{"id":20165,"date":"2021-05-06T09:21:28","date_gmt":"2021-05-06T14:21:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/?p=20165"},"modified":"2021-05-06T09:21:28","modified_gmt":"2021-05-06T14:21:28","slug":"happy-birthday-to-the-greatest-mlb-player-of-all-time-willie-howard-mays-jr-the-say-hey-kid-who-made-the-most-outstanding-baseball-catch-in-the-history-of-the-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/?p=20165","title":{"rendered":"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE GREATEST MLB PLAYER OF ALL-TIME, “Willie Howard Mays Jr.”, “THE SAY HEY KID”, WHO MADE THE MOST OUTSTANDING BASEBALL CATCH IN THE HISTORY OF THE SPORT"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n

Willie Mays<\/h1>\n
\n
\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Willie Mays<\/span><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Willie<\/a><\/p>\n
Mays in 1961<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Center fielder<\/a><\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Born:<\/b> May 6, 1931 (age\u00a090)<\/span>
\nWestfield, Alabama<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Batted:<\/b> Right<\/td>\nThrew:<\/b> Right<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
MLB debut<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
May 25,\u00a01951,\u00a0for the\u00a0New York Giants<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Last MLB appearance<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
September 9,\u00a01973,\u00a0for the\u00a0New York Mets<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
MLB statistics<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Batting average<\/a><\/th>\n.302<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hits<\/a><\/th>\n3,283<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Home runs<\/a><\/th>\n660<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Runs batted in<\/a><\/th>\n1,903<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Stolen bases<\/a><\/th>\n338<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Teams<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Negro leagues<\/b><\/p>\n
Career highlights and awards<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
Member of the National<\/a><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Empty \"Empty \"Empty Baseball Hall of Fame<\/a> \"Empty \"Empty \"Empty<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Induction<\/th>\n1979<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Vote<\/th>\n94.7% (first ballot)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Willie Howard Mays Jr.<\/b> (born May 6, 1931), nicknamed “The Say Hey Kid<\/b>“,[a]<\/a><\/sup> is an American former professional baseball<\/a> center fielder<\/a>. He spent almost all of his 22-season Major League Baseball<\/a> (MLB) career playing for the New York\/San Francisco Giants<\/a> (1951\u20131952, 1954\u20131972) before finishing his career with the New York Mets<\/a> (1972\u20131973). Regarded as one of the greatest baseball players of all time, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame<\/a> in 1979<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mays joined the Birmingham Black Barons<\/a> in 1948, playing with them until he was signed by the Giants once he graduated high school in 1950. He won the Rookie of the Year Award<\/a>, spent two years in the United States Army<\/a> during the Korean War<\/a>, and won the National League<\/a> (NL) Most Valuable Player<\/a> (MVP) Award after leading the NL in batting<\/a> with a .345 batting average<\/a> in 1954. His over-the-shoulder catch<\/a> of a Vic Wertz<\/a> fly ball in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series<\/a> is one of the most famous baseball plays of all time. The Giants swept the Cleveland Indians<\/a>, the lone World Series triumph of Mays’s career.<\/p>\n

Mays led the NL with 51 home runs<\/a> in 1955. In 1956, he stole<\/a> 40 bases, leading the NL for the first of four straight years. He won his first of 12 Gold Glove Awards<\/a> in 1957, a record for outfielders. The Giants moved to San Francisco after the 1957 season, and Mays contended for the batting title until the final day of 1958, hitting a career-high .347. He batted over .300 for the next two seasons, leading the league in hits<\/a> in 1960. After leading the NL with 129 runs scored<\/a> in 1961, Mays led the NL in home runs in 1962 as the Giants won the NL pennant and faced the New York Yankees<\/a> in the World Series<\/a>, which the Giants lost in seven games. By 1963, Mays was making over $100,000 a year. In 1964, he was named the captain of the Giants by manager<\/a> Alvin Dark<\/a>, leading the NL with 47 home runs that year. He hit 52 the next year, leading the NL and winning his second MVP award. 1966 was the last of 10 seasons in which he had over 100 runs batted in<\/a>. In 1969, he hit the 600th home run of his career, and he got his 3,000th hit in 1970. Traded to the Mets in 1972, Mays spent the rest of that season and 1973 with them before retiring. He served as a coach for the Mets until 1979 and later rejoined the Giants as a Special Assistant to the President and General Manager.<\/p>\n

Mays finished his career batting .302 with 660 home runs, the sixth-most of all time, and 1,903 RBI. He holds MLB records for most putouts<\/a> (7,095) and most extra-inning home runs (22). Over his career, he was selected to 24 All-Star Games<\/a>, tied for the second-most of all time. Mays was named to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team<\/a> in 1999 and ranked second on The Sporting News<\/a><\/i>‘<\/span>s “List of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players”, behind only Babe Ruth<\/a>. He was presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom<\/a> in 2015. “If somebody came up and hit .450, stole 100 bases and performed a miracle in the field every day, I\u2019d still look you in the eye and say Willie was better,” manager Leo Durocher<\/a> said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
The Say Hey Kid<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n
\n

“He was probably the best all-around player when you take everything into consideration. It seemed like that Willie never made a mistake,”<\/i> says Sandy Koufax about Willie Mays on ESPN’s SportsCentury show (Friday, December 10, 10 p.m. ET).Mays, a two-time MVP who hit 660 home runs and won 12 Gold Gloves, was voted No. 8 among North American athletes of the 20th century by SportsCentury’s distinguished 48-person panel.<\/p>\n

Signature game<\/b><\/span>
\nSept. 29, 1954 — Mays and others believe he made better catches than his robbery of Vic Wertz. But because of the stage – Game 1 of the World Series – it is regarded as his greatest.<\/p>\n

The game was tied 2-2 in the eighth inning when the Giants’ Don Liddle relieved to face Wertz with runners on first and second and nobody out. The Cleveland Indians slugger cracked a drive to deep centerfield in the Polo Grounds, far over Mays’ head. But Mays, traveling on the wings of the wind, raced after it. With his back to the infield, with his arms extended and his hands cupped, he caught the ball facing the right-centerfield bleachers, an estimated 450 feet from home plate. Then he swiftly pirouetted and, like a shot putter, threw the ball back in, losing his hat and his balance in the process.<\/p>\n

“I had it all the way,” the Say Hey Kid said later with a grin.<\/p>\n

In the bottom of the 10th, Mays walked and stole second. After an intentional walk, Dusty Rhodes pinch-hit a three-run homer that gave the Giants a 5-2 victory on their way to a surprising Series sweep.<\/p>\n

Odds and ends<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Mays received $6,000 for signing with the Giants after graduating high school in 1950.<\/li>\n
  • New York Journal American sportswriter Barney Kremenko said that in Mays’ rookie season, the reticent Mays “would blurt ‘Say who,’ ‘Say what,’ ‘Say where,’ ‘Say hey.’ In my paper, I tabbed him the ‘Say Hey Kid.’ It stuck.”<\/li>\n
  • Mays’ biggest booster was his first manager with the Giants, Leo Durocher. “I never taught him anything,” Durocher said. “He taught me. Willie is the greatest player I ever saw. No doubt in my mind.”<\/li>\n
  • Three years before making “The Catch,” Mays made “The Throw.” On Aug. 15, 1951, he ran down Carl Furillo’s drive in right-center, some 330 feet from home, wheeled, and threw out Billy Cox trying to score from third base. “It was a good play, but I got to see him do it again,” Dodgers manager Charlie Dressen said after the 3-1 loss.<\/li>\n
  • Mays was on deck when Bobby Thomson homered to win the 1951 pennant.<\/li>\n
  • In 1954, “Say Hey” (the Willie Mays song) was recorded by the Treniers, with Mays singing background and Quincy Jones directing the orchestra.<\/li>\n
  • From 1954-63, Mays batted lower than .300 just once (.296 in 1956). His highest averages were .347 in the team’s first year in San Francisco (1958) and his National League-leading .345 in 1954.<\/li>\n
  • When the Giants moved from New York to San Francisco, Mays was supplanted as a local icon by Orlando Cepeda. “This is the damnedest city,” said Frank Conniff of the Hearst newspapers. “They cheer Khrushchev and boo Willie Mays.”<\/li>\n
  • On April 30, 1961, Mays hit four homers against the Braves (the first two off Lew Burdette) in a 14-4 victory in Milwaukee.<\/li>\n
  • On the last regularly scheduled game of the 1962 season, Mays’ homer off Houston’s Dick Farrell in the eighth inning gave the Giants a 2-1 victory and enabled them to tie the Dodgers (1-0 losers) for first place. In the playoff opener, Mays hit two homers. In the ninth inning of the deciding third game, he had a key single in a four-run rally as the Giants won, 6-4.<\/li>\n
  • Hitting 37 homers in 1966 gave a 35-year-old Mays a total of 542. But he never hit more than 28 again, and had just 118 in his final seven seasons to finish with 660. (By comparison, Hank Aaron hit 245 homers after his 35th birthday.)<\/li>\n
  • Only Mays, Aaron and Eddie Murray have 3,000 hits and 500 homers.<\/li>\n
  • In Mays’ first game after being traded by the Giants to the Mets, in 1972, his homer gave New York a 5-4 win over his former team.<\/li>\n
  • Mays holds the record for most home runs in extra innings, 22.<\/li>\n
  • Mays never homered in 20 World Series games. He batted just .239 with only six RBI in 71 at-bats as his teams went 1-3.<\/li>\n
  • Mays, Aaron and Stan Musial played in the most All-Star Games (24). Mays also holds All-Star records for at-bats (75), hits (23), runs (20), triples (3, tied with Brooks Robinson) and total bases (40, tied with Musial).<\/li>\n
  • Voted into the Hall of Fame in 1979, he was the ninth player to be so honored in his first year of eligibility. But when 23 of 432 baseball writers failed to vote for Mays, 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?”<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

\"\"<\/h1>\n

Willie Mays Carries the Torch for His Generation<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

On the occasion of baseball\u2019s oldest living Hall of Famer turning 90, a reflection on the conditioning that powered his greatness.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n

\n
\n
\n

I once asked Willie Mays what his proudest achievement was in baseball.<\/p>\n

His oft-cited designation as the greatest all-around player in history?<\/p>\n

His two Most Valuable Player Awards?<\/p>\n

None of the above.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came into the league with a 32-inch waist, and I retired with a 32-inch waist,\u201d he told me 12 years ago when I interviewed him for a biography.<\/p>\n

A bit surprising, but not really. Mays takes great pride in his durability as a player, and it wasn\u2019t an accident. He never drank, never smoked, watched his diet and rarely went clubbing.<\/p>\n

His self-discipline made possible an epic career that began with the Birmingham Black Barons in 1948, reached exalted heights with the New York Giants in the 1950s and didn\u2019t end until 1973. Playing center field for 22 years in Major League Baseball, with a record 7,095 putouts and with 6,066 total bases, Mays surely ran more miles on the field, and with greater speed and more style, than any player before or since.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

And he\u2019s still going.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Mays turned 90 on Thursday. He is the oldest living member of the Hall of Fame, which recently has become particularly bittersweet. Since the beginning of 2020, we have seen the passing of 10 Hall of Famers, including Henry Aaron<\/a>, Lou Brock<\/a>, Bob Gibson<\/a>, Al Kaline<\/a> and Tom Seaver<\/a>, all of whom were Mays\u2019s contemporaries.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n