willie mays
May 6, 1931 – June 18, 2024
willie mays
Willie Howard Mays Jr., nicknamed "The Say Hey Kid", was an American professional baseball player and center fielder, playing 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) and one season in the Negro Leagues.
career
Willie Howard Mays Jr., nicknamed "The Say Hey Kid", was an American professional baseball player who played in both the Negro Leagues and Major League Baseball as a star center fielder.
As a can’t miss five-tool player, Willie began his career in the Negro Leagues, playing briefly for the Birmingham Black Barons.
Although his numbers didn’t necessarily jump off the page, his talent could not be silenced, and soon he would be quickly signed by a ball club Major League Leagues.
He would then go on to play 23 seasons in Major League Baseball’s National League.
Although mostly remember for his play with the Giants franchise (formerly The Gothams) after their relocation to San Francisco.
Overall throughout his career, Mays saw playing time with the New York / San Francisco Giants and the New York Mets.
Born in Westgield, Alabama, and was recognized early as an all-around stand out athlete.
In 1948, he joined the Barons, who at the time were playing in the Negro American League (NAL), playing with the franchise until he was offered a Major League contract by the New York Giants.
The New York Giants made an offer, contingent upon him graduating from high school a year later in 1949- 1950.
Mays did not spend much time in the Negro Leagues or the Major League Minor Leagues, making his Major League debut with the New York Giants in 1951.
That season he began his career as a rookie, hitting 20 home runs in 524 plate appearances for the Giants.
Mays won Major League Baseball's 1951 Rookie of the Year Award, leading the Giants to their first pennant in 14 years.
Just four years into his Major League career, in 1954, Mays won his second National League's Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award.
His incredible play at the plate and stellar defense in center field lead the New York Giants to a World Series title.
However, this would be the last World Series appearance for the Giants as a franchise in New York, as they would soon relocated to San Francisco.
His over-the-shoulder catch in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series is one of the most famous baseball plays of all time.
With the Giants franchise now in San Francisco, Mays and the Giants continued their dominance from New York without skipping a beat.
Mays lead the franchise and was instrumental in helping his team making to the World Series picking up his second MVP Award in 1965.
His season tremendous season greatly helped the San Francisco Giants get to the 1962 World Series. However, they would lose to the Yankees.
Willie finished his career by returning to New York in an early season trade, to the New York Mets in 1972. He would subsequently retire after the team's trip made it all the way to the 1973 World Series.
He later served as a coach for the New York Mets for much of the rest of the decade before rejoining the San Francisco Giants as a special assistant to the general manager.
Willie Mays was a Major League All-Star an incredible 24 times, putting him tied for the second-most all-star game appearances in history.
He led the National League in home runs 4 times and in slugging percentage 5 times, hitting over .300 and driving in 100 runs batted in (RBIs) 10 times.
He was also at the forefront of a resurgence of speed as an offensive weapon in the game of baseball.
In the 1950s, Mays lead the league in stolen bases 4 times, triples 3 times, and runs scored twice.
His 179 stolen baes during the decade was the most of any player in all of Major League Baseball.
He was the first National League player to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in the same season.
He also became the first player in Major League Baseball history to achieve both 300 home runs and 300 stolen bases, and the second player and the first right-handed hitter to hit 600 home runs.
Mays also set standards for defensive excellence, winning 12 consecutive Gold Glove Awards, a record that still stands for all MLB outfielders.
At the time of his retirement, he held the National League record for career runs scored (2,062), ranking second in league history behind Stan Musial in games played (2,992), third in home runs (660).
He holds major league records for games played as a center fielder with (2,829), putouts as an outfielder (7,095),
Mays was elected to Major League Baseball’s National Baseball Hall Of Fame in 1979, his first year of eligibility, and was later named to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999.
Willie Mays was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2015.
He was born from humble beginnings on May 6, 1931, in Westfield, Alabama, a primarily black company town near Fairfield.
His father, Cat Mays, was a talented semi-professional baseball player with the black ball club formed by the local iron plant. [2]
Cat exposed Willie to baseball at an early age, playing catch with him at five and allowing him to sit on the bench with his Birmingham Industrial League team at ten. [3]
His favorite baseball players as a kid were Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, and Stan Musial. [4]
Wille Mays was active in playing several sports for Fairfield Industrial High School.
On the basketball team, he led players at all-black high schools in Jefferson County in scoring. [5]
Mays was also the school’s starting quarterback, while also playing fullback and punter. [6]
Although he turned 18 in 1949, Willie failed to graduate from Fairfield High School until 1950, which journalist Allen Barra calls "a minor mystery in Willie's life". [7]
His graduation was a product of a prerequisite agreement with the New York Giants, who had been scouting Mays and showed immediately showed early.
Willie’s professional baseball career officially began in 1948 with the semi-professional, Chattanooga Choo-Choos. [8] [9]
His talent soon caught the eye of the storied Birmingham Black Barons franchise, in desperate need of a centerfielder. Mays joined the Barons, making his debut with in the Negro American League (NAL).
After signing his first professional baseball contract with the Black Barons, he quickly and affectionately became known as “Buck” to his teammates and front office staff. [10]
At the time, the Black Barons were lead by managed Piper Davis, a teammate of Cat Mays, Willie's father.
Hi father had played with Davis previously on a semi-professional club organized and sponsored by the industrial steel industry. [11]
When Willie High School principal E.T., threatened to suspend Mays for school for playing professional ball, Davis and Mays's father had to come to an agreement that Mays would only be able to play home games for the Barons.
In return, he would still play high school football for the school as its starting quarterback. [12]
Mays helped Birmingham advance to the 1948 Negro World Series, which they lost 4–1 to the Homestead Grays.
On the season he hit .262 and displayed an unmatched presence on the bases due to his incredible speed.
Willie was also an excellent center fielder and situational base runner. [13]
A flurry of major league franchises were interested in signing Mays, but due to the agreement he had made with his fathers guidance, they had to wait until after he graduated high school to offer him a contract.
Teams including the Boston Braves and the Brooklyn Dodgers both heavily scouted Mays, but New York Giants scout Eddie Montague made Willie feel at home, signing him to a $4,000 contract to play professional baseball. [14]
Mays spent the rest of the 1950 season with the Class B Trenton Giants of the Interstate League, batting .353. [15].
In 1951 he was promoted to the AAA Minneapolis Millers of the Minor Leagues American Association in 1951, he batted .477 in 35 games. [16]
Mays played excellent defense for the Giants from the moment he made his debt with the team on May 24, 1951.
Initially, Mays was reluctant to angst over the promotion because he did was not totally sure he was ready to face major league pitchers.
Stunned, Giants manager Leo Durocher called Mays directly and said, "Quit costing the ball club money with long-distance phone calls and join the team."
It was also around this time that Mays was given his famous moniker: "The Say Hey Kid".
The Giants had hoped Mays would improve the team defensively, installing him in center field. What the New York Giants didn’t expect was the major contributions he would make offensively as well .
The dimensions of the Polo Grounds featured an unusual horseshoe shape, with relatively short left field, at around 280 feet. Its also had a very short right field, at about 258 feet, with lines from home plate to the deepest parts of center field, at around 483 feet.
Mays appeared in his first major league game on May 25 against the Philadelphia Phillies at Shibe Park, batting third.
Willie went hitless in his next 12 at bats, and Durocher dropped him to eighth in the batting order on June 2, suggesting that Mays stop trying to pull the ball and just make contact.
Mays responded with four hits over his next two games on June 2 and 3. By the end of the month, he had pushed his batting average to over .300.
He would bat close to .290 for the rest of the season. Although his .274 average, 68 RBIs, and 20 home runs (in 121 games) would rank among the lowest totals of his career, he still won the National League (NL) Rookie of the Year Award.
On August 11, the Giants found themselves 13.5 games back of the Dodgers in the NL pennant race; Brooklyn manager Charlie Dressen triumphantly predicted, "The Giants is dead."
However, the Giants went 40–18 in the season's final 58 games, winning their last seven of the year to finish the regular season tied with the Dodgers.
During the pennant race, Mays's fielding and strong throwing arm were instrumental in several important Giants' victories.
Mays was in the on deck circle on October 3 when Bobby Thomson hit a three-run homer to win the three-game NL tie-breaker series 2–1.
The Giants met the New York Yankees in the 1951 World Series.
In Game 1, Mays, Hank Thompson, and Monte Irvin composed the first all-black outfield in major league history. For the series, Mays hit poorly as the Giants lost the series in six games.
In Game 5, he hit a consequential fly ball, which DiMaggio and Yankee rookie Mickey Mantle pursued.
DiMaggio called Mantle off at the last second; as he stopped, Mantle got his cleat stuck in an open drainpipe, suffering a knee injury that would affect him the rest of his career. [46]
Soon after the 1951 season ended, Mays learned the United States Army had drafted him to serve in the Korean War. [47]
Before he left to join the Army, Mays played the first few weeks of the 1952 season with the Giants.
He batted .236 with four home runs in 34 games. He surprised sportswriters like Red Smith when he drew cheers from fans of the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Giants' archrivals, in his last game before reporting.
After his induction into the Army on May 29, Mays reported to Fort Eustis in Virginia, where he spent much of his time playing for the Fort Eustis Wheels military baseball team with (and against) other major and minor leaguers, as well as serving as an athletic instructor in the Physical Training Department. [17][18][19]
It was at Fort Eustis that Mays learned the basket catch from fellow Fort Eustis outfielder Al Fortunato.
Mays, by his own estimation, played 180 games for the Wheels, and missed about 275 games for the Giants because of his military service.
Mays' time playing for the Wheels ended on July 28, 1953, after he chipped a bone in his left foot while sliding into third base, necessitating a 6-week stint in a cast. [20] [21]
Discharged on March 1, 1954, he reported to Giants’ spring training camp the following day. [23]
Mays began the 1954 season on Opening Day with a home run of over 414 feet (126 m) against Carl Erskine.
After he batted .250 in his first 20 games, Durocher moved him from third to fifth in the batting order and again encouraged him to stop attempting to pull the ball and try to get hits to right field.
Mays switched up his batting stance, and stood straighter at the plate, keeping his feet closer together. He credited these adjustments with improving his batting average, as he batted .450 with 25 RBIs in his next 20 games. [25]
Mays was selected for the National League All-Star team; he would be part of 24 straight National League All-Star teams over 20 seasons.
Mays became the first player in history to hit 30 home runs before the All-Star Game.
He had 36 home runs through July 28. Around that time, Durocher asked him to stop trying to hit them, explaining the team wanted him to reach base more often.
Mays hit only five home runs after July 28 but upped his batting average from .326 to .345 to win the team's first batting title since Bill Terry's in 1930. [28][29]
Hitting 41 home runs, Mays won the National Leagues Most Valuable Player Award and the Hickok Belt. [30]
The Giants won the National League pennant and the 1954 World Series, sweeping the Cleveland Indians in four games. [31]
The 1954 series is perhaps best remembered for "The Catch", an over-the-shoulder running grab by Mays of a long drive off the bat of Vic Wertz about 425 feet (130 m) from home plate at the Polo Grounds during the eighth inning of Game 1.
Mays did not even look at the ball for the last twenty feet as he ran, saying later he realized he had to keep running if he was going to get the ball. [34]
The Giants won the game in the 10th inning on a three-run home run by Dusty Rhodes, with Mays scoring the winning run.
Mays added base stealing to his talents, upping his total from eight in 1954 to 24 in 1955. In the middle of May, Durocher asked him to try for more home runs. [35]
Mays led the league with 51 but finished fourth in NL MVP voting.
During the last game of the season, Durocher, who had supported Mays since his career had begun, told him he would not be returning as the Giants manager.
When Mays responded, "But Mr. Leo, it's going to be different with you gone. You won't be here to help me," Durocher told his star, "Willie Mays doesn't need help from anyone." [37]
In 1956, Mays struggled at first to get along with new manager Bill Rigney, who publicly criticized him. [77]
The center fielder grew particularly annoyed after Rigney fined him $100 for not running to first base on a pop fly that was caught by the catcher. He hit 36 homers and stole a career-high 40 bases, becoming only the second player to join the 30–30 club. [78]
Though his RBIs (84) and batting average (.296) were his lowest for nearly a decade, Barra observed that "Willie Mays was still the best all-around player in the National League." [79]
The relationship between Mays and Rigney improved in 1957. Rigney stopped giving Mays as much direction, trusting his star player's ability and instinct. [80]
In his 2010 authorized biography of Mays, James S. Hirsch wrote Mays had "one of his most exhilarating excursions" on April 21. In the game against the Phillies, Mays reached second base on an error, stole third, and scored the winning run on a Hank Sauer single, all on plays close enough that he had to slide to make each one. [81][82]
He stole home in a 4–3 loss to the Cubs on May 21. [83]
The 1957 season was the first in which the Golden Glove Awards were presented. Mays won the first of 12 consecutive Gold Gloves for his play in center field. had already thrown a pitch to him.
He finished in the NL's top-five in a variety of offensive categories: runs scored (112, third) batting average (.333, second), and home runs (35, fourth). In 1957, Mays became the fourth player in major league history to join the 20–20–20 club (doubles, triples, homers).
He stole 38 bases that year, making him the second 20–20–20 club member (after Frank Schulte in 1911) to steal at least 20 bases.
This gave him his second straight 30–30 club season. [41]
Dwindling attendance and the desire for a new ballpark prompted the Giants to move to San Francisco following the 1957 season. [84]
In the final Giants' home game at the Polo Grounds on September 29, 1957, fans gave Mays a standing ovation in the middle of his final at bat, after Pirates' pitcher Bob Friend had already thrown a pitch to him.
In 1958, Rigney wanted Mays to challenge Babe Ruth's record of 60 home runs in a season. Consequently, Rigney did not play Mays much in spring training hoping to use his best hitter every day of the regular season. [86]
As he had in 1954, Mays vied for the NL batting title until the final game of the season.
Moved to the leadoff slot the last day to increase his at bats, Mays collected three hits in the game to finish with a career-high .347, but Philadelphia's Richie Ashburn batted .350.
He played in all but two games, hitting only 29 home runs.
Horace Stoneham, the Giants' owner, made Mays the highest-paid player in baseball with a $75,000 contract for 1959. [e][91]
Mays had his first serious injury in 1959, a collision with Sammy White in spring training that resulted in 35 stitches in his leg, but he was ready by the start of the season. [92][93]
Against the Reds in August, Mays broke a finger but kept it a secret to prevent opposing pitchers from targeting it. [94]
In September 1959, the Giants led the NL pennant race by two games with only eight games to play, but a sweep by the Dodgers began a stretch of six losses in those final games, dooming them to a third-place finish.
Mays had hits in three out of 10 at bats in the Dodger series but some San Francisco fans still booed him.
In 1959, Mays batted .313 with 34 home runs and 113 RBIs, leading the league in stolen bases for the fourth year in a row. [41]
After spending their first two years in San Francisco at Seals Stadium, the Giants moved into the new Candlestick Park in 1960.
Initially, the stadium was expected to be conducive to home runs, but unpredictable winds affected Mays's power, and he hit only 12 at home in 1960. [96]
He found the stadium tricky to field but figured out how to play it as the season progressed. When a fly ball was hit, he would count to five before giving pursuit, enabling him to judge the wind's effect. [97]
"I don't like to talk about 1960," Mays said after the final game of a season in which the Giants, pre-season favorites for the pennant, finished fifth out of eight NL teams. [101]
For the second time in three years, he only hit 29 home runs, but he led the NL with 190 hits and drove in 103 runs, batting .319 and stealing 25 bases.
Alvin Dark was hired to manage the Giants before the start of the 1961 season, and the improving Giants finished in third place.
Mays had one of his best games on April 30, 1961, hitting four home runs and driving in eight runs against the Milwaukee Braves at County Stadium.
According to Mays, he had been unsure if he would even play because of food poisoning. [104]
Each of his home runs traveled over 400 feet (120 m). While Mantle and Roger Maris pursued Babe Ruth's single-season home run record in the AL, Mays and Orlando Cepeda battled for the home run lead in the NL.
Mays trailed Cepeda by two home runs at the end of August (34 as opposed to 36), but Cepeda outhit him 10–6 in September to finish with 46, while Mays finished with 40.
Mays led the league with 129 runs scored and batted .308 with 123 RBIs.
Though he had continued to play at a high level since coming to San Francisco, Mays endured booing from the San Francisco fans during his first four seasons in California.
Barra speculates this may have been because San Francisco fans were comparing Mays unfavorably with Joe DiMaggio, the most famous center fielder ever to come from San Francisco. [107]
Hal Wood mentioned the DiMaggio theory, as well as two other explanations:
the fans had heard so many wonderful things about Mays's play in New York that they expected him to be a better player than he actually was, but Mays often preferred to keep to himself. [108]
Mays said in 1959 that he did not mind the booing, but he admitted in a 1961 article that the catcalls were bothering him.
Whatever the reason, the boos, which had begun to subside after Mays's four–home-run game in 1961, grew even quieter in 1962, as the Giants enjoyed their best season since moving to San Francisco.
Mays led the team in eight offensive categories in 1962: runs (130), doubles (36), home runs (49), RBIs (141), stolen bases (18), walks (78), on base percentage (.384), and slugging percentage (.613).
He finished second in NL MVP voting to Maury Wills, who had broken Ty Cobb's record for stolen bases in a season. [112]
On September 30, Mays hit a game-winning home run in the Giants' final regularly scheduled game of the year, forcing the team into a tie for first place with the Los Angeles Dodgers. [113][114]
The Giants faced the Dodgers in a three-game playoff series.
With the Giants trailing 4–2 in the top of the ninth inning of Game 3, Mays hit an RBI single, eventually scoring as the Giants took a 6–4 lead. With two outs in the bottom of the inning, Lee Walls hit a fly ball to center field, which Mays caught for the final out as the Giants advanced to the World Series against the Yankees. [115]
In Game 1 of the World Series, a 6–2 loss to New York, Mays recorded three hits. He would bat merely .250 in the series overall. [116]
The Series went all the way to a Game 7, which the Yankees led 1–0 in the bottom of the ninth. Matty Alou led off the inning with a bunt single but was still at first two outs later when Mays came up with the Giants one out from elimination.
Batting against Ralph Terry, he hit a ball into the right-field corner that might have been deep enough to score Alou, but Giants third base coach Whitey Lockman opted to hold Alou at third.
The next batter, McCovey, hit a line drive that was caught by Bobby Richardson, and the Yankees won the deciding game 1–0.
It was Mays's last World Series appearance as a Giant.
Mays reveled in the fact that he had finally won the support of San Francisco fans; "It only took them five years," he later said.
Before the 1963 season, Mays signed a contract worth a record-setting $105,000 per season (equivalent to $1,040,000 in 2023). [119]
On July 2, when Spahn and Juan Marichal each threw 15 scoreless innings, Mays hit a 16th-inning home run off Spahn, giving the Giants a 1–0 victory. [120]
He considered the home run one of his most important, along with his first and the four-home-run game. [121]
He hit his 400th home run on August 27 against the St. Louis Cardinals, the tenth player to reach that mark.
Willie finished the 1963 season batting .314 with 38 home runs and 103 RBIs, stealing only eight bases, his fewest since 1954. [123]
On May 21, Dark named Mays the Giants' captain, making Mays the first African-American captain of an MLB team. "You deserve it," Dark told Mays. "You should have had it long before this." [125]
While he batted under .300 (.296) for the first time since 1956, he led the NL with 47 home runs and ranked second with 121 runs scored and 111 RBIs. [126]
A torn shoulder muscle sustained in a 1965 game against the Atlanta Braves impaired Mays's ability to throw.
He kept the injury a secret from opposing players, making two or three practice throws before games to discourage them from running on him. [127]
On August 22, Mays acted as a peacemaker during a 14-minute brawl between the Giants and Dodgers after Marichal had bloodied Dodgers catcher John Roseboro with a bat. [128]
Mays grabbed Roseboro by the waist and helped him off the field, then tackled Lou Johnson to keep him from attacking an umpire. [129]
Johnson kicked him in the head and nearly knocked him out. After the brawl, Mays hit a game-winning three-run home run against Sandy Koufax, but he did not finish the game, feeling dizzy after the home run. [130][131]
On September 13, he hit his 500th career home run off Don Nottebart, becoming the fifth player in Major League History up until that point to reach the 500 home run mark.
Warren Spahn, off whom Mays hit his first career home run, was now his teammate. After the home run, Spahn asked him, "Was it anything like the same feeling?" Mays replied, "It was exactly the same feeling. Same pitch, too." [133]
The next night, Mays hit one that he considered his most dramatic.
With the Giants trailing the Houston Astros by two runs with two outs in the ninth, Mays swung and missed at Claude Raymond's first two pitches, took three balls to load the count, and fouled off three pitches before homering on the ninth pitch. The Giants won 6–5 in 10 innings. [134]
Mays won his second MVP award in 1965 behind a career-high 52 home runs, in what Barra said "may very well have [been] his best year". [135]
He batted .317, leading the NL in on-base percentage (.400) and slugging percentage (.645).
The span of 11 years between his MVP awards was the longest gap of any major leaguer who attained the distinction more than once, as were the 10 years between his 50 home run seasons.
He scored 118 runs, the 12th year in a row he had scored at least 100 runs in a season.
Mays tied Mel Ott’s National League record of 511 home runs on April 24, 1966, against the Astros. After that, he went for nine days without a home run. "I started thinking home run every time I got up," Mays explained the slump. [137]
He finally set the record May 4.
Despite nursing an injured thigh muscle on September 7, Mays reached base in the 11th inning of a game against the Dodgers with two outs, then attempted to score from first base on a Frank Johnson single.
On a close play, umpire Tony Venzon initially ruled him out, then changed the call when he saw Roseboro had dropped the ball after Mays collided with him. San Francisco won 3–2. [139][140]
Mays finished third in the NL MVP voting, the ninth and final time he finished in the top five in the voting for the award. [41]
He batted .288 with 99 runs scored, 37 home runs, and 103 runs batted in; by season's end, only Babe Ruth had hit more home runs (714 to 542). [141]
He had 15 home runs and a .290 average at the All-Star break but faded down the stretch, only hitting three home runs and batting .241 for the rest of the year. [162]
One reason he hit so few home runs was that Mays walked 112 times, 30 more times than he had at any point in his career.
This was partly because Willie McCovey, who often batted behind Mays in the lineup, missed several games with injuries, causing pitchers to pitch carefully to Mays so they could concentrate on getting less-skilled hitters out. [163]
Subsequently, Mays led the league in on-base percentage (.425) for only the second time, though his 123 strikeouts were a career-high. He batted .271 and stole 23 bases. [41]
The Giants won the NL West in 1971, returning Mays to the playoffs for the first time since 1962.
In the NL Championship Series(NLCS) against the Pirates, Mays had a home run and three RBIs in the first two games.
In Game 3, Mays attempted an unsuccessful sacrifice bunt in a 1–1 tie in the sixth with no outs and Tito Fuentes on second base, a move that surprised reporters covering the game.
The Giants lost 2–1. "I was thinking of the best way to get the run in," Mays explained the bunt, pointing out that McCovey and Bonds were due up next. The Giants lost the series in four games.[164]
After the season, Mays was honored as the winner of the inaugural Roberto Clemente Award, known at that time as the Commissioner's Award. [165]
Mays got off to a tortuous start to the 1972 season, batting .184 through his first 19 games. Before the season began, he had asked Stoneham for a 10-year contract with the Giants organization, intending to serve in an off-the-field capacity with them once his playing career was over. [166]
The Giants organization was having financial troubles, and Mays had to settle for a two-year, $330,000 contract. [167]
Mays quibbled with manager Charlie Fox, leaving the stadium before the start of a doubleheader on April 30 without telling him. [168][169]
On May 11, 1972, Mays was traded to the New York Mets for pitcher Charlie Williams and an undisclosed amount rumored to be $100,000.
The Mets agreed to keep his salary at $165,000 a year for 1972 and 1973, promising to pay Mays $50,000 a year for 10 years after he retired. [170][171]
Mays had remained popular in New York, and owner Joan Payson had long wanted to bring him back to his major league roots. [172]
In his Mets debut against the Giants on May 14, Mays put New York ahead to stay with a fifth-inning home run, receiving ecstatic applause from the fans at Shea Stadium. [173]
Mays appeared in 88 games for the Mets in 1972, batting .250 in 244 at bats with eight home runs.
In 1973, Mays showed up a day late to spring training, then left in the middle of it without notifying manager Yogi Berra beforehand.
He was fined $1,000 upon returning; a sportswriter joked half the fine was for leaving, half was for returning. [174]
Things did not improve as the season began; Mays spent time on the disabled list early in the year and left the park before a game when he found out Berra had not put his name in the starting lineup.
His speed and powerful arm in the outfield, assets throughout his career, were diminished in 1973, and he only made the All-Star team because of a special intervention by NL President Chub Feeney. However, the Mets won National League East. [175]
On August 17, 1973, Mays hit his final (660th) home run against the Reds’ Don Gullett. [176]
Having considered retirement all year, Mays finally told the Mets officially on September 9 that 1973 would be his last season. [177]
He made the announcement to the public on September 20. "I thought I'd be crying by now," he told reporters and Mets' executives at a press conference that day, "but I see so many people here who are my friends, I can't...Baseball and me, we had what you might call a love affair." [178]
Five days later, the Mets honored him on Willie Mays Night, proclaimed by New York City mayor John Lindsay, where he thanked the New York fans and said goodbye to baseball.
In 66 games, Mays batted a career-low .211 with six home runs.
Against the Reds in the NLCS, Mays helped restore order in Game 3 after Mets fans began throwing trash at Pete Rose following a brawl Rose had started with Bud Harrelson. [180]
Game 5 was the only one Mays played; he had a pinch-hit RBI single as the Mets won 7–2, clinching a trip to the 1973 World Series against the Oakland Athletics, October 13–21.
A shoulder injury to Rusty Staub prompted the New York Mets to shift Don Hahn to right field and start Mays in center at the start of the Series.
He stumbled four times in the first two games, including a fielding error in Game 2 that allowed the Athletics to tie the game and force extra innings.
Mays's last hit came later in the same game, an RBI single against Rollie Fingers that snapped a 7–7 tie in the 12th inning of a 10–7 victory. [185]
His final at bat came in Game 3, on October 16, 1973, where he pinch-hit for Tug McGraw and grounded into a force play. [116][186]
The Mets lost the series in seven games. [187]
During the first part of his career, Mays often participated in barnstorming tours after his regular season with the Giants ended.
Teams of star players would travel from city to city playing exhibition games for local fans. Following his rookie year, Mays went on a barnstorming tour with an All-Star team assembled by Campanella, playing in Negro League stadiums around the southern United States. [197]
From 1955 through 1958, Mays led Willie Mays' All-Stars, a team composed of such stars as Irvin, Thompson, Aaron, Frank Robinson, Junior Gilliam, Brooks Lawrence, Sam Jones, and Joe Black.
The team travelled around the southern United States the first two years, attaining crowds of about 5,000 in 1955 but drawing less than 1,000 in 1956, partly because of the advent of television.
In 1957, the team went to Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic, drawing 117,766 fans in 15 games, 14 of which were won by Mays's team.
They played 20 games in Mexico in 1958. [198]
Mays did not lead a team in 1959; Stoneham wanted him to rest because he was suffering from a broken finger. [199]
In 1960, Mays also did not barnstorm, but he and the Giants did go to Tokyo, playing an exhibition series of 16 games against the Yomiuri Giants.
Though teams of black All-Stars assembled those two seasons, they drew fewer fans and opted not to assemble in 1961, when Mays again decided not to barnstorm. [200]
The tradition soon died out, as the expansion of the major leagues, the increased televising of major league games, and the emergence of professional football had siphoned interest away from the offseason exhibition games. [201]
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 (94.68%). [210]
Referring to the other 23 voters, 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?" [69]
In his induction speech, Mays said:
"What can I say? This country is made up of a great many things. You can grow up to be what you want. I chose baseball, and I loved every minute of it. I give you one word—love. It means dedication. You have to sacrifice many things to play baseball. I sacrificed a bad marriage and I sacrificed a good marriage. But I'm here today because baseball is my number one love." [211]
Willie Stargell learned the hard way how good Mays's arm was when the center fielder threw him out in a game in 1965. "I couldn't believe Mays could throw that far. I figured there had to be a relay.
Then I found out there wasn't. He's too good for this world — 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," Durocher said. [61]
"All I can say is that he is the greatest player I ever saw, bar none," was Rigney's assessment. [49]
When Mays was the only player elected to the Hall of Fame in 1979, Duke Snider, who finished second in voting that year, said, "Willie really more or less deserves to be in by himself." [218]
Don Zimmer remarked, "In the National League in the 1950s, there were two opposing players who stood out over all the others — Stan Musial and Willie Mays. ... I've always said that Willie Mays was the best player I ever saw. ... [H]e could have been an All-Star at any position."[49][219]
Teammate Felipe Alou said, "[Mays] is number one, without a doubt. ... Anyone who played with him or against him would agree that he is the best."
Al Rosen remembered "...you had the feeling you were playing against someone who was going to be the greatest of all time." [49]
His 2,992 games played are the ninth-highest total of any major leaguer as of June 2021. He stole 338 bases in his career. [41]
By the end of his career, Mays had won a Gold Glove Award 12 times, a record for outfielders today (shared by Roberto Clemente).
He is baseball's all-time leader in outfield putouts (7,095), and he played 2,842 games as an outfielder, a total exceeded only by Cobb (2,934) and Barry Bonds (2,874).
Mays's 24 appearances on an All-Star Game roster are tied with Musial for second all-time, behind only Aaron's 25.
He holds individually the All-Star Game records for most at bats (75), hits (23), runs scored (20), and stolen bases (six); additionally, he is tied with Musial for the most extra-base hits (eight) and total bases (40), and he is tied with Brooks Robinson for the most triples (three) in All-Star Game history. [196]
Mays's 156.2 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) ranks fifth all-time, and third among position players (trailing Barry Bonds' 162.8 and Ruth's 162.1). [225]
He led National League by position players in WAR for 10 seasons, and led the league in on baseb plus slugging (OPS+) five times, ranking 26th all time with a .941 mark. [41]
"He was one of the best fielders of all time," David Schoenfield wrote, noting Mays has the eighth-most fielding runs saved (a sabermetric stat) of all time.
Barra claimed in 2004, "Most modern fans would pick Willie Mays as the best all-around player in the second half of the twentieth century."
Sportscaster Curt Gowdy said of Mays, "Willie Mays was the best player I ever saw. He did everything well." [230]
Sudden collapses plagued Mays sporadically throughout his career, which occasionally led to hospital stays. He attributed them to his style of play.
"My style was always to go all out, whether I played four innings or nine. That's how I played all my life, and I think that's the reason I would suddenly collapse from exhaustion or nervous energy or whatever it was called." [86]
At the Pittsburgh drug trials in 1985, former Mets teammate John Milner testified Mays kept a bottle of liquid amphetamine in his locker at Shea Stadium.
Milner had never seen Mays use amphetamines, and Mays denied having taken drugs during his career. [231]
"I really didn't need anything," Mays said:
"My problem was if I could stay on the field. I would go to the doctor and would say to the doctor, 'Hey, I need something to keep me going. Could you give me some sort of vitamin?' I don't know what they put in there, and I never asked him a question about anything." [232]
Hirsch wrote "It would be naïve to think Mays never took amphetamines" but admits that Mays's amphetamine use has never been proven, calling Mays "the most famous player who supposedly took amphetamines". [233]
Along with Mantle (of the Yankees) and Snider (of the Dodgers), Mays was part of a triumvirate of center fielders from the New York teams of the 1950s who would be elected to the Hall of Fame.
The three were often the subject of debates among the New York fans as to who was the best center fielder in the city.
Mays was a popular figure in Harlem, New York's predominantly black neighborhood and the home of the Polo Grounds.
Magazine photographers were fond of chronicling his participation in local stickball games with kids, which he played two to three nights a week during home stands until his first marriage in 1956.
In the urban game of hitting a rubber ball with an adapted broomstick handle, Mays could hit a shot that measured "five sewers" (the distance of six consecutive New York City manhole covers), nearly 450 feet (140 m).
Unlike other black athletes such as Jackie Robinson, Mays tended to remain silent on racial issues, refraining from public complaints about discriminatory practices that affected him. [237]
Robinson once accused him and some of his teammates of not doing enough for the civil rights movement. [238]
Hank Aaron wished Mays had spoken out more on racial issues.
Mays believed his job was to play baseball, not talk about social issues. "I'm a ballplayer. I am not a politician or a writer or a historian. I can do best for my people by doing what I do best." [239]
After Mays retired as a player, he remained in the New York Mets organization as their hitting instructor until the end of the 1979 season. [240]
Mays missed several appointments during these years and was often absent from Mets games.
When Joe McDonald became the Mets' general manager in 1975, he threatened to fire Mays for this. Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn and Mays's lawyer intervened, and the Mets agreed to keep him, as long as he stayed at home games for at least four innings. [241]
During his time with the Mets, Lee Mazzilli learned the basket catch from him. [242]
In October 1979, Mays took a job at the Bally's Park Place casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
While there, he served as a special assistant to the casino's president and as a greeter.
After being told by Kuhn that he could not be part of both baseball and a casino, Mays terminated his contract with the Mets, and he was banned from baseball.
Kuhn was concerned about gambling infiltrating baseball, but Hirsch points out that Mays's role was merely as a greeter, he was not allowed to place bets at the casino as part of his contract, and the casino did not engage in sports betting. [170]
In 1985, less than a year after replacing Kuhn as commissioner, Peter Ueberroth decided to allow Mays to return to baseball.
At a press conference with Mays and Mantle (reinstated from a similar suspension), Ueberroth said, "I am bringing back two players who are more a part of baseball than perhaps anyone else."[244][245]
Mays was named special assistant to the president and general manager of the Giants in 1986.[246] [247]
He signed a lifetime contract with the team in 1993 and helped to muster public enthusiasm for building Pac Bell Park, which opened in 2000. [248]
Mays founded a charity, the Say Hey Foundation, which promotes youth baseball. [249]
The Giants retired Mays's number 24 in May 1972. [250]
Oracle Park, their stadium, is at 24 Willie Mays Plaza. In front of the main entrance is a nine-foot-tall (2.74 m) statue of Mays, who had a private box at the stadium.
When the Giants dedicated a Wall of Fame to their greatest players in 2008, Mays became part of its inaugural class. [251]
Mays met with several United States presidents. During Gerald Ford's administration in 1976, he was invited to the White House state dinner honoring Queen Elizabeth II. [254]
He was the Tee Ball Commissioner at the 2006 White House Tee Ball Initiative on July 30, 2006, during George W. Bush's presidency. [255]
On July 14, 2009, he accompanied Barack Obama to St. Louis aboard Air Force One for that year's All-Star Game.
Six years later, Obama honored Mays with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
In September 2017, Major League Baseball renamed the World Series MVP Award the Willie Mays World Series MVP Award.
Though Mays never went to college, he was awarded honorary degrees by Yale University, Dartmouth College, and San Francisco State University. [259][260][261]
players
Oscar Charelston
Oscar Charelston
Oscar Charelston
Oscar Charleston played and managed in the Negro Leagues as an outfielder, first baseman and pitcher. Charleston would later become manager of the Indianapolis Clowns.
Cool Papa Bell
Oscar Charelston
Oscar Charelston
Cool Papa Bell played centerfield in the Negro Leagues from 1922 to 1946. played for the powerhouse Kansas City. Monarchs, and Pittsburgh Crawfords, and Homestead Grays.
Buck Leonard
Oscar Charelston
Satchel Paige
Buck Leonard, along side Josh Gibson formed the best three-four, hitting tandem in the History of the Negro Leagues, leading the Homestead Grays to dominance.
Satchel Paige
Cumberland Posey
Satchel Paige
Satchel Paige began his 20 year career in the Negro Leagues pitching for the Chattanooga Lookouts. He would later make his MLB debut at age 42 for the Cleveland Indians.
Cumberland Posey
Cumberland Posey
Cumberland Posey
Cum Posey was a veteran Negro Leagues team owner, player, and league executive. He is the founding member of two leagues, and a Hall of Fame Basketball player.
Jackie Robinson
Cumberland Posey
Cumberland Posey
Jackie Robinson is the first African American to play Major League Baseball. He broke baseball's color barrier in 1945, by signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Roy Campanella
Roy Campanella
Roy Campanella
Roy Campanella played one season in the Negro Leagues, signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers just one season after Jackie Robinson’s debut in Major League Baseball.
Gus Greenlee
Roy Campanella
Roy Campanella
Gus Greenlee was a driving force behind the organization of the Negro National League I, during this time he owned several teams in his dealings with the league.
Henry AAron
Roy Campanella
Candy Jim Taylor
Major League Baseball’s all-time leader in home runs with 755, few know Aaron began his baseball career in the Negro Leagues as a shortstop for the Indianapolis Clowns.
Candy Jim Taylor
Cristóbal Torriente
Candy Jim Taylor
Candy Jim Taylor was a professional third baseman, manager, and brother of four professional playing Negro Leaguers. His career in baseball spanned over 40 years.
Cristóbal Torriente
Cristóbal Torriente
Cristóbal Torriente
Cristóbal Torriente, often called the Babe Ruth of Cuba, played as an outfielder in the Negro Leagues from 1912-1932. He was most known for his incredible power to all fields.
Rube Foster
Cristóbal Torriente
Cristóbal Torriente
Considered one of the best pitchers of the early 1900s, and perhaps the most influential figure in Negro League history, Rube Foster founded the NNLI and managed the Chicago American Giants.
Larry Doby
Josh Gibson
Josh Gibson
Larry Doby was the second African-American baseball player to break baseball's color barrier and the first black player to play in the American League.
Josh Gibson
Josh Gibson
Josh Gibson
Even from the catcher position, Josh Gibson's display of power during his career for the Homestead Grays is legendary. However, Gibson would never play Major League Baseball.
Sol White
Josh Gibson
Ben Taylor
King Solomon "Sol" White played baseball professionally as an infielder, manager and league executive. White is considered to be one of the pioneers of the Negro Leagues.
Ben Taylor
Ben Taylor
Ben Taylor
Born July 1888, Ben Taylor was the youngest of 4 professional Negro Leaguers, including his brothers, Candy Jim Taylor, C.I. Taylor, and Johnny Steel Arm Taylor.
Biz Mackey
Ben Taylor
Biz Mackey
Biz Mackey was regarded as one of the Negro Leagues premier offensive and defensive catchers, playing across several leagues from late 1920s and early 1930s.
Nat Strong
Ben Taylor
Biz Mackey
Nathaniel Strong was a businessman, investor, sports executive, team owner and founding member of the Negro National League I,
Monte Irvin
Turkey Stearnes
Turkey Stearnes
Monte Irvin flourished as one of the early African-American players in MLB, making 2 World Series appearances for the New York Giants, playing along side Willie Mays.
Turkey Stearnes
Turkey Stearnes
Turkey Stearnes
Norman Turkey Stearnes played professionally in the Negro Leagues, and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000.
Willie Mays
Turkey Stearnes
Steel Arm Taylor
A can’t miss five-tool player, Mays began his professional baseball career with the Black Barons, spending the rest of his career playing MLB for the Giants and Mets.
Steel Arm Taylor
Steel Arm Taylor
Steel Arm Taylor
John Boyce Taylor was the second-oldest of 4 baseball-playing brothers, the others being Charles, Ben and James. For the 1899-1900 seasons, Taylor won 90% of his games starting pitcher for the Giants.
Buck O'Neil
Steel Arm Taylor
Martín Dihigo
Buck signed with the Memphis Red Sox for their first year of play in the newly formed Negro American League (NAL). His contract was sold to the Kansas Monarchs the following year.