Willie Mays, baseball’s electrifying ‘Say Hey Kid,’ dies at 93
Giants announce all-time great Willie Mays passed away peacefully on Tuesday afternoon.
www.nytimes.com
RIP: Willie Mays, 93-years-old
- Thread starter Tom McAndrew
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www.nytimes.com
The best I ever saw. He was the last of the greats from my youth. Makes me realize I should not be buying green bananas for much longer. Who is the greatest living player now? You could say Koufax, Schmidt, and Bench.
Damn. A huge piece of our childhood. One of a kind.
Death comes to us all, but this saddens me. He was one of the great players I followed as a kid, along with guys like Williams, Aaron, Ernie Banks, Duke Snyder, Mantle, Clemente...Willie Mays, baseball’s electrifying ‘Say Hey Kid,’ dies at 93
Giants announce all-time great Willie Mays passed away peacefully on Tuesday afternoon.
Rest in Peace.
Of those still left, I would say Koufax.
You never knew what you would get from Bob Feller. I found him to be brutally opinionated but always interesting. Feller would say he never understood the adulation for “The Catch”. He would tell you that Mays had it immediately off the bat and that it was more routine than spectacular.
I had the pleasure of seeing him play once in person at old Forbes Field. He tripled to the gap in right center field and almost had an inside the park home run. Some baseball fans did not realize how fast he was.
He then scored on a balk. The Pirates lost 1-0. He made a game saving catch in the ninth inning on another legend-Roberto Clemente.
He then scored on a balk. The Pirates lost 1-0. He made a game saving catch in the ninth inning on another legend-Roberto Clemente.
My Dad started buying Pirate season tickets in 1958 and so I saw the 1959 All Star Game in Pittsburgh. From 59' to 62' there were 2 games. Stupid.
Anyway, our seats were at field level and for batting practice I was able to get right down near the dugouts and see guys like Musial, Williams, Mantle, Mays, Spahn, Whitey Ford... What a thrill for a young kid! Photo from that day (not mine).
Anyway, our seats were at field level and for batting practice I was able to get right down near the dugouts and see guys like Musial, Williams, Mantle, Mays, Spahn, Whitey Ford... What a thrill for a young kid! Photo from that day (not mine).
Wally Mon must have crashed the pic. I kid, I kid. Moon was a good player
One of the all time greats RIP Willie my one brother always said he was the best he ever sawWillie Mays, baseball’s electrifying ‘Say Hey Kid,’ dies at 93
Giants announce all-time great Willie Mays passed away peacefully on Tuesday afternoon.
I just checked. In 1959 Willie Mays was the highest paid player in baseball at......$75,000. That would be $800,000 today where the average MLB salary is 4.98 million.
Way before my time but so many people say that he was the best ever, that it's hard not to believe that he was the best. RIP!
I always thought that Willie Mays was the greatest player ever. I know that title is subjective, but he was really something special.
Willie Mays
Mays marches during a drill at Camp Kilmer, N.J., in June 1952 as he prepares to be shipped to his basic training site. After winning the Rookie of the Year award in 1951, Mays was drafted into the army and missed most of the 1952 season and all of 1953.
“I asked Willie Mays one day, 'who is the best player you ever saw' and he said Roberto Clemente” – Joe Morgan
For those who may not know, this photo was taken on the day Roberto got his 3,000th hit. The Pirates were playing the Mets and Willie was a part time player for them in 1972. He was there, as was I.
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We were fortunate to witness much of what truly were the golden years of baseball.
I'm not embarrassed to say that I fairly worshipped Willie Mays when I was a kid. He was such a great player and personality, and just larger than life. I combed the box score of Giants games all summer long for several years, just to keep track of his progress as he climbed the ranks of the all time home run hitters.
I remember seeing replays of this show (I was only 2 at the time it was on in 1960). Two of my baseball heroes in this one:
660 home runs, 12 Gold Gloves and ... eight MVPs?! How modern analytics would have added to Willie Mays' legacy
Mays was truly a player before his time, and the numbers we value in today's game would only have enhanced his all-time place.
www.espn.com
Yes.
Willie Mays, was, as most know, the Godfather of Barry Bonds. Both were great players, and yet it is difficult for me to think of them in the same sentence. Players like Mays, Clemente, Aaron, were heros to me. Bonds, with all his baggage, is not. I have "baggage issues" with Pete Rose as well. I realize no one is perfect, and other great players have their issues, but Bonds and Rose have taken it to a different level. They will never be numbered among my list of "greats".
Class act. The Giants, when they were still in New York, would play an exhibition against Army at West Point just about every year. I had an uncle, Ric “Butch” Ordway, who struck out Mays on three pitches in the 1955 game and then shouted, “Welcome to West Point!” At Butch’s funeral, among the photographs was a copy of Mays’s autobiography, in which Willie told the story and wrote that Butch was the best pitcher he’d ever faced. I swear I’m not making this up. Class act.
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