Willie Mays A Baseball Legend
We are saddened by the loss of Mr. Willie Mays aka “The Say Hey Kid” who passed away on June 18, 2024. Mays was one of the greatest all-round professional baseball players of all time.
Willie Mays received 2 National League Most Valuable Player awards and 12 Gold Glove Awards. His career high stats from the Major Leagues alone are 660 home runs, 2,062 runs scored and 3,283 hits. In 2024 Willie Mays was credited with 10 hits from his days in the Negro League increasing his career record to 3,293 hits.
Negro League Baseball
Willie Mays grew up in Fairfield, Alabama, not far from Rickwood Field, the oldest baseball field in America and home to the Negro League’s Black Birmingham Barons. Major League Baseball will honor the legacy of Willie Mays and other Negro League baseball players during its “Tribute to the Negro League” game between the Giants and St. Louis Cardinals. The regular season game will be played at Rickwood Field on June 20th, 2024.
In 1947 Willie Mays began playing professional baseball in the Negro Leagues, starting out he played for the Chattanooga Choo-Choos. He became a player on the Negro League’s Birmingham Black Barons when he was 17 years old. He led the Birmingham Black Barons to the 1948 Negro League World Series.
According to newspaper reports Mays hit numerous home runs playing for the Birmingham Black Barons. During one month of the1948 season he hit several . On Aug. 11, 1948, Mays hit a home run to left field in a game against the Cleveland Buckeyes at Alberta Park in Tuscaloosa that was chronicled in both the Birmingham News and the Alabama Citizen. The next day’s Birmingham News account “including a homer by Willie Mays in the second inning.” In another instance,.The Lexington Herald reported that Mays hit a three-run shot against the New York Cubans at Blue Grass Field in Lexington, Ky. on Aug. 28 of that season
Major League Baseball
In 1950 Willie Mays graduated from Fairfield Industrial High School. Upon graduation he was signed by the New York Giants and sent to their Trenton, New Jersey farm team. From there he advanced to the Minneapolis Millers AAA farm team before getting the call from Leo Durocher In 1951 to join the Giants in New York City. Mays position was at Center field. He hit another 20 home runs in his first season! Not only could Willi hit, but he made spectacular plays! In a game against Pittsburgh, Mays zoomed across the field stopping a 475-foot drive bare handed. Mays helped the Giants win the National League Pennant in his first major league season!
In 1952 Mays was drafted into the U.S. Army. He returned to the Giants in 1954 after serving two years. That year, he pulled off a League-high .345, with 41 home runs. Mays received The Most Valuable Player award, and led the Giants into the World Series against the Cleveland Indians. The Giants defeated Cleveland by winning four straight games. Mays phenomenal over-the-shoulder catch in game 1 continues to be among the most talked about plays in baseball history! In 1955 Mays hit an extraordinary 51 home runs! He also delivered one of his best performances at the All-Star game with an incredible flying catch.
“Say Hey Willie”
In August 1960 Willie Mays was in Saint Louis Missouri for a game between the Giants and Cardinals. He met a young 28 year old named Ella Mae (Clark( Marion. Nine months later Ella gave birth to Mays biological son, Errol Craig Marion.
By 1963 Willie Mays hit 52 home runs and received the Most Valuable Player award for the second time in his professional career in 1965. In 1966 Mays signed a new contract with the Giants making him, for a moment in time, the highest-paid player in the history of baseball!
Willie Mays Reaches 3,000 Career Hits!
In 1970 Willie Mays hit number 3,000! It occurred on July 18, 1970 in San Francisco when the Giants played Montreal.
Negro League Stats Integrated to MLB
Willie Mays, and 2300 other great Black Negro Leagues baseball players have their Negro league baseball records integrated into the Major League scores. The purpose of the records integration is to recognize those great Black baseball players who were denied the opportunity to play in the major leagues from the 1920’s to the 1950’s when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier.
It’s unfortunate that Mays Negro League home runs were not incorporated into his major league stats. The reasoning given for not crediting his Negro League home runs is that researchers can’t locate the Negro Leagues box scores to verify the home runs. According to John Thorn, MLB’s official historian and chairperson of the Negro Leagues Statistical Review Committee Willie Mays Negro League home runs couldn’t be included because there are no box scores available from when he was with the Black Barons.
Should Willie Mays Negro League box scores eventually surface, his home run official tally can be updated which could possibly alter the all-time leaderboards.
Character, Charisma & Love For The Game
Willie Mays character, charisma and love for the game of baseball have endeared him to millions of people and are a testament of his greatness!
We Salute Willie Mays!