This is a column about a winner. I could discuss the NBA, the NHL or the UFL all of whom just crowned or are about to crown new champions.
Instead, I want to write about a fella who won the World Series 70 years ago. A gentleman they call the “Say Hey Kid.”
Willie Mays passed away on Tuesday and, while I’m not one to often discuss baseball, Mays was a legend and is beyond deserving of all the recognition he receives. There is some debate about whether he is the greatest baseball player of all time, but there can be no legitimate debate about the subject that does not include his name.
I’ve never been good enough to play organized baseball and it’s admittedly not my favorite sport, so forgive me if I don’t understand it quite as well as some others, but it seems to me that unless you’re talking about a pitcher, you want your ideal player to be able to hit the ball well, field the ball consistently and run really fast.
Despite having a professional career that started in the Negro Leagues for the Birmingham Barons (same one that Michael Jordan later played for) and enduring a two-year hiatus when he served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, Mays eventually won all the awards baseball gives for hitting, fielding and running.
At one point or another — and often several times — he was named National League MVP or batting champion or home run leader or stolen base leader or Golden Glove Award winner. Luckily for the competition, they only let him win Rookie of the Year once.
He had longevity too. Some players defy time and play until they are 40 years old. That’s the age Willie Mays was when he led the league in walks. The man was 40 years old and pitchers didn’t want to put the ball over the plate when he was in the box? That tells you how good he still was despite the inevitable decline.
Because he never stopped being a winner, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015. It’s important to remember that Mays excelled and inspired, but he also endured plenty as well.
There are the stories that people know and talk about. Stories of him being pulled over and questioned for driving with his manager’s son in Cincinnati, a brick going through a window of his home or not being able to buy a home in certain neighborhoods of San Francisco.
I cannot imagine what he experienced and heard, the things some people might have said or done to a young black man dominating America’s favorite pastime in the early 1950s. I expect it was at least a bit like some people talk online now.
Nothing I have written here about Willie Mays will do him justice. Some say he has the greatest baseball highlight of all time so I encourage you to look it up and do some reading on the man. Peruse his long list of awards and historic statistics.
Just when you think you can’t be more impressed with him, read what his teammates had to say about him. Learn with the guys who had to play against him thought of him as a player and man. Then tip your cap to No. 24.
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