Willie Mays: Still 'a-Mays-zing' at 90: He's not merely one of the greatest baseball players ever. He's a class act

American Thinker ^ | 05/10/2021 | Will O' Toole

[SeekAndFind]

Willie Mays, the "Say Hey Kid," turned 90 on May 6. Although this is belated, it is a sincere "happy birthday" to the greatest living baseball player to play on the many greens in our nation's ballparks and stadiums.

To say Mays was a "five tool" player is to vastly understate his true, God-given talents and honed skills. It's no wonder that he was a fierce competitor on the field while entertaining baseball fans for decades. Thus, he could hit with an amazing lifetime batting average (.302), show incredible power (660 home runs), run with Olympic speed on the base paths (and in the cow pastures), throw (making a 195 Assists), and field (11 Gold Gloves). All this, plus 24 All-Star appearances and two MVPs.

What made Mays stand out above all the other "five tool" players was his uncanny sense of what he had to "improve on" or what the team needed most from him in any given year. Leo Durocher, Mays's first MLB manager with the Giants, stated, "If somebody came up and hit .450, stole 100 bases, and performed a miracle in the field every day, I'd still look you in the eye and say Willie was better."

The one tragedy of living so long is that Mays lost so many of his Cooperstown teammates: Henry Aaron, Al Kaline, Bob Gibson, Tom Seaver, Joe Morgan, and Lou Brock. They're playing doubleheaders inside the Pearly Gates. At least that's how most baseball card–collecting kids who watched these players perform imagined Heaven would be for them.

Thankfully, Mays still graces our presence. And God willing, for at least another 90 years. Or more.

In addition to his record, Mays stands as a reminder to American fans how positively the athletes of yesterday contributed to race relations

[McGruff]

Pelosi shares photo of wrong black player in botched attempt to honor Willie Mays

By Jon Levine May 8, 2021

https://nypost.com/2021/05/08/pelosi-shares-photo-of-wrong-player-in-botched-willie-mays-tweet/

[MarDav]

It was called “pepper”

[usconservative]

MLB forced cities to replace their legendary halls of old.

Wrigley Field remains.

[DPMD]

And on top of all that, he could still fool pelosi into thinking he was just another generic black man. Of course, fooling pelosi isn’t really an accomplishment

[jjotto]

Pepper is almost gone in MLB. Tears up turf. Batting cages and pitching machines have replaced.

It’s still seen some in spring training, but for fun. Workouts and practices are pretty scientific these days.

[jjotto]

Fenway and Wrigley. Next oldest is Dodger Stadium opened 1962.

[rlmorel]

"...He united people from different walks of life with his passion and persona and fought discrimination on his terms. He had a knack for making people forget about race. He tried to break down prejudicial barriers by demonstrating character and leadership. It was a conscious choice, and he stood by his convictions..."

Says it all right there. That is how one negates racism, not by being virulently racist. It shows that Willie Mays CARES about racism itself, not about power, domination, punishment, or revenge.

He cares about RACISM.

[markman46]

that is true, now days its the “fan experience” that is driving the new billion dollar stadiums. like the new SOFI in Ingelwood.

[Luke21]

Was a different world in 1970. I was eleven and hung like a bat into the Giant’s dugout asking Mays for an autograph at a spring game. He laughed and told me to get down before I broke my neck. He pointed me to a group of old ladies about twenty feet away and told me to get in line.

He kept his word and signed for me. Great, great man. Glad to be able to honor him while he’s still with us.

[Dilbert San Diego]

Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, Dodger Stadium, Anaheim Stadium (not sure of its official name nowadays), and the Oakland Coliseum (also not sure if its name today), come to mind as older ballparks still in existence.

Just off the top of my head, I think just about every other major league baseball stadium has been built since 1990.

But then even some of those, the powers that be have wanted to replace some. Example, Texas Rangers had the Ballpark in Arlington built in the mid 90s, but after 20 plus years, it was deemed outdated and a new ballpark was built.

[MarvinStinson]

"an amazing [???] lifetime batting average (.302)"

Babe Ruth's lifetime batting average was .342

Ty Cobb's lifetime batting average was .367

[MarvinStinson]

DUKE SNIDER AND WILLIE MAYS

[MarvinStinson]

[TheConservativeTejano]

Partner, it is just a big time shame that Pepper is almost gone out of MLB.

Pepper sharpens the mind and the MLB has lost a big time training.