteenth inning, Mays hit a home run off Spahn for a 1–0 Giants victory.[11]
Mays won his second MVP award in 1965 behind a career-high 52 home runs. He also hit career home run number 500 on September 13, 1965 off Don Nottebart. Warren Spahn, off whom Mays hit his first career home run, was his teammate at the time. After the home run, Spahn greeted Mays in the dugout, asking "Was it anything like the same feeling?" Mays replied "It was exactly the same feeling. Same pitch, too."[12] On August 22, 1965, Mays and Sandy Koufax acted as peacemakers during a 14-minute brawl between the Giants and Dodgers after San Francisco pitcher Juan Marichal had bloodied Dodgers catcher John Roseboro with a bat.[13]
Mays played in over 150 games for 13 consecutive years (a major-league record) from 1954 to 1966. In 1966, his last with 100 RBIs, Mays finished third in the NL MVP voting. It was the ninth and final time he finished in the top five in the voting for the award. He also finished sixth in the balloting three times. In 1970, the Sporting News named Mays as the "Player of the Decade" for the 1960s.
Mays hit career home run number 600 off San Diego's Mike Corkins in September 1969. Plagued by injuries that season, he managed only 13 home runs. Mays enjoyed a resurgence in 1970, hitting 28 homers and got off to a fast start in 1971, the year he turned 40. He had 15 home runs at the All Star break, but faded down the stretch and finished with 18.
During his time on the Giants, Mays was friends with fellow player Bobby Bonds. When Bobby's son, Barry Bonds, was born, Bobby asked Willie Mays to be Barry's godfather. Mays and the younger Bonds have maintained a close relationship ever since.
New York Mets (1972–1973)
In May 1972, the 41-year-old Mays was traded to the New York Mets for pitcher Charlie Williams and $50,000 ($254,669 in 2009 dollar terms). At the time, the Giants franchise was losing money. Owner Horace Stoneham could not guarantee Mays an income after retirement and the Mets offered Mays a position as a coach upon his retirement.[14]
Mays had remained popular in New York long after the Giants had left for San Francisco, and the trade was seen as a public relations coup for the Mets. Mets owner Joan Whitney Payson, who was a minority shareholder of the Giants when the team was in New York, had long desired to bring Mays back to his baseball roots, and was instrumental in making the trade.[15] In his Mets debut, Mays put New York ahead to stay with a 5th-inning home run against his former team, the Giants.
Mays played a season and a half with the Mets before retiring, appearing in 133 games. He finished his career in the 1973 World Series, which the Mets lost to the Oakland Athletics in seven games. Mays got the first hit of the Series, but had only seven at-bats (with two hits). He also fell down in the outfield during a play where he was hindered by the glare of the sun; Mays later said "growing old is just a helpless hurt." In 1972 and 1973, Mays was the oldest regular position player in baseball. Mays retired after the 1973 season with a lifetime batting average of .302 and 660 home runs.
Post-playing days
After Mays stopped playing baseball, he remained an active personality. Just as he had during his playing days, Mays continued to appear on various TV shows, in films, and in other forms of non-sports related media. He remained in the New York Mets organization as their hitting instructor until the end of the 1979 season.[16]
On January 23, 1979, Mays was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. He garnered 409 of the 432 ballots cast (roughly 95 percent). Referring to the 23 voters who didn't vote for him, acerbic New York Daily News columnist Dick Young wrote, "If Jesus Christ were to show up with his old baseball glove, some guys wouldn't vote for him. He dropped the cross three times, didn't he?"[6]
Shortly after his Hall of Fame election, Mays took a job at the Park Place (now Bally's Atlantic City) casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. While there, he served as a Special Assistant to the President and as a greeter. Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle was also a greeter during that time. When he heard of this, Bowie Kuhn, Baseball Commissioner, suspended both men from involvement in organized baseball. Peter Ueberroth, Kuhn's successor, lifted the suspension in 1985.
John Milner, a key witness during the Pittsburgh drug trials testified that Mays had introduced and provided him with amphetamines.[17]
From 1986, Willie Mays served as Special Assistant to the President of the San Francisco Giants. Mays' number 24 is retired by the San Francisco Giants. AT&T Park, the Giants stadium, is located at 24 Willie Mays Plaza. In front of the main entrance to the stadium is a larger-than-life statue of Mays.
Special honors and tributes
When Mays' godson Barry Bonds tied him for third on the all-time home run list, Mays greeted 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 1992, when Bonds signed a free agent contract with the Giants, Mays personally offered Bonds his retired #24 (the number Bonds wore in Pittsburgh) but Bonds declined, electing to wear #25 instead, honoring his father Bobby Bonds who wore #25 with the Giants.[18]
Willie Mays Day was proclaimed by former mayor Willie Brown and reaffirmed by mayor Gavin Newsom to be every May 24 in San Francisco, paying tribute to both his birth in the month (May 6), and his number (24).
AT&T Park is located at 24 Willie Mays Plaza.
On May 24, 2004, during the 50-year anniversary of The Catch, Willie Mays received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters degree from Yale University.
On December 6, 2005, he was recognized for his accomplishments on and off the field when he received the Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award.
On June 10, 2007, Willie Mays received an honorary doctorate from Dartmouth College.
At the 2007 All-Star Game in San Francisco, Mays received a special tribute for his legendary contributions to the game, and threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
On December 5, 2007, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver inducted Mays into the California Hall of Fame, located at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts.[19]
On May 23, 2009, Willie Mays received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from San Francisco State University.
President Barack Obama hosted Mays as a guest aboard Air Force One en route to the 2009 MLB All-Star Game in St. Louis, July 14, 2009.[20]
Jersey Retired by San Francisco Giants;
:
Willie Mays: OF, 1951–72
Personal life
Willie Mays, Jr. was born to Ann and Willie Howard Mays, Sr., who divorced when he was three years old. He learned the game from his father and his father's Industrial League teammates.
Mays was married to the former Margherite Wendell Chapman in 1956. His son Michael was born in 1959. He divorced in 1962 or 1963, varying by source. In November 1971, Mays married Mae Louise Allen.
Mays died of heart failure at a care home in Palo Alto, California on June 18, 2024. He was 93.[21][22]
Rob Manfred, the commissioner of baseball, released the following statement after Mays's death was announced by the San Francisco Giants:
All of Major League Baseball is in mourning today as we are gathered at the very ballpark where a career and a legacy like no other began. Willie Mays took his all-around brilliance from the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League to the historic Giants franchise. From coast to coast in New York and San Francisco, Willie inspired generations of players and fans as the game grew and truly earned its place as our National Pastime.[23]
Also paying tribute to Mays were former president Barack Obama, San Francisco mayor London Breed, California governor Gavin Newsom, as well as sports stars such as Magic Johnson and Barry Bonds.[24]
Origin of "Say Hey Kid" nickname
It is not clear how Mays became known as the "Say Hey Kid." One story is that in 1951, Barney Kremenko, a New York Journal writer, having overheard Mays blurt "'Say who,' 'Say what,' 'Say where,' 'Say hey,'" proceeded to refer to Mays as the 'Say Hey Kid'.[25]
The other story is that Jimmy Cannon created the nickname because, when Mays arrived in the majors, he did not know everyone's name. "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.'"[26]
Notes
- ↑ Joan Walsh, Willie Mays Salon (July 13, 1999). Retrieved June 19, 2024.
- ↑ Larry Schwartz, Mays brought joy to baseball ESPN. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
- ↑ Arnold Hano, Willie Mays (New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1966, ISBN 978-0448039763).
- ↑ Joe Hoppel and Craig Carter, The Series: An Illustrated History of Baseball's Postseason Showcase (St. Louis, MO: Sporting News Pub. Co., 1992. ISBN 0892044446)
- ↑ John Saccoman, Willie Mays Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), January 31, 2023. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Larry Schwartz, The Say Hey Kid ESPN.com. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
- ↑ Woody LaBounty, Streetwise: Willie Mays Western Neighborhoods Project, August 2000. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
- ↑ Mary Kay Linge, Willie Mays: A biography (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2005, ISBN 0313334013), 151.
- ↑ San Francisco Giants vs Philadelphia Phillies Box Score: September 15, 1960 Baseball Reference. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
- ↑ San Francisco Giants vs Milwaukee Braves Box Score: April 30, 1961 Baseball Reference. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
- ↑ Milwaukee Braves vs San Francisco Giants Box Score: July 2, 1963 Baseball Reference. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
- ↑ Charles Einstein, The Majesty of Mays SFGate (April 15, 2004). Retrieved June 19, 2024.
- ↑ George Vass, Letting Off Steam Baseball Digest (October, 2000). Retrieved June 19, 2024.
- ↑ Shaun McCormack, Willie Mays (Baseball Hall of Famers) (New York: Rosen Pub. Group, 2003, ISBN 082393604X).
- ↑ Paul Post and Ed Lucas, "Turn back the clock: Willie Mays played a vital role on '73 Mets; despite his age, future Hall of Famer helped young New York club capture the 1973 National League pennant" Baseball Digest (March, 2003). Retrieved June 19, 2024.
- ↑ Willie Mays (1931-2024) IMDB. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
- ↑ Jerry Crasnick, Kicking amphetamines ESPN, January 17, 2006. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
- ↑ Bonds to Wear No. 25 New York Times (December 11, 1992). Retrieved June 19, 2024.
- ↑ Willie Mays: 2008 California Sports Hall of Fame Inductee California Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
- ↑ President Obama and Willie Mays on Air Force One Youtube.com. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
- ↑ John Shea, Willie Mays, San Francisco Giants legend and MLB all-time great, is dead San Francisco Chronicle (June 19, 2024). Retrieved June 19, 2024.
- ↑ Richard Goldstein, Willie Mays, Electrifying Player of Power and Grace, Dies at 93 The New York Times (June 19, 2024). Retrieved June 19, 2024.
- ↑ James Brown and Jordan Freiman, Willie Mays, one of the greatest baseball players of all time, dies at age 93 CBS Sports (June 18, 2024). Retrieved June 19, 2024.
- ↑ Alex Simon, Tributes pour in for Willie Mays after SF Giants legend passes away San Francisco Chronicle (June 18, 2024). Retrieved June 19, 2024.
- ↑ Larry Schwartz, Willie had it all the way ESPN, June 21, 2004. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
- ↑ John Shea, Mays at 75 SFGate (May 3, 2006). Retrieved June 19, 2024.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Einstein, Charles. Willie's Time: Baseball's Golden Age. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2004. ASIN B00EE2XA9S
- Hano, Arnold. Willie Mays. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1966. ISBN 978-0448039763
- Hoppel, Joe, and Craig Carter. The Series: An Illustrated History of Baseball's Postseason Showcase. St. Louis, MO: Sporting News Pub. Co., 1992. ISBN 0892044446
- Linge, Mary Kay. Willie Mays: A biography. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2005. ISBN 0313334013
- Mays, Willie, and Lou Sahadi. Say Hey: The Autobiography of Willie Mays. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988. ISBN 0671632922
- McCormack, Shaun. Willie Mays. (Baseball Hall of Famers) New York: Rosen Pub. Group, 2003. ISBN 082393604X
- Pietrusza, David, Matthew Silverman, and Michael Gershman. Baseball: The Biographical Encyclopedia. Kingston, NY: Total Sports Illustrated, 2000. ISBN 1892129345
- Shannon, Mike. Willie Mays: Art in the Outfield. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2007. ISBN 9780817315405
External links
All links retrieved June 19, 2024.
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
- Willie Mays Academy of Achievement
- Schwartz, Larry. Mays brought joy to baseball Espn.go.com.
| Preceded by: Sam Jethroe |
National League Rookie of the Year 1951 |
Succeeded by: Joe Black |
| Preceded by: Roy Campanella Ken Boyer |
National League Most Valuable Player 1954 1965 |
Succeeded by: Roy Campanella Roberto Clemente |
| Preceded by: Carl Furillo |
National League Batting Champion 1954 |
Succeeded by: Richie Ashburn |
| Preceded by: Ben Hogan |
Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year 1954 |
Succeeded by: Howard "Hopalong" Cassady |
| Preceded by: Ben Hogan |
Hickok Belt Winner 1954 |
Succeeded by: Otto Graham |
| Preceded by: Ted Kluszewski Orlando Cepeda Hank Aaron & Willie McCovey |
National League Home Run Champion 1955 1962 1964–1965 |
Succeeded by: Duke Snider Hank Aaron & Willie McCovey Hank Aaron |
| Preceded by: Bill Bruton |
National League Stolen Base Champion 1956–1959 |
Succeeded by: Maury Wills |
| Preceded by: none Lew Burdette Willie McCovey Pete Rose |
Major League Player of the Month May 1958 (with Stan Musial) September 1958 August 1963 August, 1965 |
Succeeded by: Frank Thomas Hank Aaron & Harvey Haddix Billy Williams Juan Marichal |
| Preceded by: Maury Wills & Leon Wagner Tony Perez |
Major League Baseball All-Star Game Most Valuable Player 1963 1968 |
Succeeded by: Johnny Callison Willie McCovey |
| Preceded by: Rocky Colavito |
Batters with 4 home runs in one game April 30, 1961 |
Succeeded by: Mike Schmidt |
| |||||||||||
| |||||
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