Shown celebrating his 41st birthday in 1972, the great Willie Mays turns 90 years old today!
The beauty of sports is that even though his birth
certificate tells us that Willie Mays turns 90 years old today, our minds can
still remember the “Say Hey Kid” as the young superstar with a smile and
personality that could light up New York and who possessed enough talent to
fill up a baseball stadium.
You can argue about who was the greatest baseball player of
all-time, but there is little doubt that Mays is on the short list for any
discussion.
Mays was the rare player who could win games with his bat,
glove and legs.
After earning Rookie of the Year honors in 1951, Mays missed
most of the 1952 season and all of the 1953 season while serving in the
military.
When he returned in 1954, Mays began a streak of 19 straight
years earning an All-Star spot as he won the first of his two National League
MVP Awards.
During his career, Mays led the league in runs, hits,
triples, home runs, stolen bases, batting average, on base percentage and
slugging percentage. He was the first player
in baseball history to steal 30 bases and hit 30 home runs in the same season.
After becoming an American tradition following its inception in 1933, the Major League Baseball All-Star Game evolved into the “Midsummer Classic” through some memorable moments in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
Pete Rose took out Ray Fosse to help the National League win the 1970 All-Star Game.
The exhibition eventually moved beyond being just a game to include a home run contest and many other activities that gave fans the opportunity to see their heroes in a completely different atmosphere than ever before.
From the very beginning, the All-Star Game was a highly competitive contest that even though technically an exhibition, lacked little in desire by the great players to win the game and claim bragging rights over the other league.
The game began to lose a little of the competitive edge following the inception of free agency in the 1970s. More players were switching from league to league and by the 1980s it started to be more important to give as many players as possible a chance to play, rather than keep your best players out there for the entire contest.
Of course, that strategy culminated with the 2002 game, which had to be called with the game tied in the 12th inning because both teams had run out of players. We will look more in-depth at that game in part three of this series.
In this second installment of the three part series, we will relive some of the legendary moments and games in All-Star history between 1960 and 1989. You can also catch the first installment with memories from 1933-1959.
July 13, 1960 (Yankee Stadium, New York City) Between 1959 and 1962, two All-Star Games were played each year to provide the opportunity for fans in different cities to see the players up close and personal.
The second All-Star Game of the 1960 season provided a homecoming for Willie Mays, who had not been back to New York City since the Giants moved to San Francisco following the 1957 season.
He didn’t disappoint as Mays led off the game with a single and then hit a home run in the third inning.
Also of note in the game was that it marked the 18th and final All-Star appearance for Ted Williams.
July 31, 1961 (Fenway Park, Boston) The second meeting between the All-Stars in 1961 marked the first time that the game ended in a tie as the game was knotted at 1-1 when rain prevented the game from continuing after nine innings.
The American League scored first on a home run by Rocky Colavito in the first inning. The National League didn’t score until the sixth inning when Eddie Mathews scored on a hit by Bill White.
The beauty of sports is that even though his birth certificate tells us that Willie Mays turns 80 years old today, our minds can still remember the “Say Hey Kid” as the young superstar with a smile and personality that could light up New York and who possessed enough talent to fill up a baseball stadium.
You can argue about who was the greatest baseball player of all-time, but there is little doubt that Mays is on the short list for any discussion.
Mays was the rare player who could win games with his bat, glove and legs.
After earning Rookie of the Year honors in 1951, Mays missed most of the 1952 season and all of the 1953 season while serving in the military.
When he returned in 1954, Mays began a streak of 19 straight years earning an All-Star spot as he won the first of his two National League MVP Awards.
During his career, Mays led the league in runs, hits, triples, home runs, stolen bases, batting average, on base percentage and slugging percentage. He was the first player in baseball history to steal 30 bases and hit 30 home runs in the same season. Read the rest of this entry →
We recognize as the July Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month a player who is always on the short-list of greatest players in Major League Baseball history. Willie Mays is one of three players (along with Hank Aaron and Stan Musial) to earn 24 All-Star appearances.
After earning Rookie of the Year honors in 1951, Mays missed most of the 1952 season and all of the 1953 season while serving in the military.
When he returned in 1954, Mays began a streak of 19 straight years earning an All-Star spot as he won the first of his two National League MVP Awards.
Great All-Stars Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron
After becoming an American tradition following its inception in 1933, the Major League All-Star Game evolved into the “Midsummer Classic” through some memorable moments in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
The exhibition eventually moved beyond being just a game to include a home run contest and many other activities that gave fans the opportunity to see their heroes in a completely different atmosphere than ever before.
From the very beginning, the All-Star Game was a highly competitive contest that even though technically an exhibition, lacked little in desire by the great players to win the game and claim bragging rights over the other league.
The game began to lose a little of the competitive edge following the inception of free agency in the 1970s. More players were switching from league to league and by the 1980s it started to be more important to give as many players as possible a chance to play, rather than keep your best players out there for the entire contest.
Of course, that strategy culminated with the 2002 game, which had to be called with the game tied in the 12th inning because both teams had run out of players. We will look more in-depth at that game in part three of this series.
In this second installment of the three part series, we will relive some of the legendary moments and games in All-Star history between 1960 and 1989.
The Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month is a former major league baseball player who came into the game as a teenager and stayed until he was in his 40s. In between, Rusty Staub put up a solid career that was primarily spent on expansion or rebuilding teams.
Originally signed by the Colt .45s at age 17, he made his major league debut as a 19-year old rookie and became only the second player in the modern era to play in more than 150 games as a teenager.
Though he hit only .224 splitting time between first base and rightfield, Staub did start building a foundation that would turn him into an All-Star by 1967 when he finished fifth in the league with a .333 batting average.
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