Willie Mays, whose baseball profession started within the Negro American League and ended with him hailed as one of many biggest, if not the only biggest, baseball participant within the historical past of the sport, died of congestive coronary heart failure on June 18, 2024. Mace was 93 years previous.
Mays signed with the Birmingham Black Barons in 1948 when he was 17. He performed with Birmingham till 1950, when he signed with the then-New York Giants after graduating highschool. Mays first performed with the Giants in 1951, successful Nationwide League Rookie of the Yr and serving to the Giants win the pennant. Mays was within the on-deck circle when Bobby Thompson hit the “shot heard around the world” to Ralph Branca. He once more led the Giants to the pennant in 1954, this time successful the World Sequence. Mays appeared in two extra World Sequence, one in 1962 with the now-San Francisco Giants and one other in 1973 with the New York Mets, his final season in Main League Baseball.
Mays’ profession statistics are superb. He was chosen to the All-Star Recreation 24 occasions. He received the Nationwide League Most Invaluable Participant award twice. Mays had 660 profession dwelling runs on the time of his retirement, second solely to Babe Ruth. Could has received 12 Gold Glove Awards. Led the Nationwide League in stolen bases 4 occasions. Mes has led the Nationwide League in dwelling runs 4 occasions. He’s the primary participant in Nationwide League historical past to have 30 dwelling runs and 30 steals in the identical season. Making his profession statistics much more exceptional is that Mays missed many of the 1952 and 1953 seasons as a result of Military drafted him after the 1951 season. Had he not missed some 266 video games because of his navy service, it isn’t out of the realm of risk that Mays would have damaged Ruth’s dwelling run document, not Hank Aaron.
Mace was my first sports activities hero. Rising up within the San Francisco Bay Space, the Giants have been the one sports activities on the town till I used to be 9 when the A’s moved from Kansas Metropolis to Oakland. Spent evening after evening with a transistor radio underneath the pillow so my dad and mom would not catch me listening to Russ Hodges and Lon Simmons name Giants video games throughout my scheduled nap time from the ill-fated Freezing Blight by the Bay, in any other case generally known as Candlestick Park. I poured into the sports activities part of the native paper daily, devouring each phrase in regards to the Giants. There was no scarcity of stars within the staff on the time, as Mays was joined by Willie McCovey and Juan Marichal. However to me, Mace was at all times first.
I keep in mind my first monster recreation. It was Bat Day at Candlestick Park. The Giants misplaced 4-0 to Ferguson Jenkins and the Chicago Cubs. Paradoxically, a few years later, I grew to become a Cubs fan. Equally ironic, the Giants have been enjoying the Cubs tonight, this time at Wrigley Area, when the announcement of Could’s demise got here. The Cubs received 5-2.
The mess was an integral a part of my life and that of different San Francisco Bay Space youngsters rising up. His talent, the enjoyment and fervour he had for the sport all through his enjoying years after which throughout his time with the Giants, made him one of the crucial beloved figures not solely in San Francisco Bay Space sports activities historical past, but in addition within the American sports activities period. .
Godspeed, Willie Mays.
