Willie Mays A Baseball Legend

Mays, the former American professional baseball player was born William Howard Mays, Jr. on May 6, 1931 in Westfield Alabama. Willie played most of his major league career for the New York and San Francisco Giants. He was playing for the New York Mets when he ended his career.

He was signed to his first major league team in 1951 by the New York Giants and was also named the Rookie of the Year in 1951.

During the 22 seasons in MLB, Willie Mays received 2 Most Valuable Player awards and made 24 appearances in the All Star Game. I don't think there are many from the Majors who have been in that many All Star games in the history of baseball.

His #24 was retired by the Giants in honor of his accomplishments to the game and in 1979 Willie Mays was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Willie Mays Signed Photograph - Color Framed

Photo of Willie Mays, autographed by the Hall of Famer. A certificate of authenticity is included with your purchase.

Mickey Mantle & Willie Mays Autographed

Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays hand signed Sports Illustrated Cover. The autograph has been certified authentic by PSA/DNA. Purchase includes a certificate of authenticity.

I was only two years old when Willie Mays made that famous catch in the 1954 World Series against the Cleveland Indians, so obviously I don't remember the play. My Dad was probably listening to the game on the radio and my bet would be that he was rooting for the Cleveland team.

When I was a kid baseball was still the National Pastime and we did love to watch the games. My brothers and I spent a lot of time at my Grandmother's house during the summer and there weren't any little girls for me to play with so I played with the neighborhood boys. Grandma had a huge back yard and often times there was a baseball game in progress for most of the day. The Major League players were people us kids looked up to, heroes, if you will.

So when we chose our teams each day, we all would state which baseball player we were for that game. The guys always got to go first and until I proved to them that I could hit the ball with the best of 'em, I was usually the last one picked for a team. Geeze they had to play with a Girl! By the time I was picked the boys had chosen to be guys like Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Don Drysdale, and a multitude of others and I think I really surprised them when I said, "I'll be Willie Mays! Say Hey!" Eyes rolled and comments that were not nice were made. Even back then, I marched to a slightly different beat and defiantly looked at them and said, "Well, HE makes the All-Star Team every year! So shut your traps and let's play ball!"

I loved baseball back then! This was a time when the players didn't make millions a year and they didn't do steroids. These men played because they loved the game and we loved to watch them. Willie Mays proved his talent and his right to play baseball in the Major Leagues for 22 years. He paved the way for the players of today. He truly is a legend and a hero in my heart.

The picture to the right was created by Nancy Hellams (OhMe) when I wrote a baseball article about Roger Maris and the 1961 baseball season to help raise money for the Friends of the Park in her hometown.

You can find all sorts of baseball memorabilia at the Sports Wall

Willie Mays: A Baseball Legend was written by BevsPaper (Bev Owens) on January 2, 2011 with all rights reserved.