Willie Mays R.I.P.

Willie Mays: The Greatest Giant of All 

By David A. Avila

Growing up a Dodger fan in the 50s and 60s there was no name more dreaded than Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants.

Though feared and loathed as a Giant, all fans including those in Brooklyn and Los Angeles respected the centerfielder who made the spectacular look mundane with his “basket catch” style of grabbing flyballs on the run.

Mays was special.

Willie Mays passed away on Tuesday June 18 in San Francisco. He was 93 years old and considered by most as the greatest Giant ballplayer of all time.

Dodger fans lucky enough to watch him play remember the joyful way he played the game as he sauntered out to centerfield. Old number 24 was also the center of many a great New York Giant and San Francisco Giant team from 1951 to 1972.

I was lucky enough to watch Mays play dozens of games against the Dodgers and other teams in the National League. He had a peculiar wide stance running style and batting style. Though only 5’10 in height Mays could muscle a ball out of any ballpark including Candlestick Park or Dodger Stadium.

As a child, my family would gather once a weekend at my great grandmother’s house in East L.A. Imagine about 50 people crowded into a living room watching a very small black and white television set. Dodger baseball was a big thing at our house from 1959 onward.

On one particular Sunday afternoon, the Dodgers were battling it out against the Giants during a pennant race. It always seemed to boil down to the Dodgers and Giants every year. I was probably about eight years old when I got my introduction to a Dodger-Giant battle. There were two outs in the 9th inning when Vin Scully said “here comes Willie Mays to bat.”

My aunt Alvina let out a groan and said “not Willie Mays.”

I wondered aloud why she said that when suddenly Mays stroked a single into center field to tie the game. Soon, the Giants beat the Dodgers and everyone in our household was sad.

“I hate Willie Mays,” said my Aunt Alvina. “He always beats the Dodgers.”

Mays was a Dodger killer and the pivotal player on a team that has always been the Dodgers rival since the early 1900s. Yes, the Dodger-Giant rivalry goes back that far in history. And Mays was always the number one most feared player on those Giant teams for two decades.

Of course, the Dodgers weren’t the only team Mays picked on. Every team in the National League felt the wrath of Mays who hit 660 homers in his career and sported a .301 batting average. Twice he hit more than 50 homers in a season and was twice the NL Most Valuable Player.

Imagine watching the 1965 All Star Game and seeing an NL batting lineup that featured Mays, Frank Robinson, Henry Aaron and Ernie Banks. Mays came up to bat as the lead-off hitter and promptly hit a homer to begin the game. The NL won that All Star game 6-5 behind Juan Marichal and Sandy Koufax pitching.

Those were magical times.

Mays was indeed one of the greatest players of all time and definitely the greatest Giant of all. Dodger fans who saw him play can vouch for that.  

“Willie Mays was the best baseball player I ever saw. He could do anything,” said NL Hall of Fame umpire Doug Harvey.

Mays was inducted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame in 1979.