James S. Hirsch - Willie Mays: The Life, the Legend

PRAISE FOR

BY JAMES S. HIRSCH

[James] Hirsch has given us a book as valuable for the young as it is for the old. The young should know that there was once a time when Willie Mays lived among the people who came to the ballpark.

Pete Hamill, The New York Times Book Review

Does a better job than any book before of getting at what it means to be Willie Mays.

Sports Illustrated

James Hirsch has written an enormously entertaining and wide-ranging biographya fitting tribute to Mays... and a thoughtful account of the complex and often misunderstood man.... True baseball fans will delight in the authors edge-of-seat game reports and picture-perfect descriptions of Mayss superlative talents.... This is a superb baseball book, but its also a riveting narrative of Mayss life and times.

The Seattle Times

A terrific new biography... [an] always engaging and enlightening book... A wonderful introduction to the magical life of one of the finest athletes ever.

San Francisco Chronicle

James S. Hirsch compellingly recounts Mayss career... giving even Mayss iconic moments, such as the Catch in the 1954 World Series, a sense of tension as if they were unfolding anew.... Great baseball reading, by an accomplished writer... about a wondrous ballplayer and man with gifts beyond the diamond.

Associated Press

The book, documenting Mayss rise from the Negro Leagues star to major league icon, also serves as a history lesson.

USA Today

Tautly written... Mr. Hirsch captures Willies greatness on the field.

The Wall Street Journal

A strong book that is as much a history of American race relations as it is a sports story.

Houston Chronicle

It took Hirsch seven years to convince Mays to cooperate with his book. And the story of it is worth the wait.

New York Post

Remarkable... A complete biography of a man who is far more complex than the Say Hey Kid the New York writers portrayed. I recommend it highly.

The San Francisco Examiner

Willie Mays had everythingexcept a first-rate biography. That omission has now been addressed by James S. Hirsch, who has produced a piece of artistry worthy of Mays in center field.

Bloomberg News

Hirsch has produced a masterful biography that has the same freshness and excitement that Mays generated as a player. All the highlights are there in shining, solid detail. Its a must-read for any baseball fan.

Tampa Bay Online

James S. Hirsch presents a complex portrait of the Say Hey Kid who made the Catchperhaps baseballs most spectacular, lasting moment.

San Antonio Express-News

Hirschs biography deserves a place alongside the work by top chroniclers Roger Angell, Bill James, Roger Kahn, and Robert Creamer. Highly recommended for all baseball fans.

Library Journal

Willie Mays is one of the most captivating figures in baseball history. Play after play, year after year, he thrilled us with his unmatched combination of speed and power, skill and daring. Hirsch tells us Willies compelling story, from his humblest of upbringings in Alabama to his rise, in the face of immense prejudice, to become one of Major League Baseballs early African American players to his becoming an enduring American icon as the Say Hey Kid. I love Willie Mays because he played his game and lives his life with more than talenthe has the mind and heart of a champion.

President Bill Clinton

Its really a pleasure to read the true facts about the life and career of the greatest center fielder of all time.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

You can make a strong case for Willie Mays as the most complete player in baseball history. And now, at long last, here is the complete and definitive biography of the Say Hey Kid.

Bob Costas, broadcaster, NBC Sports and
Major League Baseball Network

ALSO BY JAMES S. HIRSCH

Hurricane:
The Miraculous Journey of Rubin Carter

Riot and Remembrance:
The Tulsa Race War and Its Legacy

Two Souls Indivisible:
The Friendship That Saved Two POWs in Vietnam

Cheating Destiny:
Living with Diabetes

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Copyright 2010 by James S. Hirsch

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First Scribner paperback edition March 2011

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Manufactured in the United States of America

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

Library of Congress Control Number: 2009049214

ISBN 978-1-4165-4790-7
ISBN 978-1-4165-4791-4 (pbk)
ISBN 978-1-4391-7165-3 (ebook)

To the memory of Cat Mays,
who gave his son his greatest gifts,
and to Mae Allen Mays,
whose grace and beauty
touched the soul of a legend.

WILLIE MAYS

O n May 24, 1951, a young center fielder who had dazzled crowds in the minor leagues left Sioux City, Iowa, traveling light: a change of clothes and some toiletries, his glove, his spikes, and his two favorite thirty-four-ounce Adirondack bats. The twenty-year-old Alabaman was driven to the airport in Omaha, Nebraska, where he bought a ticket from United Airlines for an all-night journey, landing in New York early the following day. He had been there once before, three years earlier, to play in the Polo Grounds with the Birmingham Black Barons. On that team the veterans had protected him, instructing the youngster on how to dress, act, and play ball; on how to represent his team, his city, and his race. But now, on a sunny morning at La Guardia Airport, Willie Mays slid into the back seat of a taxi and pressed his face against the window, alone. He had never seen so many people walk so fast in his life.

Mays was driven to the midtown offices of his employer, the New York Giants, and promptly escorted inside. At 5-foot-11 and 160 pounds, he did not yet have the sculpted body that would later evoke comparisons to Michelangelos finest work. He was taut and fluid, but not physically imposing. Only his rippling forearms and massive hands, each one large enough to grip four baseballs, hinted at his crushing strength.

Mays entered the office of Horace C. Stoneham, the Giants shy but personable owner, who was rarely seen in the clubhouse or interviewed by reporters. He had thinning hair, a ruddy complexion, and thick-framed glasses, and while his counterpart at the Brooklyn DodgersWalter OMalleyhad the aura of a corporate chieftain, Stoneham more closely resembled a rumpled bank manager who preferred the intimacy of his office to the bustle of the lobby. Alcohol was his most notorious vice, but undue loyalty wasnt far behind. He liked to hire family members and fellow Irishmen and hated to trade or cut Giants who had lost their usefulness. But give him his due: he cared deeply about his players, about their finances, their family, and their well-being, and he would help them as he would his own children.