Happy Birthday Willie Mays

[Wsoxmike59]

The greatest living ball player turns 90. I only got to see the tail end of his career, roughly from ‘68-73. I was amazed though in the 1971 playoffs that Mays and Clemente were still performing at such a high quality of play despite their advanced ages. But alas it was the last of the great Willie Mays I was to see, who the following year was traded to the NY Mets and got one last trip to the World Series in ‘73.

I could only imagine how lucky the fans of the 1950’s and early 60’s were to see Willie Mays in his prime as I studied the backs of his bubblegum cards. What an era of baseball to witness. Mays, Aaron, Clemente, Mantle, F Robinson, and Ted Williams. Truly a Golden Age for Baseball. Happy Birthday to the Say Hey Kid, the one and only Willie Mays.

[JazzyCyclist]

Say hey!!

[LITTLE NELL]

Saw him play at Wrigley a few times in the late 50s, got his autograph too but it was thrown out with a lot of other great momentos from the 50s and early 60s that my mom discarded while I was in the Air Force.
Hate to say it but I thought he stayed on a couple of years too long.

[Paulwny]

During the 50's NYC baseball fans were able to watch 3 of the greatest HOF center fielders, Mays (Giants), Mantle (Yanks) and Snider (Dodgers). When I was a kid, back then I read that there were often fights in bars by fans of all 3 teams arguing about who was the best.
Happt Birthday Willie!

[Dumpjerry]

Was mentioning him today at the office.

I was asking one of the resident Baseball fans why is it that Shoeless Joe and Pete Rose are still banned for alleged (and not so alleged) gambling connections and Willie Mays was barred from doing anything with MLB after signing a promotional contract with a Las Vegas casino operation when MLB has a formal promotional agreement with online betting services (and some teams have one service or another as its "official" way to lose your money).

The perfect definition of hypocrisy.

[TDog]

I saw Mays up on the MLB site today and I was afraid he had died. When my wife was at the Modesto Bee,the editor to make sure that nothing requiring a front page redesign had happened before going home would ask if the Willies were still alive. Of course, McCovey is gone. Mays remains bigger than life. Unfortunately, my most vivid Mays memories are from the end of his career.

My favorite quote about Willie Mays comes from a story I heard told by a former White Sox coach who played against him in spring training. The context isn't as important as the description of quickness and athleticism. "You could throw a fistfull of bee-bees at Mays and you wouldn't hit him."

I have pictures of the Mays statue outside the ballpark in San Francisco. Visitors treat it as more of a shrine than any other ballplayer statue I've visited.