"He's the best center fielder who ever lived, no question." Monte Irvin
"The All-Star Game was invented for Willie Mays." Ted Williams
Once in eight or nine blue moons, this blog, mostly obsessed with classic films, comedy, vintage television and animation (and to a lesser degree music), delves into sports. Today, we must do this, with the news that the incredible Willie Mays has passed at 93.
The passing of Willie Mays happened as this movies and sports aficionado has been, with difficulty, processing the losses of basketball stars Jerry West on June 12, Chet "The Jet" Walker on June 8 and Bill Walton on May 27. While it is no fun being "the R.I.P. blog," that's the reality of today.
Have a soft spot for Willie Mays, a.k.a. the Say Hey Kid, a trailblazer on and off the diamond.
Mays was the best outfielder, the fastest runner, a singularly brilliant baseball strategist, as well as a coach on the field, often trusted by managers to relay the latest and greatest signs to his teammates from his roving outfield post.
There have been great hitters (Ted Williams, Barry Bonds), paragons of consistency in the unparalleled excellence of their all-around game (Henry Aaron, Stan Musial, Joe DiMaggio), base-stealing and baserunning daredevils (Jackie Robinson, Maury Wills, Lou Brock, Bobby Bonds, Ricky Henderson, Vince Coleman) who changed the nature of baseball, guys who inspired with clutch hits, amazing throws from the warning track and sheer swagger (Mickey Mantle, Frank Robinson, Roberto Clemente). None combined all of the above quite like Willie Howard Mays.
Willie began his career playing with the Birmingham Black Barons at Rickwood Field and was the last living player to have swung the bat in the Negro Leagues. He faced freakin' Satchel Paige, for cryin' out loud!
Willie lived long enough to see the stats from the Negro Leagues officially added to MLB's database.
Willie Mays hit 660 homers (including an inside-the-park grand slam) and would have beat the Babe for the all-time HR record way back when had he not spent 1952-1953 in the U.S. Army, won 12 Gold Gloves, played in 24 All-Star games, stole 339 bases, scored from first base on a bunt, slammed four round-trippers in a game - and was the epitome of cool.
Saw Willie get his 3000th hit at Candlestick Park on July 18, 1970!
The top announcers of MLB were in agreement about Willie.
Willie's 80th birthday at the ol' ballpark in 2011 was a special occasion.
For more, read 24: Life Stories and Lessons from the Say Hey Kid.
As floored by Willie's passing as we are here, we have also been hit hard by the losses of Jerry West and Bill Walton, two greats of college and pro basketball.
West, with GM Bob Myers and Coach Steve Kerr, would be among the key architects of the Golden State Warriors team that won four championships.
Jerry, a.k.a. The Logo, was an incomparable player who followed his amazing on-court career with a record as an executive and team-builder (for Lakers, Grizzlies, Warriors and Clippers) still unmatched in sports.
Bill Walton? An incredible player for UCLA, the Portland Trail Blazers, the Boston Celtics - and arguably my all-time favorite sportscaster.
Bill Walton could talk both sports and music all day and all of the night, and that was part of his charm.
No doubt it would have been fun to talk music, sports, current events, history, philosophy, the sciences, whatever with Bill! His favorite band did pay tribute to the redhead in a concert the day after his passing.
All of these gentlemen of sport were unbelievably talented and made miracles on the field and the court. Farewell - and thanks for the memories!
