The Say Hey Kid

As a kid growing up in the 60’s, Willie Mays was the face of professional baseball. Long before ESPN and social media, the Say Hey Kid would appear on the cover of The Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, and SPORT magazine. Mays in the National League, and Mickey Mantle in the American. The Mick had dropped off the radar screen by the time I was old enough to be a fan.

As a Braves fan my allegiance was to Hank Aaron, so all the attention bestowed on Mays made me dislike him. Willie was more of a showboat. His cap would fall off as he made his leaping and diving catches. My middle child personality sided with the steady Aaron, who would make the same catch without leaving his feet or losing his cap.

But Willie Mays was the icon. Mays and Mantle, and later Mays, Aaron, and Clemente. I was fortunate to have seen him play.

WILLIE MAYS [SABR Bio] [NYT Obit] is the only player to win four home run titles and four stolen base titles. He led the NL in HR in 1954, 1962, 1964 & 1965. He led the NL in SB in 1956, 1957,1958 & 1959.

Willie, a junior to his father “Willie Howard Mays”, whose name was a tribute to then President William Howard Taft.

He once held the record for winning MVP awards with the most years between, in 1954 then in 1965. He led the National League in WAR ten times, in 1954 (10.5), ‘55 (9.2), ’57 (8.3), ’58 (10.2), ’60 (9.5), ’62 (10.5), 63 (10.6), ’64 (11.0), ’65 (11.2), & ’66 (9.0). He led the majors in WAR eight of those times.

He appeared and played in 24 All-Star games: five ASG 1954-73, plus an extra played in each of 1959-62. Ted Williams said “They invented the All-Star Game for Willie Mays”. Willie’s career All-Star Game records include most games, most at-bats, most plate appearances, most runs scored, hits, total bases, triples, singles and stolen bases. See his ASG records here.

He is tied for the single-game All-Star records for stolen bases,  with Kelly Gruber, Roberto Alomar, Kenny Lofton, and Starlin Castro with two. Mays was the first player to be a two-time All-Star Game MVP award winner, in 1963 and 1968.

He played in four World Series, winning once, in 1951, 1954, 1962, and 1973. He also played in the 1948 Negro League WS. Mays made his iconic catch in the 1954 World Series off the bat of Vic Wertz (above).

He twice played in tie-breaking, season-ending three-game series (winning both): in 1951 three extra games against Brooklyn (Mays was on deck when Thompson homered) and the 1962 extra three games vs. LA where his 9th-inning single in game 3 began the series winning rally.

He twice played in an NLCS, winning once: in 1971 NLCS for SF and the 1973 NLCS for the Mets.

He is the only player to have triples three times in a game and homered four times in another. Three triples on 15-Sep-1960. Hit 4 HR on 30-Apr-1961.

Mays’s offensive WAR of 8.4 in 1954 led MLB. His defensive WAR of 2.0, led the NL the same season.

Mays hit a record 22 home runs in extra innings. Here’s the list. Only Mays has hit at least one home run each in innings one through sixteen. Check here.

He was the first player in Giants’ franchise history to win a league Rookie of the Year Award. He was named 1951 NL ROY. He and Willie McCovey homered in the same game 68 times. He and Orlando Cepeda homered fifty times in the same game.

Mays was the first player with back-to-back 30/30 seasons. In 1956 and 1957, Mays had 36 HR + 40 SB, then 35 HR & 38 SB respectively. He was the founding member of the 300/300 club. Mays combined his 660 HR with his 339 SB. Seven other players have now reached the 300/300 level.

It was his fly ball that led Mickey Mantle to famously gave chase and step on an exposed sprinkler head, tearing up his knee.

Mays was professional at age seventeen, when he played for the 1948 Birmingham Black Barons who won the NAL Championship Series over the Kansas City Monarchs (4-3-1), but lost to the Homestead Grays in the subsequent WS. The 1948 BBB of the Negro American League. Signed by the Giants, Mays had a cup of coffee with their minor league affiliate in Minnesota.

Alex Rodriguez, a 3-time MVP said of him “There's absolutely no comparisons to me or anyone else to (him). (He), he's the greatest baseball player of all time.” Indeed, with Mays’ passing the debate is on for who is now the greatest living ballplayer. Griffey? ARpd? Maddux? Schmidt? Nolan Ryan?

UniWatch also paid tribute to Mays.

https://uni-watch.com/2024/06/20/a-uni-watch-look-at-willie-mays/