Remembering (How Could You Forget?!) The Great Willie Mays
Willie Mays, one of the greatest and most iconic figures, in any sport, at any time and one who gave me and so many similar, fantastic, exciting memories with his great play, plays and incredible baseball intelligence, died yesterday at age 93.
The memories flow and I will cite one or two and refer you to a post I wrote about Willie when he Henry Aaron, Sandy Koufax and John Bench were voted baseball’s greatest living players in 2015. A link is found below.
#1, ’54 World Series a September game, (now we could get November and somewhere someone said a penguin, maybe Mario Lemieux or Burgess Meredith would throw out the first ball), Willie’s iconic catch, the throw was better, Jack Brickhouse intoning “Willie Mays has just brought this crowd to its feet with a catch that must have seemed an optical illusion to a lot of people” and how about 12 consecutive seasons scoring 100 or more runs. (Scoring runs, knocking them in but scoring them is what they pay you do!!).
He was great, not the greatest, Babe Ruth is (he went 92-44 as a pitcher, but it sure does not take long to call Willie’s name on the list of the greatest baseball players and even any sport’s greatest list.
It is included in what you can read below, but let me say it here.
Either adult, Stan Gardner, years later shot to death in front of his son named Andrew, or Gerry (spelling?) Weinberg, hit the “point of the stoop,” and the Spalding, red rubber ball sailed out over my head.
Yet I, no great athlete, far from it, channeled Willie and caught it over my shoulder. Either Gerry or Stan (in my neighborhood it was NOT Mr. Gardner or Mr. Weinberg and maybe it ought to have been, but unlike many, I learned and know respect for others) said to my dad, who saw it and also many strikeouts vs me, in pressure packed Little League, that was Willie Mays like.
A seminal moment and memory!!
Click below for more about Willie’s career with the Gardner/Weinberg memory included.
The Indomitable Willie Mays | Andy B Sports
Click below to view and hear the great broadcaster, Lon Simmons’ great play by play account of Willie’s 600th big league home run.
Write in if you know the future 50 plus home runs in a season batter that Willie pinch hit for when he smacked #600.
Finally the catch and throw in game 1 1954 World Series, an eventual Willie’s N.Y. Giants’ sweep of the (111-43) then Cleveland Indians.
The TV call (where oh where is the radio such, somewhere over the rainbow and why oh why can’t I hear it and other gems not preserved?!!) is by another great, Jack Brickhouse.
Andy B Sports 