Willie Mays Has Passed Away

[CrimsonCowboy]

[Deester11]

Damn. Rest easy. Legend for sure.

[CrimsonCowboy]

[thewupk]

One of the goat of goats.

[Mrs. Meta]

One of the goat of goats.

...?

Willie was a human being:(

[Carp]

Easily top 3 all time and a strong argument for the GOAT.

Rest easy Willie.

[CrimsonCowboy]

[CrimsonCowboy]

[50PoundHead]

Phenomenal player. Played with an electric joy and a style all his own. Likely the best all-around player to lace them up. Plus player across the board with his hitting, defense, and speed on the basepaths. Growing up in the era I did, there were so few chances to watch Mays on television as the national broadcasts were limited to the Saturday Game of the Week, the All-Star game, and the World Series (all day games and I was in school so I missed the 1962 World Series). Every now and then, one of his highlights would show up on the sports wrap on the local news, but it was rare.

It's always fun watching a replay of "the catch" in the 1954 World Series. The Polo Grounds in New York City was one of the oddest ballparks. It was basically 280 down the left- and right-field lines and 480 to dead center and 450 in the alleys. Vic Wertz hit a ball that would have been out of every stadium today and likely in all but maybe Forbes Field in Pittsburgh in 1954 as it went an estimated 420 to 440. Mays' play showed just how talented he was with the glove as he chased it down. I was only 1 in 1954, but people talked about that play every time Mays' name was brought up when I was growing up. It's one of the all-time great baseball moments.

Speaking of ballparks, Candlestick probably robbed Mays of 50 to 100 HRs. The wind and the wet made it a tough ballpark to play in, especially for RHHs. The Giants also almost moved to Minnesota (where their AAA team the Minneapolis Millers played), but they decided to go all the way to the West Coast instead. Even through my college years in the 1970s, you could drive west of Minneapolis into St. Louis Park (inner ring suburb) and see a sign with the Giants' emblem advertising "the future home of the New York Giants). We got the Twins three years later instead.