RIP Willie Mays/The Say Hey Kid has left us.

[JSngry]

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/giants/article/willie-mays-dead-obituary-17815215.php

[Hardbopjazz]

R.I.P. Willie Mays. He has died at 93.  

[JSngry]

 

[JSngry]

[Hardbopjazz]

The best I've even seen play the game.

[Eric]

16 minutes ago, JSngry said:

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/giants/article/willie-mays-dead-obituary-17815215.php

I have that card.  A little too young to have seen him in his prime.  How old was he?

[JSngry]

93.

Literally the first player I saw walking into my first ever big league game, Astros vs Giants, Astrodome, summer of 1965. He was in the outfield getting loose and that 24 grabbed hold of my psyche instantly and forever.

Indelible.

[felser]

I own three autographed baseballs.  One is his.  RIP.

[GA Russell]

RIP Willie Mays!

The great ones make it look easy.  Remember the basket catch?  And the most famous.

 

[JSngry]

The Polo Grounds...insane layout...

Would that even be legal today? LOL

[GA Russell]

Built in 1890 for the Players League.

Of course, greatly expanded since 1890.

[Adam]

He was the oldest living Hall of fame member.

[soulpope]

R.I.P     ....

[Kevin Bresnahan]

He was a bit before my time & he played when the only thing you saw on TV was your local team, which for me was the Red Sox. Willie spent his whole career in the National League so he never played the Red Sox. I never saw him play. But I had his baseball cards in the late 60s & early 70s when he played for the Mets. I vaguely remember seeing some of his plays on the news when I was a kid. But that catch - everyone saw The Catch, which was "The Catch" before the NFL's 49ers co-opted the term.

[jazzbo]

Saw Willie Mays play at Connie Mack Stadium when I was a lad. We lived about six blocks from the Stadium, but I only went a few times as sports was just not a thing in our family.

[Milestones]

Great, great player for sure. 

I never saw him in person, but I was quite young when he retired--plus I'm from an American League city and  no inter-league play back then and we just had limited awareness of the NL players.  Of course, in Cleveland we were not happy with Mays for one incident--the famous catch in the 1954 World Series that is continually replayed.  Of course, it was a great fielder doing what he had to do, but it was the key element in a fine Series for the Giants and a lousy one for the Indians.

 

 

Edited June 19, 2024 by Milestones

[JSngry]

 

 

[Ken Dryden]

Willie Mays was a one of a kind. I had a baseball magazine that had a cover article stating. "Mantle Better Than Mays," which obviously wasn't true long before Mantle retired after the 1968 season. While Mantle reached greater heights in individual years, including a Triple Crown, plus taking part in many more World Series, his injuries to both legs, careless attitude toward proper rehab and penchant for striking out make it clear Mays had the superior career.

I remember that PSA from childhood well, "...Those are blasting caps, now remember now, don't touch them!" I don't even have to play the video clip, it is so ingrained in my mind.

14 hours ago, JSngry said:

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/giants/article/willie-mays-dead-obituary-17815215.php

I still have this card, along with the 1964, 1965, 19767 and 1969 Topps cards.