R.I.P. The Say Hey Kid

[lbpesq]

Arguably the greatest ever, Willie Mays passed at 93.   I got to see him play in person for the Mets at the end of his career.

May the Four Winds Blow You Safely Home

Bill, tgo

[hammer]

One of the last greats of that era to meet the head umpire. Saw him as a Met at Shea stadium very much toward the end of his career. Must have been in the early 70s. Up close I was surprised to see he was a relatively small guy who would be looked at as small shortstop or 2nd baseman today. But he hit 660 HRs long before a home run was a product of steroids.

[cozmik_cowboy]

One of the last greats of that era to meet the head umpire. Saw him as a Met at Shea stadium very much toward the end of his career. Must have been in the early 70s. Up close I was surprised to see he was a relatively small guy who would be looked at as small shortstop or 2nd baseman today. But he hit 660 HRs long before a home run was a product of steroids.

Meaning no disrespect to the amazing Mr. Mays with a brief hijack, but:  I don't think the home run explosion is due to the steroids; after all, the pitchers are taking them, too.
I think it's because there are 32 teams now; half the pitchers Mark McGuire, Barry Bonds, Sammy Soso, et al, have faced wouldn't have been good enough for the bigs with 16 teams.


Peter

Peter

[Greywolf]

Growing up in Palo Alto in the mid 50's on and playing centerfield at school Willie was always my hero

RIP to the greatest!

[garyhead]

I have a memory from a 1971 family vacation. We were at Candlestick Park in the centerfield bleachers. You couldn’t really see home plate but we saw Willie’s butt!  Apparently, Dad and my older brother wanted to see him up close.  It was a HOT boring afternoon ….. but we saw the Say Hey Kid!

[hammer]

Speaking of Candlestick Park, I attended a game in the mid 90s (give or take 5 years) in July and sat wrapped in a blanket freezing the entire game. I was drinking coffee and hot chocolate while the natives were swigging cold beer.  Although I didnt know it when I purchased lower deck seats on the 3rd base side of the field, we were buying obstructed view seats. We could see the infield quite clearly but were barely able to make out the outfielders because of the fog that rolled in around the 3rd inning.  I have no idea as to how the outfielders we able to pick up the ball as it left the bat that evening.