Willie Mays
Willie Mays
Willie Howard Mays, Jr., nicknamed "The Say Hey Kid", is an American former Major League Baseballcenter fielder who spent almost all of his 22 season career playing for the New York and San Francisco Giants, before finishing with the New York Mets. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979, his first year of eligibility...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBaseball Player
Date of Birth6 May 1931
CountryUnited States of America
closer eyes seen tearing
It was all I could do to not scream. If they were closer they may have seen my eyes tearing up. Man, that hurt.
badly baseball best best-friends came coach drafted friend gave mays meet pro willie
I wanted badly to play and coach (Mike) Goldschmidt gave me that opportunity. My best friend came up here and told me about the program. I want to be drafted after this season. Ultimately, I want to play pro baseball and meet Willie Mays in person.
decided game innings knew played playing setting until worried
We knew we had to keep playing until the game was decided one way or the other. We played 10, 15 innings sometimes. The All-Star Game was important to us. We weren't worried about setting records. We were worried about winning.
american-athlete black father money particular picked time
And my father didn't have money for me to go to college. And at that particular time they didn't have black quarterbacks, and I don't think I could have made it in basketball, because I was only 5' 11". So I just picked baseball.
It's not hard. When I'm not hitting, I don't hit nobody. But when I'm hitting, I hit anybody.
american-athlete
I didn't say I was that smart, I said I went to class and I enjoyed what I was doing.
american-athlete catch course people regular
People talk about that catch and, I've said this many times, that I've made better catches than that many times in regular season. But of course in my time, you didn't have a lot of television during the regular season. A lot of people didn't see me do a lot of things.
jackie majors name robinson
Robinson was important to all blacks. To make it into the majors and to take all the name calling, he had to be something special. He had to take all this for years, not just for Jackie Robinson, but for the nation.
leave mickey
You can't leave Mickey (Mantle) off. Mickey would have to be in there.
american-athlete athletes far game happening
I think that all athletes should practice. They should practice, because you want to know what's happening as far as - when the game is concerned.
came couple guys help regardless
I will go to a couple of guys if I feel they want help, but I don't like to go to guys when I feel I'm going to be rejected. Any ballplayer, if he ever came up to me and wanted me to help him, I would be there regardless of who he may be.
baseball believe best goes honestly player
Hopefully, they can say, "There goes the best baseball player in the world." I honestly believe I did everything in baseball that a baseball player can do, and I did it with love.
enjoy gives living minute name pressure standards
My name gives me a little more publicity, but there is some pressure living up to the standards of a legend. I just tell myself to play my game, be myself and enjoy every minute of it.
ballgame baseball bed came cry explain home knew last lay leave love loved remember season tears
I remember that last season I played. I went home after a ballgame one day, lay down on my bed, and tears came to my eyes. How can you explain that? You cry because you love her. I cried, I guess, because I loved baseball and I knew I had to leave it.