OT: RIP Say Hey Kid

[Hungry Jack]

Willie Mays passed at 93. 24 All-Star games. 3,000+ hits. 660 home runs.

An amazing stat about Mays: he led the league in triples three times, led the league in home runs four times, and led the league in stolen bases four times. Also won a batting title.

And then there was that catch at the old Polo Grounds stadium, where the CF wall was 483 feet from home plate.

 

[No Chores]

Willie Mays passed at 93. 24 All-Star games. 3,000+ hits. 660 home runs.

An amazing stat about Mays: he led the league in triples three times, led the league in home runs four times, and led the league in stolen bases four times. Also won a batting title.

And then there was that catch at the old Polo Grounds stadium, where the CF wall was 483 feet from home plate.

I remember Willie and the catch very well. It came off the bat of Vic Wertz, as I recall, and it enabled the Giants to sweep the Indians. Willy Mays, arguably, was the greatest player of all time. He'd get my vote anyway!

 

[its_the_sauce]

Kudos to Cubs, I'm at Wrigley

They paused to honor him. Especially nice considering they're playing Giants.

 

[Katatonic]

Excluding active players, even with Ruth having been a heck of a pitcher (as well as a pretty good runner of bases in his younger years), Mays would probably get my vote as well.

 

[NUCat320]

24-time All Star. Yowzer.

Four of the top 20 all-time in WAR are alive. Bonds (4), Clemens (8), and ARod aren’t in the Hall of Fame.

Rickey (19) is the highest living player not associated with steroids, followed by Schmidt (24), Maddux (28), and The Big Unit (30). Pujols is 29.

Rickey’s a good and weird one to carry the mantle of Best Living Hall of Famer. Rickey thinks Rickey is the best ever.

It’s been really amazing to have had Mays as such a consistent presence in SF over the decades. The godfather-of-Bonds association remains amazing.

Between Frank Robinson, Banks, Aaron and now Mays, the true greatest generation in the game — when it owned the country, when they played fast, and when all the greats were allowed all on the same fields — have now passed. Truly, truly great Men.

 

[Hungry Jack]

I remember Willie and the catch very well. It came off the bat of Vic Wertz, as I recall, and it enabled the Giants to sweep the Indians. Willy Mays, arguably, was the greatest player of all time. He'd get my vote anyway!

Baseball Reference has Mays #5 in career WAR (156), behind Bonds (162.8), Cy Young (163.6), Walter Johnson (166.9) and Ruth (182.6). But BBREF WAR does not account for defense.

Mays was a good defender at a premium position.

 

[fcmchi]

In the ‘50’s and early ‘60’s when the Cubs had some awful teams, even with Banks and later Santo and Williams, when the Giants led by Mays came to town the weekend games were pretty full.

Saw Mays a number of times then. Amazing player.

 

[WestCoastWildcat]

One of my favorite players growing up. I was a Reds fan and Frank Robinson and Vada Pinson were players I grew up with but Willie was just a phenomenal player (esp. making “the catch”). What a great career, a true legend. RIP.

 

[its_the_sauce]

I remember Willie and the catch very well. It came off the bat of Vic Wertz, as I recall, and it enabled the Giants to sweep the Indians. Willy Mays, arguably, was the greatest player of all time. He'd get my vote anyway!

Was surprised Cubs didn't show the catch on the scoreboard especially considering the radio call you hear on the highlight is Jack Brickhouse as he was calling game nationally.

 

[loyolacat]

Saw a great game(May 25th 72) at Wrigley (skipped a lot of classes at LU to hop the L for 45 cents and sit in the bleachers for a buck) where Willie played Center Field for the Mets...and won the game in the 14th with a single.. Willie went 2/6 and played all 14 innings in center....we were in the center field bleachers as they were still open back then...and they sold beer all game long...so we were ...well a little past the finish line and kept chanting "say Hey. Say Hey" and he turned and tipped his cap to us....at least that is how I remember it.....and as a kid I put together a model of that catch.....Watching him run was electric...even though Stan the Man was my child hood hero, Roberto Clemente and WIllie Mays were the best athletes I ever saw
The Cardinals and Giants are playing a game Thursday at RIckwood Field in Birmingham Alabama to honor Negro League Baseball.. Willie grew up close to the park and played there with the Birmingham Black Barons and was supposed to attend. https://www.mlb.com/reds/news/willie-mays-will-not-attend-2024-mlb-rickwood-field-game?sf103292918=1

 

[SDakaGordie]

Baseball Reference has Mays #5 in career WAR (156), behind Bonds (162.8), Cy Young (163.6), Walter Johnson (166.9) and Ruth (182.6). But BBREF WAR does not account for defense.

Mays was a good defender at a premium position.

“Good” defender?? Rather understated compliment 😉

 

[Hungry Jack]

“Good” defender?? Rather understated compliment 😉

I was not able to get to Fangraphs last night (on my phone). His career defensive fWAR is 169.6 runs, or about 17 wins. I never saw him play, but he obviously was an elite defender.

Just for comparison, Jimmy Piersall is considered by some to be the best defensive CF of all time (not my opinion as I never saw him play, but what I have heard from some), and his career defensive runs are 135.3. He and Mays played in the same era.

Mays 196.6
Piersall 135.3
J. Dimaggio 32.3 (was surprised it was this low)
Andruw Jones 278.8!
Edmonds 73.3

DRS is an inexact metric, but Mays was one of the best in CF.

 

[Hungry Jack]

I just heard a great anecdote about Mays: his first career homer was off Warren Spahn.

 

[Figrating]

Mays' stats are way understated because he played so many games in Candlestick Park, which was deep, often wintery cold at night and in the middle of serious wind currents that blew in from left field. Mays HAD to to learn to hit HRs to RF. In addition, he did military service. The tributes from everybody who knew him are all touching. GOAT by a comfy margin IMHO. Athletic talent to burn. I daydreamed the Giants might someday run a promotion "Tradition Ball" giveaway signed by Willie, Bobby Bonds and Barry Bonds. Set an example that can't be equalled.

 

[Katatonic]

^ Yep, Mays lost nearly 2 seasons due to the Korean War.

Mays and Mantle each thought the other was "the Greatest"; Mantle may have had a shot (Mays stated that Mantle was faster), but the bottle and tearing up his knee put a kibosh to that (the advantage Mantle had over Mays was being a switch hitter).

Here's a fun anecdote about Mays and Clemente (the best fielders for their respective positions) at an All-Star game.

Mays let the ball go by him, knowing that Clemente was right behind him and Clemente would then proceed to rifle (arguably had the best arm) the ball in to get the runner out.

 

[docrugby1]

I grew up in Princeton NJ and had the luxury of watching Mays, Mantle and Snider. The Yankees were on WPIX(Ballantine Beer/Mel Allen, Red Barber, Phil Rizzuto) Dodgers(WOR/Shaefer Beer/Vin Scully), Giants(Knickerbocker, Russ Hodges) I learned to love baseball in those years

 

[Figrating]

Reminiscing with my bro - seen about 1K games with him, native SF guy - and he retold me a story about Willie Mays. St. Francis Woods is an older SF neighborhood of luxury homes. Willie Mays was initially refused the right to purchase there. Seems incredible today that racial discrimination was written into CC & R's, but that is the way things used to be. Eventually he won the right to purchase and some mofo threw a rock through his window! He moved, stayed in SF, in a house a few blocks up 9th Ave. away from my bro's place. Loved SF just the same and often stopped to talk to kids playing ball. ALWAYS the same guy. After facing serious ugliness. That's as mentally tough as you can get. Maybe that's what we admire most about him.

Liked Duane Kuiper's comment, something like Willie was always a kid. But the best praise I've heard: he was a SIX tool player - he ran, he caught, he threw, he hit, he hit for power and ... he had a sense of baseball like no one else.

 

[NUCat320]

Reminiscing with my bro - seen about 1K games with him, native SF guy - and he retold me a story about Willie Mays. St. Francis Woods is an older SF neighborhood of luxury homes. Willie Mays was initially refused the right to purchase there. Seems incredible today that racial discrimination was written into CC & R's, but that is the way things used to be. Eventually he won the right to purchase and some mofo threw a rock through his window! He moved, stayed in SF, in a house a few blocks up 9th Ave. away from my bro's place. Loved SF just the same and often stopped to talk to kids playing ball. ALWAYS the same guy. After facing serious ugliness. That's as mentally tough as you can get. Maybe that's what we admire most about him.

Related, the game in Birmingham was cool and the parts of the broadcast I saw were fun and Reggie Jackson stole the show in the pregame.

There are unbleeped clips as well. He only briefly played in Birmingham and the AA Southern League, in 1967 at the age of 20, and was promoted just after his 21st birthday.

1967. 19-gd-67.

 

[Katatonic]

So glad Mr. October brought some reality to the festivities instead of the being purely sanitized, nostalgia (Reggie wouldn't be welcome in Florida).

It really wasn't that long ago despite many saying things like - get over it, it was so long ago, etc.

There are still many places in the South which hold on to their ways - sundown towns; wasn't that long ago where this one HS had their first integrated prom.

And it just wasn't the South, as pointed out Mays and his wife first couldn't purchase a home in SF.

Pasadena (home of the Rose Bowl) was the 1st city outside the South that had to integrate schools under a court order in 1970.

I grew up in Princeton NJ and had the luxury of watching Mays, Mantle and Snider. The Yankees were on WPIX(Ballantine Beer/Mel Allen, Red Barber, Phil Rizzuto) Dodgers(WOR/Shaefer Beer/Vin Scully), Giants(Knickerbocker, Russ Hodges) I learned to love baseball in those years

Red was before my time, but had the good fortune of listening to Mel during his 2nd tenure with the Yanks and when he was the voice of TWIB.

Never was a fan of Sterling or Kay (found both a bit cheesy); Kay is better at sports radio talk than play-by-play.

 

[Just Gary]

So glad Mr. October brought some reality to the festivities instead of the being purely sanitized, nostalgia (Reggie wouldn't be welcome in Florida).

It really wasn't that long ago despite many saying things like - get over it, it was so long ago, etc.

There are still many places in the South which hold on to their ways - sundown towns; wasn't that long ago where this one HS had their first integrated prom.

And it just wasn't the South, as pointed out Mays and his wife first couldn't purchase a home in SF.

Pasadena (home of the Rose Bowl) was the 1st city outside the South that had to integrate schools under a court order in 1970.





Red was before my time, but had the good fortune of listening to Mel during his 2nd tenure with the Yanks and when he was the voice of TWIB.

Never was a fan of Sterling or Kay (found both a bit cheesy); Kay is better at sports radio talk than play-by-play.

Everyone points to the South when they talk about racism, but it was just that the South was more straightforward. It was the entire country at the time. Of course, now the South just wants to rewrite history.