RIP - Willie Mays

 

Willie Mays passed away today, June 18, 2024 at age 93. 

 

I just learned about this 10 minutes ago, and am crying as I type this. (Haven't done that since the Mick's passing.)

What is there to say about him that everyone doesn't already know? 

 

The photo above is a model I assembled back in the mid-1960s. I found it hidden in my basement about 10 years ago. 

 

My earlier post about this model:  

https://mlb1960s.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-catch.html 

 

Associated Press obituary

 

ESPN obituary 

  

Seasoned Veterans

 

Here are the 9 oldest living players who saw action after the 1965 season. They are all over age 90, with Elroy Face leading the pack at 95. 

 

Many of them retired after the 1966 or 1967 season, but Willie Mays played through the 1973 season (including the World Series).

How old are these guys? 

- Willie Mays played in the Negro Leagues in 1948. 

- Ray Herbert and Vern Law made their MLB debut in 1950. 

- Al Worthington and Willie Mays played for the New York Giants. 

- Dick Groat played NBA basketball with the Fort Wayne Pistons in 1952. 

 

Willie Mays is 90 today!

 

Wow! Where has the time gone? Willie Mays is celebrating his 90th birthday today.

Here is a model I made back in the early-1960s. You can read about it here.

 

Stars of the 1960s: Willie Mays

Here's the 2nd post in a new series on this blog - "Stars of the 1960s". Unlike the first post (Johnny Callison), going forward these posts will only feature cards from 1966-1969. (I don't have any superstars from the 1965 set, and have very few non-Phillies' cards prior to 1965.)

Today I went through my card binders and identified 18 players for this series. Surprisingly, for EIGHT of those stars Topps re-used a photo in that 4-year span. Wow! I can see not taking the time to snap a new photo of Bob Barton every year, but Willie Mays? Carl Yastrzemski? Ernie Banks? Hank Aaron? Juan Marichal? Al Kaline? (Yeah, why waste time chasing after THOSE guys!)

Here's Willie on the downside of a great career. Like Steve Carlton and some others, Willie hung on too long. I remember watching him in his last season with the Mets, where he would sometimes flip the ball to the right fielder to make the throw back to the infield.

Besides re-using the '66 photo in 1969, the photo on his 1968 card was also used in the 1965 set.

"The Catch"

I haven't been blogging recently because my free time has been wrapped up in a family music project, which ends up with me burning a ton of CDs.

Today, as I was rooting around the house looking for an empty shoebox to carry said CDs, I found this in my basement:

I made this model back in the mid-1960s (I think it may have been a birthday gift from my parents). I haven't seen it for years, but I did refer to it back in March 2010 in this blog post. (Willie has become unglued, and needs help from a rubberband to pose for this photo op.)

 SAY HEY!
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1967 Scrapbook - Mantle, Ford, Mays

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Today I'm starting a new series called "1967 Scrapbook". A few months ago, I found a baseball scrapbook I had made in 1967, containing photos that I clipped from the Philadelphia sports pages that summer. Most of the photos are from the previous night's Phillies game, with the exception of the two photos in this first installment.


WHITEY FORD'S RETIREMENT - May 31



WILLIE MAYS - July 1



The back of the Willie Mays photo may be more interesting than the front. Here, not only do we see Mets' rookie pitcher Tom Seaver helping his wife with the grocery shopping, but on the far left, there's a picture of Phillies' farmhand Lowell Palmer, for once photographed without his trademark sunglasses.

ALERT: Willie Mays on TV tonight

Willie Mays will be interviewed by Bob Costas on the MLB network TONIGHT at 8 pm, 11 pm, and 2 am eastern time.


Update:

What a great interview this was. 2 hours of Willie Mays in the studio, and with an audience along the walls (which I don't remember seeing during other interviews).

Besides clips of Willie from 1951 to 1973, there were taped comments from Buck O'Neill, Joe Torre, and Juan Marichal (also briefly from Don Zimmer, Willie McCovey, Bob Gibson, and Joe Black).

Don't miss the funny stories involving Bob Gibson, Gaylord Perry, Ken Boyer, Joe Torre, Mickey Mantle, and Donna Reed (yes, Donna Reed)!


Two very touching moments (both in the last 15 minutes):

1. Willie showing emotion while reminiscing about the late Bobby Bonds (during a discussion of Barry Bonds)

2. Bob Costas' closing comments to Mays.


Don't miss this show!

Last active players from relocated teams

While poking around the internet, I found the following players to be the last active player from these teams:

Boston Braves (1952) - Eddie Mathews (1968 Tigers)

St. Louis Browns (1953) - Don Larsen (1967 Cubs)

Philadelphia A's (1954) - Vic Power (1965 Angels)

Brooklyn Dodgers (1957) - Bob Aspromonte (1971 Mets)

New York Giants (1957) - Willie Mays (1973 Mets)

Washington Senators (1960) - Jim Kaat (1983 Cardinals)

(Jim Kaat outlasted Harmon Killebrew (who was my guess) by 8 years!)
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