say h80!
― resistance does not require a firearm (Dr Morbius), Friday, 6 May 2011 11:26 (thirteen years ago) link
50th anniversary (Sunday) of a pretty good game.
http://www.highheatstats.com/2013/07/50-years-ago-a-look-back-at-marichal-and-spahn/#more-14489
http://www.highheatstats.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Spahn-Marichal-Box-score-212x300.jpg
― clemenza, Friday, 5 July 2013 17:28 (eleven years ago) link
looks like marichal's game score was 112! spahn's was a mere 97.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SFN/SFN196307020.shtml
i can't seem to find a way to look up the pitch counts, though.
― Z S, Friday, 5 July 2013 17:36 (eleven years ago) link
Seven HOF'ers, with four of them accounting for 2448 HR, and the two starters just over 600 wins. Attendance: 15,921!
― clemenza, Friday, 5 July 2013 17:41 (eleven years ago) link
Z S:
Marichal threw 227 pitches; Spahn threw 201.
From a nice little article: http://www.mercurynews.com/giants/ci_23576887/marichal-spahn-epic-duel-was-50-years-ago
― Stately, plump Carey Mulleeegan (Leee), Friday, 5 July 2013 18:59 (eleven years ago) link
Alvin Dark tried to take Marichal out for the first time in the ninth. The conversation did not go well. Marichal refused to go, pointing to the Braves dugout at the 42-year-old counterpart and telling his manager, "I am not going to come out of that game as long as that old man is still pitching."Dark tried again in the 12th, again to no avail. Before the 15th, Marichal thought he spotted a reliever coming in from the bullpen, so he hastily grabbed his glove and cap and raced out to the mound to reclaim his territory.
Dark tried again in the 12th, again to no avail. Before the 15th, Marichal thought he spotted a reliever coming in from the bullpen, so he hastily grabbed his glove and cap and raced out to the mound to reclaim his territory.
― Stately, plump Carey Mulleeegan (Leee), Friday, 5 July 2013 19:00 (eleven years ago) link
when men were men and hitters weren't that good.
― playwright Greg Marlowe, secretly in love with Mary (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 6 July 2013 00:50 (eleven years ago) link
Didn't realize this was out there till I saw it in a bookstore today:
http://i1059.photobucket.com/albums/t427/sayhey1/barra_zps4fbec2dd.jpg
Still on the expensive side. Barra's great.
― clemenza, Thursday, 22 August 2013 19:30 (eleven years ago) link
superstar living, 1954
http://thestacks.deadspin.com/willie-mays-mvp-eats-breakfast-in-his-little-rented-a-1349890009
― Miss Arlington twirls for the Coal Heavers (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 22 September 2013 14:04 (eleven years ago) link
I love the first comment: "This photo is why Marvin Miller should be in the Hall Of Fame"
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Monday, 23 September 2013 05:08 (eleven years ago) link
http://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2014/10/16/6990323/heres-a-picture-of-willie-mays-holding-a-dog-in-an-elevator
― this horrible, rotten slog to rigor mortis (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 16 October 2014 21:13 (nine years ago) link
OMG PUPPEH!
Happy now?
― My Life with the Thrillho Kult (Leee), Friday, 17 October 2014 03:37 (nine years ago) link
yeah you also ignored the beautiful 'happiness is a mets victory' picture i posted FOR YOU MORBS.
― Van Horn Street, Friday, 17 October 2014 03:39 (nine years ago) link
yes, yr a good man. xp
No, I didn't! Just silent. I've read about that kid's banner for decades (it's not me).
― this horrible, rotten slog to rigor mortis (Dr Morbius), Friday, 17 October 2014 03:40 (nine years ago) link
I'll put this here instead of the Trout thread:
http://www.halosheaven.com/2015/9/30/9424049/mike-trout-five-tool-players-in-mlb-angels
― clemenza, Thursday, 1 October 2015 11:41 (eight years ago) link
Bought an old issue of Life today (James Earl Ray/Sirhan Sirhan cover) and found this ad inside:
https://smokingwithhank.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/willie-mays-franks-redhot1.jpg
― clemenza, Sunday, 11 October 2015 17:15 (eight years ago) link
https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xlf1/v/t1.0-9/12278622_10153199025701828_7951385441482582750_n.jpg?oh=418ca45407ac7a388f73e0b8f5b7eb16&oe=56E5C5FB
― clemenza, Tuesday, 24 November 2015 23:18 (eight years ago) link
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ChzLJSIXEAAw9Zb.jpg
85
― mookieproof, Saturday, 7 May 2016 00:24 (eight years ago) link
I had my vintage Mays shirt on at the Jays game tonight.
― clemenza, Saturday, 7 May 2016 04:27 (eight years ago) link
Happy Birthday to the Say Hey Kid. 85 and was at the ballpark for his birthday.
― Bee OK, Saturday, 7 May 2016 14:37 (eight years ago) link
You've probably seen this by now--can't figure out how to embed the clip.
http://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2016/5/6/11614296/president-obama-willie-mays-happy-birthday
Little things mean a lot. Notwithstanding that there's staff there to initiate and look after these things, I don't think you'd have seen this if McCain or Romney had been president.
― clemenza, Monday, 9 May 2016 22:45 (eight years ago) link
that was Great! thanks for sharing clemenza.
― Bee OK, Tuesday, 10 May 2016 01:11 (eight years ago) link
otoh everyone would give Kissinger a medal, that we all know
― we can be heroes just for about 3.6 seconds (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 10 May 2016 02:22 (eight years ago) link
...that is, Jesus fucking Christ.
I've tried hard the past year-plus not to respond to your idiocy, but this time I will. Did it ever occur to you that a gesture like that might mean something to Willie Mays?
― clemenza, Tuesday, 10 May 2016 02:51 (eight years ago) link
it was fine til you brought McCain and Mitt into it. Just pretend America isn't here.
― we can be heroes just for about 3.6 seconds (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 10 May 2016 03:00 (eight years ago) link
When I saw his name at the top of that newsy Facebook sidebar, I assumed that was it. No--anniversary of the Catch.
― clemenza, Thursday, 29 September 2016 22:16 (seven years ago) link
On this date in 1954, Willie Mays made one of the most iconic defensive plays in World Series history. The Giants center fielder tracked down Vic Wertz's long fly ball to make "The Catch" — an over-the-head basket grab in deep center field at the Polo Grounds — during a crucial moment in Game 1 against the Indians. The Giants went on to win the World Series in a four-game sweep.
Today, Major League Baseball announced that the World Series MVP trophy has been renamed in honor of the Say Hey Kid.
http://m.mlb.com/news/article/256686298/world-series-mvp-award-renamed-for-willie-mays/
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Friday, 29 September 2017 19:37 (six years ago) link
That rules
― brimstead, Friday, 29 September 2017 20:05 (six years ago) link
88 today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UduDreaZq6c
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Monday, 6 May 2019 15:50 (five years ago) link
And Happy Birthday too to Orson Welles and Sigmund Freud--May 6, genius day.
― clemenza, Monday, 6 May 2019 21:58 (five years ago) link
and John Flansburgh of They Might be Giants and frogbs
― frogbs, Monday, 6 May 2019 22:01 (five years ago) link
Have a good one--great day for your birthday.
― clemenza, Monday, 6 May 2019 22:08 (five years ago) link
say HEY
― brooklyn suicide cult (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 6 May 2020 12:37 (four years ago) link
90 today. (Can't find the thread I once started on May 6 birthdays--Mays, Orson Welles, and Freud.)
― clemenza, Thursday, 6 May 2021 12:49 (three years ago) link
91 today, happy birthday
― Bee OK, Friday, 6 May 2022 22:22 (two years ago) link
https://www.mlb.com/news/willie-mays-best-stats-and-accomplishments
― Bee OK, Friday, 6 May 2022 23:14 (two years ago) link
Hope to see this somewhere:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/hbo-willie-mays-documentary-1235229775/
― clemenza, Tuesday, 4 October 2022 14:51 (one year ago) link
Still one of the greatest moments in baseball history pic.twitter.com/EsPYqCXRaf— BaseballHistoryNut (@nut_history) December 13, 2022
It really was, I'd agree. I don't think Mays is all that mobile these days, but if at all possible, I really wish they'd do the same for him next All-Star Game.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 14 December 2022 22:12 (one year ago) link
He was at one of the last games of the season - had hip surgery recently and wants to be at spring training.There was a good SI piece about this, about how he didn’t want to be seen as a a museum piece and just enjoys spending time in the clubhouse with players.
― bit high, bitch (gyac), Wednesday, 14 December 2022 22:57 (one year ago) link
I respect anything Willie says or wants, but watching all those players gather around Williams that year was just unbelievable--especially Gwynn next to him, whose chance at .400 five years earlier was cut short by the strike. (If you have a sharp eye, apparently there are 19 HOF'ers in that photo.)
― clemenza, Thursday, 15 December 2022 01:43 (one year ago) link
I kept meaning to post this and today I found it in my tabs: Willie Mays talking to young Giants rookies in winter 2009. Bold from the original formatting, italics his!
The 25 or so young players sat in chairs encircling Mays, who sat behind a small table.“All right, guys, c’mon, what else?’’ Mays said, prompting the next question.Ever get timed in the 60?“No, no! I didn’t run! I told them, ‘I can’t run the ball over the fence.’ When they were out running, I was asleep in the clubhouse. They got you just running here? You doing some hitting?’’No, the players said. Just conditioning work.“That’s not fun! Maybe I should say something. You want to hit a little bit and then go run. You got to enjoy yourself.’’He told them about his struggles against Drysdale, Gibson, Koufax and Bob Rush then added: “I made up for it on all the other guys, the scrubs. I destroyed them.’’Best players you ever saw?Robert Clemente, Mays said. Barry Bonds — “If I don’t say Barry, he’ll start a fight.’’ Bobby Bonds (Now, he could run!’’ ) , Maury Wills (“Played a good shortstop.’’) and Frank Robinson (“Triple Crown winner’’).What did you do in the off-season?“Work, man, work! That’s a very good question. I played basketball, football — touch football — they didn’t know I played football! I had a 32 waistline. I worked out and played all the time. No time to lay around. Had to keep myself in shape. Played winter ball two times.’’We’ve heard from other major-league players about what makes a good teammate. What’s your definition?“In 1962, they made me captain. I positioned the outfielders, the infielders, I’d call pitches from centerfield — he didn’t have to take them but I wanted him throw a pitch I thought I could catch. You had to get 25 guys playing together even though nine or ten don’t play much at all and it feels bad. I’d go to the manager and say, ‘I want this guy to play because he needs to feel part of the team.’ The guy would go 9 for 10 and he’d go sit down and feel like a part of the team. When guys had problems at home, they’d come to me and I’d call their wives. I knew the wives better than I knew the players!’’Your greatest baseball achievement?“Man, I had so many! I think my greatest achievement was when I signed my major-league contract.’’Greatest moment?“Hitting four home runs in Milwaukee (with 8 RBI) was the greatest thing I ever did.’’Best park to hit in?“Wrigley. To me the ball went out of there pretty good.’’Worst park to hit in?“Candlestick. The wind’s always blowing in. We put a glove to a fence to see if it would fall and it didn’t fall. We could even hit it out in batting practice.“I know you guys are saying, ‘Oh, hell, he didn’t do all this stuff. Oh yes I did.’’What was your farthest home run?“I never worried about that! You just get it over the fence! You don’t care how far it went.’’What effect did race have back when you played?“We went to some towns and I couldn’t stay in the same hotel. I remember once in Hagerstown, they dropped me off on the other side of the tracks. You guys from the South, you know what the other side of the track is. So they drop me off and I’m in a hotel, and at 2 o’clock in the morning two or three guys come through the window and sleep the rest of the night on my floor, and then at 6 a.m. they get up and go back out the window. They did the same thing the next night, watching out for me. Nothing was ever said.“My father told me no matter what anybody said, never to fight. Turn the other cheek. I’d call him up and he’d ask, “Did you fight today?’ Back then, you had to make sure you were bigger than those people who called you names. They called you all kinds of names. But I knew for me to get ahead, I had to take all that kind of stuff. Every time somebody called me a name, I hit the ball.’’What did you do in a slump?“A slump is going to happen to everybody in some way. For me, a slump was 0-for-10. Everyone has a different way of getting out of a slump. I’d get out by swinging inside-out and getting a hit that way.’’Throughout Mays’ talk, the young guys snapped photos with their cell phone, leaning close, recording forever their moment with the greatest player who ever stepped on a baseball field.
― bit high, bitch (gyac), Friday, 13 January 2023 19:16 (one year ago) link
I have a great Willie Mays story involving a collector friend of mine.
My friend's a hardcore collector, so he wants things signed a precise way: certain kind of Sharpie, certain spot, perfectly legible, etc. He was at a show to get Mays' signature--having paid a pretty good amount, I'm sure--and when he got up to the table, Mays wouldn't use the Sharpie my friend offered him. So my friend said something like "Okay, fine; I'm going to go and get a refund." He starts to walk away, and Mays call him back. With great disdain, he takes my friend's Sharpie and half-heartedly signs whatever it was my friend had brought along (not a card; probably a photo). I can't remember if my friend was satisfied or not, but he took his item and went and stood by a wall. Mays, who had continued signing, spotted my friend and stopped everything.
"I'm not signing anything more until that guy"--points at my friend--"leaves."
That's as much as I remember; there was no great drama at the end, so I assume my friend just left, content with the autograph and the story he could tell for the rest of his life.
― clemenza, Friday, 13 January 2023 19:45 (one year ago) link
I really can’t understand that mentality. You’re meeting a living legend and you complain about the marker. Would personally never tell that story.
― bit high, bitch (gyac), Friday, 13 January 2023 20:15 (one year ago) link
I would never pay for an autography myself (though I regret just a little not getting Thomson/Branca to sign together in one of the two Cooperstown trips I made), but that's a whole different world. Mays and players of his stature are getting paid extremely well; my friend is entitled to get a clear autograph for his money. I mean, that's the basic agreement.
― clemenza, Friday, 13 January 2023 20:26 (one year ago) link
I mean literally implying the guy won’t sign his name right? I’d be insulted too.
― bit high, bitch (gyac), Friday, 13 January 2023 20:28 (one year ago) link
Don't get me wrong, I revere Mays. And I'm much more open to players from the '50s and '60s--especially African-American players--making good money at these signings; they were criminally underpaid throughout their careers. But with that stipulated, it's still a transaction where both parties should be happy.
I'm not sure what you mean...my friend doesn't imply that Mays wouldn't sign; it's that he wanted to sign with just a regular pen, which is just not what an autograph collector wants for his (guessing, and I'm not sure how far back this was) ~$100 or $150.
― clemenza, Friday, 13 January 2023 20:32 (one year ago) link
"autography"--I invented a new word. It's like an autograph, but more fun.
― clemenza, Friday, 13 January 2023 20:33 (one year ago) link
If you have 150-200 to spend on someone’s signature… maybe just take the L and don’t be a dick to Willie Mays ffs
― not too strange just bad audio (brimstead), Friday, 13 January 2023 20:39 (one year ago) link
Sorry 100-150!
― not too strange just bad audio (brimstead), Friday, 13 January 2023 20:40 (one year ago) link
RIP. Can't believe he's really gone, but what a life he had.
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Wednesday, 19 June 2024 02:42 (three months ago) link
Mays vs. Koufax: https://stathead.com/baseball/vs/sandy-koufax-vs-willie-mays
Edge to Mays.
Mays vs. Gibson: https://stathead.com/baseball/vs/bob-gibson-vs-willie-mays
Whoah--now that's dominance.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 19 June 2024 02:44 (three months ago) link
at the risk of sounding like a hack baseball writer Jackson Chourio just hit an inside the park HR which very much looked like some of the Willie Mays highlights I've seen, helmet flying off just trucking around 3rd
― frogbs, Wednesday, 19 June 2024 02:50 (three months ago) link
Here's something I never knew: "Only two men no taller than 5'10" have hit more than 360 home runs: Mel Ott, who hit 511, and Mays, far out front with 660."
https://www.si.com/mlb/willie-mays-obituary-the-say-hey-kid
― clemenza, Wednesday, 19 June 2024 04:03 (three months ago) link
Incredible athlete. RIP.
― felicity, Wednesday, 19 June 2024 04:55 (three months ago) link
RIP
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 19 June 2024 05:42 (three months ago) link
Sheehan:
Close your eyes, just for a second, and picture a baseball player.Is he in the box, bat held low, coiled, focused, potential energy seconds from becoming kinetic?Is he rounding second, gliding more than he is running, triple on his mind?Is his back to the diamond as he races across a sunny patch of green grass, chasing down a baseball that never had a chance to fall safely?Is he young, the world at his feet?Is he smiling?Tell a fan to picture a baseball player, and there’s a pretty good chance their mind will turn to Willie Mays. Mays, who died Tuesday at the age of 93, days before MLB’s Negro Leagues tribute game in Alabama, was baseball, a do-it-all player who did it all with joy, with flair, with style. Mays, one of the last superstars to begin his career in the Negro Leagues, may have been the best to ever play our game. He did everything a baseball player could do to win games short of taking the mound.Mays hit for average, .301 lifetime. He hit for power, with 660 career home runs, and spent much of his career second all-time behind Babe Ruth. He ran, stealing 339 bases and leading the league four years in a row at a time when the stolen base was in retreat. That speed was always on display in center field, where he ranks among the best to ever cover the 8, in part because of an arm that was strong and true. In one of the deepest competitive environments in baseball history, the National League post-integration, Mays’s teams won four pennants and one World Series, falling a game short of two other championships. His signature play -- just “The Catch” -- in the 1954 World Series is one of the iconic moments in baseball history.The Say Hey Kid -- a nickname of disputed origins, but likely tied to Mays’s use of the phrase -- had more tools, though. He connected with people. Growing up in New York well after Mays’s career ended, one of the first things I ever learned about him was that he played stickball in the street, just like, and with, regular New York kids. He was fun to watch, his hat flying off as he went first to third, as he turned a double into an out. He was regular-sized, listed at 5’10”, 170, hardly intimidating, looking like someone you might be able to strike out if he showed up on your block waving a broomstick. Four sewers and one lost Spaldeen later...Mays’s career bridged black-and-white to color, grass to turf, leagues to divisions, flannel to doubleknit. By the time of his rookie season in the NL, 1951, just six MLB teams had put a Black man on the field. In 1973, his final year, six Black men started in the All-Star Game. Jackie Robinson was respected for his play and for his toughness under unimaginable strain. Mays, though, was the first Black baseball player to be loved, first by the baseball world, and then the wider sports world beyond that.Well, except for sportswriters. You know the best argument for WAR? Mays led the NL in WAR ten times. He won two MVPs. Which of those figures makes more sense to you?Mays’s greatness, though, wasn’t in the numbers, it wasn’t even in the great defensive plays and cannonball runs from first to home and 24 trips to the All-Star Game.No, what we can take from Mays’s career, and his life beyond it, is this: Willie Mays was baseball’s most beloved player. Whether you followed his career from the grandstand or on YouTube, whether you argued Willie vs. Mickey vs. The Duke or are not entirely sure who those other guys are, if you love baseball, there’s a little piece of you missing today.We’ve lost Willie Mays, and there’s no replacing him.
Is he in the box, bat held low, coiled, focused, potential energy seconds from becoming kinetic?
Is he rounding second, gliding more than he is running, triple on his mind?
Is his back to the diamond as he races across a sunny patch of green grass, chasing down a baseball that never had a chance to fall safely?
Is he young, the world at his feet?
Is he smiling?
Tell a fan to picture a baseball player, and there’s a pretty good chance their mind will turn to Willie Mays. Mays, who died Tuesday at the age of 93, days before MLB’s Negro Leagues tribute game in Alabama, was baseball, a do-it-all player who did it all with joy, with flair, with style. Mays, one of the last superstars to begin his career in the Negro Leagues, may have been the best to ever play our game. He did everything a baseball player could do to win games short of taking the mound.
Mays hit for average, .301 lifetime. He hit for power, with 660 career home runs, and spent much of his career second all-time behind Babe Ruth. He ran, stealing 339 bases and leading the league four years in a row at a time when the stolen base was in retreat. That speed was always on display in center field, where he ranks among the best to ever cover the 8, in part because of an arm that was strong and true. In one of the deepest competitive environments in baseball history, the National League post-integration, Mays’s teams won four pennants and one World Series, falling a game short of two other championships. His signature play -- just “The Catch” -- in the 1954 World Series is one of the iconic moments in baseball history.
The Say Hey Kid -- a nickname of disputed origins, but likely tied to Mays’s use of the phrase -- had more tools, though. He connected with people. Growing up in New York well after Mays’s career ended, one of the first things I ever learned about him was that he played stickball in the street, just like, and with, regular New York kids. He was fun to watch, his hat flying off as he went first to third, as he turned a double into an out. He was regular-sized, listed at 5’10”, 170, hardly intimidating, looking like someone you might be able to strike out if he showed up on your block waving a broomstick. Four sewers and one lost Spaldeen later...
Mays’s career bridged black-and-white to color, grass to turf, leagues to divisions, flannel to doubleknit. By the time of his rookie season in the NL, 1951, just six MLB teams had put a Black man on the field. In 1973, his final year, six Black men started in the All-Star Game. Jackie Robinson was respected for his play and for his toughness under unimaginable strain. Mays, though, was the first Black baseball player to be loved, first by the baseball world, and then the wider sports world beyond that.
Well, except for sportswriters. You know the best argument for WAR? Mays led the NL in WAR ten times. He won two MVPs. Which of those figures makes more sense to you?
Mays’s greatness, though, wasn’t in the numbers, it wasn’t even in the great defensive plays and cannonball runs from first to home and 24 trips to the All-Star Game.
No, what we can take from Mays’s career, and his life beyond it, is this: Willie Mays was baseball’s most beloved player. Whether you followed his career from the grandstand or on YouTube, whether you argued Willie vs. Mickey vs. The Duke or are not entirely sure who those other guys are, if you love baseball, there’s a little piece of you missing today.
We’ve lost Willie Mays, and there’s no replacing him.
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 19 June 2024 07:41 (three months ago) link
Goddamn, this was crushing to hear, especially with the Rickwood game coming up tomorrow. It's gonna have a lot more emotional heft now.
― octobeard, Wednesday, 19 June 2024 18:57 (three months ago) link
Waiting on what I expect will be a small-book-length post from Posnanski today.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 19 June 2024 19:31 (three months ago) link
Everyone got most upset with my Willie Mays autograph story last year (which still makes me laugh! sorry), so let me make up for it here.
https://i.postimg.cc/J4yVsZ76/rickwood.jpg
― clemenza, Wednesday, 19 June 2024 19:38 (three months ago) link
Amazing photo!
― octobeard, Wednesday, 19 June 2024 19:53 (three months ago) link
One thing I've thought about over the years was how it was always comforting knowing Willie was still alive and kickin' in SF where I live. Just made this place feel more relevant and somehow made the bygone eras of both the city and baseball here still feel alive in some capacity. I'm so happy he was able to witness the championships a decade ago. RIP, legend.
― octobeard, Wednesday, 19 June 2024 19:54 (three months ago) link
Highly recommend Leo Durocher's Nice Guys Finish Last, which has lots and lots and lots of Mays. I'll look for a good excerpt tonight.
https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/wp-content/uploads/satevepost/2021-04-12-willie-mays-leo-durocher-seps.jpg
― clemenza, Wednesday, 19 June 2024 20:02 (three months ago) link
"I don't move as well as I used to."
https://i.postimg.cc/Jz7ydJdB/mays.jpg
― clemenza, Wednesday, 19 June 2024 20:11 (three months ago) link
Posting too much, I know...They did kind of artfully not mention Gibson in #10 here:
― clemenza, Thursday, 20 June 2024 00:27 (three months ago) link
Love all these stories and memories. The game tomorrow is going to be intense.
― RIP Say Hey Kid (Bee OK), Thursday, 20 June 2024 00:43 (three months ago) link
I was Zooming last night with an internet friend (we've never met) from San Francisco who saw Mays all through his prime, going back to 1958, when he was five.
― clemenza, Thursday, 20 June 2024 00:48 (three months ago) link
I think I have a 60s WM baseball card
― calstars, Thursday, 20 June 2024 01:12 (three months ago) link
Posnanski's Mays post went up today. It's less about Mays than trying to decide who is now the Greatest Living Player. I guess he wrote so much about Mays in The Baseball 100--Mays was #1--he didn't want to repeat himself.
He starts with the idea that Bonds is obviously the GLP, but eventually, and circuitously, settles on Griffey, which will no doubt raise the ire of many.
Gleaned one interesting thing from a quick skim. In '69, when the writers chose their greatest all-time and greatest living players lists, they moved Mays to RF so they could get him onto the living list:
RHP: Walter Johnson (All-Time); Bob Feller (Living--died in 2010)LHP: Lefty Grove (All-Time); Lefty Grove (Living--died in 1975)C: Mickey Cochrane (All-Time); Bill Dickey (Living--died in 1993)1B: George Sisler (All-Time); George Sisler and Stan Musial (Living)2B: Rogers Hornsby (All-Time); Charlie Gehringer (Living--died in 1993)3B: Pie Traynor (All-Time); Pie Traynor (Living--died in 1972)SS: Honus Wagner (All-Time); Joe Cronin (Living--died in 1984)LF: Ty Cobb (All-Time); Ted Williams (Living--died in 2002)CF Joe DiMaggio (All-Time); Joe DiMaggio (Living--died in 1999)RF: Babe Ruth (All-Time); Willie Mays (Living--died in 2024)
"There’s a little bit to unpack here, particularly the fact that the writers put Willie Mays in rightfield to get him on the living team, which, you know, on the one hand, I get it, because having an all-time living baseball team without Willie Mays would have been ridiculous. On the other hand, listing Willie Mays as a rightfielder is like listing Leonardo Da Vinci as an auto mechanic. I’m sure he’d have been able to do one helluva tuneup, but it entirely misses the point."
― clemenza, Thursday, 20 June 2024 15:31 (three months ago) link
Thinking about Jerry West and the NBA logo, this is a great idea.
https://www.tsn.ca/video/buster-olney-willie-mays-absolutely-should-be-new-mlb-logo~2943148
― clemenza, Friday, 21 June 2024 18:39 (three months ago) link
Haven't won since Mays passing. Down to 2 starters. This year's team just isn't any good, mediocre.
I need something else to do.
― RIP Say Hey Kid (Bee OK), Saturday, 22 June 2024 20:53 (three months ago) link
Wrong thread
from the old tyme baseball photos thread, h/t gyac
I follow former SI photographer Walter Iooss on IG (you should too) and he posted this pic he took of Willie Mays the other day on Mays’s 90th bday. Pull this picture out every time someone says “they didn’t have athletes then like we have now.” pic.twitter.com/y6buSb1o54— Harry Arnett (@harryarnett) May 7, 2021
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Sunday, 23 June 2024 00:17 (three months ago) link
no idea what that last line of my post is doing there
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Sunday, 23 June 2024 00:18 (three months ago) link
Greil Marcus, of all people--he is from the Bay Area--got a long "Ask Greil" about Willie Mays that he responded to today. I'll only include the last bit of the question; I like his answer.
I'm sure as a Bay Area native, you have fond memories of Willie Mays, as do all baseball fans for his talents were wonderous, but whatever his civil rights battles were, they were mostly private, sad to say. —JAMES R STACHO
I imagine that in some part of his being, every day Willie Mays said to himself, not in these words, but in his own, I am my own revolution. How did he feel that night in 1963 when in the bottom of the 16-inning scoreless tie with Warren Spahn and Juan Marichal on the mound for every pitch he ended it with a home run? Oh, I feel so fine, I am so lucky to be allowed to play this wonderful game? Or was it, Take that, you fuckers. Go back down in the ground, you Klan killers. You’ll never catch me.
A lot of people saw that. A lot of people felt that. There’s no way to measure to what degree Willie Mays might have inspired the people at the Cleveland Summit to do what they did even if he didn’t do it, even if he thought, I had to do my service, go on and do yours--which I doubt.
(The Cleveland Summit being the famous gathering of Black athletes in 1967 to support Ali--not attended by Mays or anybody else from MLB.)
― clemenza, Tuesday, 25 June 2024 17:18 (three months ago) link
He may well have thought that. I was reading about how Henry “Hank” Aaron* and Jackie Robinson were angry that Mays never spoke out over the racism he and they faced. There’s this interview I always think of, from 2009, totally casual talk to young Giants players:
“My father told me no matter what anybody said, never to fight. Turn the other cheek. I’d call him up and he’d ask, “Did you fight today?’ Back then, you had to make sure you were bigger than those people who called you names. They called you all kinds of names. But I knew for me to get ahead, I had to take all that kind of stuff. Every time somebody called me a name, I hit the ball.’’
― Roman Anthony gets on his horse (gyac), Tuesday, 25 June 2024 18:01 (three months ago) link
Finally watched the Reggie interview earlier today--fantastic. (I had to laugh at a couple of side issues: when Reggie included A-Rod on his list of all-time greats, wondered if Jeter did a slow burn; and when Ortiz brought up the HOF, wondered the same about A-Rod.)
"I am my own revolution"--love that.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 25 June 2024 18:21 (three months ago) link
Any Black player pre-'68 or so had a second overriding fact to deal with aside from society in general: baseball was far more conservative than basketball or football.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 25 June 2024 18:24 (three months ago) link
Re the Reggie interview: knowing how much all the A's hated Charlie Finley when it came to anything related to money, I thought it was gracious of Jackson to mention Finley walking the team out when his country club wouldn't let Jackson attend a ceremony (they relented).
― clemenza, Tuesday, 25 June 2024 18:28 (three months ago) link
I haven’t finished this yet but very good piece regarding Mays, Robinson and their respective politics:https://frontofficesports.com/willie-mays-humility-key-to-his-genius/
― Roman Anthony gets on his horse (gyac), Wednesday, 3 July 2024 16:35 (two months ago) link
Will read that for sure.
I came across this in the days after but didn't want to post it so soon.
https://www.villagevoice.com/hank-aaron-and-willie-mays-new-revelations-on-just-how-much-they-hated-each-other/
Do I believe the piece? Yes--Allen Barra is an excellent baseball writer.
Does it make me think any less of Mays? Not in the least--if he did have some resentment towards Aaron, I think that would be unfortunate but very human. 1) Mays spent most of his career as the guy who was going to pass Babe Ruth--first him and Mantle, then just him. To see his body break down while Aaron kept going, I'm sure that stung. 2) I could be wrong here, but Mays in the '50s might have led something of a double life. The overwhelming reality was life as a Black player, and all the garbage that went along with that. But maybe he also saw himself as part of New York baseball royalty, along with Mantle and Robinson and Berra and DiMaggio and everyone else. Which, for millions, he was. To see this guy in Milwaukee--and later, playing for a team in the deep South--come along and surpass him, maybe that stung too.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 3 July 2024 16:48 (two months ago) link
A friend - in his 80s, and a lifelong baseball nut - says: “ I don't think the article got the facts about Henry Aaron right. I always understood that he was outspoken and felt obligated to continue Jackie Robinson's approach.”
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 4 July 2024 21:34 (two months ago) link
https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/2-GettyImages-81418934-scaled.jpg
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 9 July 2024 22:24 (two months ago) link
https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/wp-GettyImages-480014359_master.jpg
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 9 July 2024 22:26 (two months ago) link
https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/may0-049-mays-U1067504.jpg
Lot goin on here...
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 9 July 2024 22:27 (two months ago) link
https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/may0-045-mays-BE030755.jpg
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 9 July 2024 22:28 (two months ago) link
https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/may0-051-mays-U1196266INP.jpg
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 9 July 2024 22:30 (two months ago) link
The first photo with Durocher was probably the one I saw second-most often in the days after. Weirdly, Mays had his back to the camera for the one I saw most often.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 10 July 2024 01:13 (two months ago) link
The two reporters in the locker room are absolutely killing me. These people existed! They weren’t just cartoons!
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 10 July 2024 07:15 (two months ago) link
I was putting away some stuff today, including the NYT my friend bought for me the day after Mays died. Their front-page obit was written by helped-invent-rock-criticism Richard Goldstein.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 28 August 2024 19:55 (four weeks ago) link