A Tribute to Willie Mays, the 'Say Hey Kid'

Episode Transcript

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Ericka Cruz Guevarra: I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra and welcome to the bay. Local news to keep you rooted. Willie Mays, who played 21 seasons with the San Francisco Giants and who’s seen by many as the greatest baseball player to ever do it, died on Tuesday at the age of 93.

Ericka Cruz Guevarra: Fans have been stopping by Willie Mays Plaza at Oracle Park, where his statue stands. Paying tribute not only to baseball’s best, but the Bay Area’s best.

Fan 1: One of the cool things about baseball is the history of it. And, you know, you respect the people who did it before, and he was one of the best in history.

Fan 2: I think. Forever in baseball. It will always be said that he probably loved the game harder and played it better than any one of those in those two categories. Nobody was the tops and he was the tops of both.

Fan 3: I’ve been following the Giants since 1971. I saw Willie Mays for the first time, a candlestick park against the Philadelphia Phillies. My mom took me to a game and after that I was hooked.

Fan 4: I think it’s a sad day for the city, but it’s awesome to see people coming together like this.

Fan 5: Knowing what he meant to baseball, to black folks, to the Negro League, to major leagues, which is important, to come out and pay my respects to him and all that he’s done.

Fan 6: Besides my father, he was my hero. And it takes me back to being a little kid and Candlestick Park and and being young and having San Francisco represented by the best.

Ericka Cruz Guevarra: Today, my KQED colleague, Brian Watt what brings us this tribute to Willie Mays. The “say hey, kid.”

Brian Watt: The magic of Willie Mays can be summed up in one play in Game one of the 1954 World Series. Mays was playing for the New York Giants, who were taking on the Cleveland Indians. Mays in center field chased a fly ball and caught it over his shoulder. His back to the fast moving ball.

Brian Watt: This became known as the catch.

Willie Mays When the ball went up. I knew exactly what to do before the ball ever came down.

Brian Watt: Mays remembered the play in a 2010 interview on NPR’s All Things Considered.

Willie Mays I got to catch the ball. I got to stop. I got to make a 360. By the time I’d make the 36 it, the ball should be back into the infield. And a lot of people said, well, he had it all away. Well, I might have had the ball all the way. But the key to me was a throw. Getting it back into the infield so nobody could advance.

Brian Watt: And he did exactly all of that. The underdog giants won the game and went on to sweep Cleveland in the series.

Brian Watt: Willie Howard Mays Jr was born in 1931 in Westfield, Alabama, and played for the Birmingham Black Barons in the old Negro Leagues. Those games were highly competitive, but also meant to entertain, says James Hirsch. He wrote the biography Willie Mays, The Life, The Legend.

James Hirsch: It wasn’t just that he ran fast or hit with power, but the use of the basket catch the hat flying off his head the way his. He would swivel his hand on his neck to crack the ball. He did it with a certain flair and charisma that he knew was irresistible to watch.

Brian Watt: In 1951, four years after Jackie Robinson broke the Major leagues color barrier, Mays joined the New York Giants. He was just 20 years old and brought up by the Giants famous manager, Leo Durocher. You hear Durocher talk about Mays abilities in the 2023 HBO documentary Say, Hey, Willie Mays.

Leo Durocher: There is no question in my mind, but what he can do with the five essential things better than any other player today. And that hit with power right fielder.

Brian Watt: When the Giants and Dodgers moved from New York to California in 1958, Mays was a face of Major League Baseball’s westward expansion. The fact that his face was black made it a tough transition for Mays when he tried to buy a home in a white part of San Francisco. The neighbors pushed back. Mays eventually got the house and spoke plainly about the process in an interview on Kpix.

Willie Mays: Yes, it was a disappointment to me because I didn’t figure that I would have this much trouble trying to buy a place. That’s why when I go looking for a house, I don’t worry about who are living besides me. I go and try to find the best place that I like, like. And I think I’ll be confident.

Brian Watt: Willie Mays was not comfortable with confronting racism forthrightly and loudly. This was a contrast with Jackie Robinson, who criticized Mays for not using his platform when the civil rights movement was in full swing. Hirsch wrote about this in his biography.

James Hirsch: Robertson called them a, quote, do nothing Negro but import my will. He believed that in his own way, he did advance the civil rights movement as a role model for the rest of America.

Brian Watt: Mays pushed back quietly at the time, but talked about it decades later in the interview on NPR.

Willie Mays: I know Jackie had a hard time when he came in. I applaud him. I don’t know if I could have done the things that he did when he came in. But, you know, what am I going to change? I can’t change the world. I can live the way I live and hope that I can help people of all races all the time.

Brian Watt: In 1962, the San Francisco Giants made their first playoffs, beat the Dodgers in the National League championship and lost to the Yankees in seven games in the World Series. Mays played 21 seasons with the Giants. In his career, Mays hit 660 home runs, stole 338 bases, and his biographer, James Hirsch, says the most important statistic might be that Mays put out more than 7000 opposing players from center field.

James Hirsch: It underscores is durability. Willie played 20, 40 years. He rarely took a day off, not until his last couple of years when he was 40, 41, 42, when he began to be nagged by injuries.

Brian Watt: Mays is also remembered for making peace in the clubhouse, keeping the focus on the baseball and making everyone feel welcome.

Nate Oliver: You remember that baseball team? He’s going to take care of you.

Brian Watt: Nate Oliver played with Willie Mays on the San Francisco Giants in 1968.

Nate Oliver: He treated every single person in that clubhouse with dignity and respect. Because if you here, you belong here.

Brian Watt: Mays was also known for taking young players under his wing, including the outfielder Bobby Bonds, who made Mays the godfather of his son, Barry Bonds.

Renel Brooks-Moon: Nothing gives him more pleasure than, you know, kind of teaching the game. And nothing gives him more pleasure than helping children.

Brian Watt: That’s Renel Brooks-Moon, the San Francisco Giants former public address announcer. Brooks-Moon appeared with Mays at several charity launches. She says he was always generous with his time. Presence and name. On his 90th birthday in 2021. The Giants Community Fund launched a scholarship program for black students in his name.

Renel Brooks-Moon: He’s always said that. People took such good care of him when he was young and coming up in baseball that he wants to give it back.

Brian Watt: That’s the legacy Mays left. He was one of baseball’s greats who played the game and tried to live his life with joy.

Ericka Cruz Guevarra: That was Brian Watt, host of KQED’s Morning Edition. You can hear him on the radio weekdays on 88.5 FM. Willie Mays son Michael said in a statement, quote, I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for the unwavering love you have shown him over the years.

Ericka Cruz Guevarra: This episode was edited by Alexander Gonzalez and senior editor Alan Montecillo. It was scored by our intern, Ellie Prickett-Morgan. The tape of fans at the top of this episode was gathered by KQED Juan Carlos Lara.

Ericka Cruz Guevarra: We got additional help this week from Adhiti Bandlamudi. The Bay is made by me and Alan Montecillo, Ellie Prickett Morgan, with support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Holly Kernan.

Ericka Cruz Guevarra: We’re a KQED production. I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Thank you so much for listening. Have a great weekend.