I think Ted Williams called him the best he'd ever seen. Ted was no dummy.
“the Say Hey Kid” was my favorite as a young ball player.
My favorite player when I was a kid. Lifelong Giants fan as a consequence. I have a small Willie Mays shrine in my office with a signed ball, a B&W photo of him sliding into home, a 1971 Topps Card, etc. He was an example of someone who found joy not only in his profession, but in daily life. The stories of him playing stickball with little kids in Harlem are just an example of what a fine person he was and is. Happy Birthday Willie Mays!
Listening to the game in the shade of the back yard om my Mom’s 10 transistor radio
The KSFO jingle of “Sounds of the City” would come on. Felt like Christmas.
Growing up as a kid in buffalo, always a big Willie Mays fan.
Got a chance to see him in the Twilight of his career when he played for the Mets. The Mets were playing in pittsburgh, so a bunch of us in high school drove down to Pittsburgh to watch Willie play.
Sadly, he struck out four times in that game. My last memory of Willie, though I still think he was perhaps the greatest center fielder whoever played.
One of the first books I read was a Scholastic book biography of Willie Mays.
Ruth stands alone, but outside Ruth Mays is probably the greatest baseball player.
"Willie Mays' glove...is where triples go...to die."
Would have hit over 800 Home Runs if not for Candelstick Park.
Vin Scully thought Willie Mays was the greatest player he ever saw and told Mays so on his last broadcast.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nmie25ivv6o
I was like 12 years old when I saw Willie Mays hit a home run in Candlestick Park. We were on a vacation from Wyoming and we were seated behind home base. They were playing the Cincinnati Reds.
The 69 Mets.
One of my memories: Back in the days of yore when they had the “Game of the Week” broadcasts (with Curt Gowdy and others), one of the highlights that they would show every week was of Bobby Bonds trying to track down a long fly ball in right center field in Candlestick Park that was headed for a home run. Bonds didn’t quite make it there, but Willie Mays arrived at about the same time and jumped, catching the ball above the fence, but being knocked unconscious by the collision with Bonds. Bonds reached over and got the ball, which was still in Mays’ glove.
I am not that young (60), but Willie was already retired by the time I was watching baseball. So he would show up on commercials for Schaefer Beer and Tab Cola.
However, my father was a New York Giants and later New York Mets fan, so he liked Willie Mays an awful lot.
When I recall watching Willie Mays, as a Dodgers fan, it was with fear since he was always sandwiched between, McCovey, Cepeda, Davenport, Bonds and the Alou brothers. He was so athletic and swung so hard that he was forever losing his cap. I’ve seen a lot of ballplayers since the ‘50s but none better than Willie.
Only time I crossed paths with him was when he was at an event signing baseballs (with The Mick). I had the same assignment photographing there the second day, too, so I took some childhood baseball cards. He refused to sign them, thinking I wanted to sell them.
He was my favorite foe of my Milwaukee Braves, so I forgave him. Think I did get a signed ball.