The Legend—Willie Mays

RIP. A legend from when baseball ruled everything.

 

The greatest I ever observed on television. The greatest!

As a kid when the late 60s turned into the early 70s, and a San Francisco Giants fan because of Willie Mays . . . he was in his later years but Candlestick Park and the winds off San Francisco Bay robbed him -- unfortunately -- of *so* many homers. And he *still* tallied 660 of those bad boys, including 459 in a Giants uniform coming *after* the team moved to California.

Clearly, he would have been the home run KING without that pervasive cold and wind off the bay.

Absolutely, positively the ultimate complete baseball player and the greatest to ever play the game.

May he rest in eternal peace.

 

Only got to see him in his prime when the All-Star game was televised. RIP Willie and thank you.

 

Can't forget that he also lost 2 years to Korea and they were likely to be 2 of his more productive years. Combine that with the miserable candlestick problems and he probably would have been over 800 HRs in any other uniform.

 

The only advantage of the Braves being in the NL West was getting to see Mays on a regular basis in Atlanta.

He was a tremendous player and to see the two of them (he and Aaron) in the same game was a treat!

 

RIP Willie.

 

Simply the best.

 

Truly a legend in baseball.

Also responsible for all of the times my little league coaches screamed at me and others for attempting a "basket catch".

 

Say Hey One of a Kind a true legend of the sport

 

A class act on and off the field. Epitimy of greatness. The Natural!

 

​

 

I think when Barry Bonds hit 40 homers and stole 40 bases and the media made a big deal about it Mickey Mantle said something like "If we knew it was a big deal Willie and I would have done it every year."

 

An amazing thing about his famous catch is that it was in a tie game in a World Series against Cleveland. After making the catch he turned and through the ball hard enough and far enough that he prevented the runner on second from scoring.

He did not even consider that catch in his top 10 greatest.

Another great catch. Even though he hit Bobby Bonds knee on the way down and was knocked out, he still had on held onto the ball.

 

Also add in that some of the ballpark fences were farther than they are today.

 

My opinion. Willie Mays was the greatest MLB player ever. Better than Ruth, Aaron, Williams, Wagner, DiMaggio, Mantle, Musial, Cobb, etc.

Aside for his very aged yeas as a Met, he was the best. He hit for average. He hit for power. He could run. He could field. He could throw. All 5 tools used well game after game for years.

He missed 1 1/2 years in military. How many HRs could be added to the 660?
He spent many years in prime hitting into the wind at Candlestick Park. It may have cost him another 25-50 HRs.
He could steal bases. His fielding was remarkable.
And to top it off, he loved playing.

Ruth was not a great base stealer. Aaron was in RF not CF for a reason. Williams was slow afoot.

Willie could be a leadoff hitter (see All Star games). He could be the #3, 4 or 5 hitter in the line up.

 

Hard to argue with that. Josh Gibson would be in the conversation if he ever had a chance at MLB ball but he didn't.

The Mick was really special until his wheels fell off. Willie and Mick in centerfield were like Johnny Bench and Carleton Fisk behind the plate. Two of the best ever at their positions playing at the same time.

 

I disagree on Josh Gibson. Yes, a great player. But the question that can be debated but never solved was what would he do in MLB vs the best of that era. Would the pitching he faced been better? Likely. So, my adding him in, I think it was a woke move.

Now this has zero to do with politics or race. But Willie Mays at the age of 17 played in the Negro League. What did he do at age 17? In that league he hit .233 in 13 games. 17 Years old!!! Then Mays was in minors, AA and AAA, for 2 years at age 18 and 19, hitting .477 for a short stay then .274 in 116 games. In 1951 at age 20 Mays was in the Majors and hit .274. He got rocking at age 23 in 1954 hitting .345 with 40 HR and 110 RBI in 151 games. Would Josh Gibson be able to put up those numbers in his prime at age 23-27 in a 154 game schedule?

Josh Gibson played only 40-65 games per year. He did not experience the wear down of the 154 game season. So hitting .373 on average over 40-65 games per year is a far cry from hitting .300 over 150 games.

Just my opinion.

BTW- I think the greatest catcher of all time was Yogi Berra. Not Bench or Fisk or Dickey or Molina or anyone else.

 

Mays lost time to war, just as Williams did. Ruth dominated his era unlike anyone else. Mays was in my opinion the GOAT. Mantle was right behind and Williams was the best hitter. Of course thats just my opinion. I have to rate Bench as best catcher, clemente is often overlooked but best RF i ever saw period. 3rd base i go with Schmitt. SS , im torn