Willie Howard Mays Jr. was born on May 6, 1931 to “Cat” Mays and Annie Satterwhite and grew up in the mill towns outside Birmingham Alabama,  today marks the 8oth birthday of my boyhood idol who will always be the greatest all-around baseball player in my book. With 3,283 hits,660 home runs,and 338 stolen bases  to go along with his passion for the game and flair for the dramatic leave Mays’ legacy rests in a special place in the Baseball history  books along with guys like Ruth, Gehrig, Ty Cobb and Ted Williams as iconic figures from a different time in America.

But despite his awesome offensive numbers, Mays will probably always be remembered most for ” the Catch” in the 1954 Word Series vs. the favored Cleveland Indians. Check out the You tube video of Mays running full speed into the depths of the old Polo Grounds in New York catching the ball over his shoulder, planting his foot, and finally throwing a strike to the infield to prevent a run from scoring,  it still seems surreal every time I watch the clip above.

Mays grew up in the Deep South and never wanted to work in the factories where men like his Dad worked and thanks to the gifts of speed, agility, timing and gut instincts, Mays made it from his humble background on to the big stage of New York City in 1951, a city that Mays would start out with the NY Giants, and end his career  with the NY Mets in 1973.

Willie who got his big hands from his mother and  started playing ball young  thanks to the help of his father Cat who according to boyhood friend Herman Boykin “Cat was an indocrinator. On a daily basis, he kept saying to Willie, You can do this! He wanted Willie tto be self-sustaining so he wouldn’t have to work in the Mills”. By the time Willie was 10 he was allowed to sit on the bench with his Dad who played in what was then called the ” Industrial League” Mays was then first exposed to grown men playing the game for keeps and with the flair and bravado that was indicative of Black men of the era both in the Industrial Leagues as well as in the Negro leagues where Mays played later on.

I recall as a young boy going to Giants games at Candlestick Park in the 60′s after my family moved there from Seattle for a period of time. I was in my formative years at the time and was playing as much baseball as I could while following the Giants in those agonizing years as they always seemed to come up a little short of winning the NL Pennant year after year. But there was always Willie Mays… I can still remember the electricity that would spread through the stands when Mays came to the plate fidgeting and waving his bat around. The closest thing I can compare it to is what the old Kingdome felt like when Ken Griffey Jr. came to the plate when he was in his prime.

Willie Mays lived a charmed existence on the field but the “Say Hey” kid had other disappointments in his personal life. His first marriage ended badly with a painful public divorce and Mays seemed to always have financial problems, partially due to bad financial advice and partially due to his desire to live the good life with fancy cars and sharp clothes. He also was accused by some other blacks of sort of being an “Uncle Tom” and not being out in front in the civil rights movement more in the turbulent 60′s. Mays preferred a more low-key approach to matters and on September 27 1966 as riots were flaring in nearby Hunters Point , Mays went on the radio to announce the Giants game in Atlanta was going to be on the air that night and due to his moral authority in the Black community the riots were squelched according to the chief of police Tom Cahill.

Willie Mays enjoyed his privacy and remained an enigma for most of his life as well as a hero and icon for young boys like me who learned thanks to Willie and my West Coast parents to look past the color of a mans skin , especially if he played like Willie Mays. I will always be grateful for that era in my life when the most important lessons like sportsmanship, hustle, and grit were instilled in me thanks to my folks and the bigger than life Willie Mays. Mays got to star in the 1954 World Series which the NY Giants won, but once the Giants moved to San Francisco  he never got to experience that thrill again though they came close in 1962 when the Yankees beat the Giants in 7 games.So I am happy that Willie got a chance to watch his old club win it all last year. I know the Giants will be holding a special ceremony for him today in honor of his 8oth birthday, and I hope some of you out in Mariners Nation will tip your hat today to Willie Mays the greatest all-around Baseball player in history. Go M’s! http://jeffsmariners.com