The say hey kid turns 81 today................

onebamafan

Love him or hate him, there is no denying his numbers .........one of the all-time greats.


Batting average

.302



Home runs

660



Hits

3,283



Runs batted in

1,903

ahkmedbinladen

Happy B-Day to the miserable donkey

hhmag70

Bad Henry compiled better stats with much more class, screw Willie.

Brick

I'm still mad at him for catching that long fly ball in 1954.

brianwintersfan

<< <i>Happy B-Day to the miserable donkey >>

Darin

Have a happy birthday Willie in 2013!

That takes care of greencrow ressurecting this thread next year.

CW

And although he was a great player, and had some cool cards,
his cards (for the most part) are fairly uninspiring. Of course,
part of that was because he looks pissed off or constipated (or
both) on 75% of his cards.

He did find himself on some cardboard beauties, though....

fiveniner

Hey you guys knock it off!! He is the best player that ever played.HE SAID SO.

70ToppsFanatic

Great ball player. Not so great human being.

I actually witnessed Mays signing OVER a Mantle Autograph in
an all-star game program from the 50s that the owner was trying
to get signed by all of the players who were in the game.

Mays could never accept being one of the best. He was always jealous
of the other New York greats of his era. I can't fault him 100%, as the racial
issues of those days were definitely against him. However, he just couldn't
seem to overcome them.

Willie let it get the better of him and he ended up a bitter man who was in the
outside of the game that he helped make successful. Too bad he couldn't have
been as classy as Hammering Hank. It would have been nice to have another
All Time Great like Mays as an ambassador of the game during the last few decades.

1960toppsguy

Interesting, never really heard all this negativity about the "Say Hey Kid"

Meatloaf

<< <i>And although he was a great player, and had some cool cards,
his cards (for the most part) are fairly uninspiring. Of course,
part of that was because he looks pissed off or constipated (or
both) on 75% of his cards.

He did find himself on some cardboard beauties, though....
>>



100% Agreed.

fiveniner

Even though Willie has the gruff reputation he definetly is an ALL TIME GREAT.He was exciting to watch although not many games were televised during his Era.

brianwintersfan

<< <i>Interesting, never really heard all this negativity about the "Say Hey Kid" >>



Really??

jmmiller777

Yes, he was quite the difficult person back in the 80's-90's at times. I've seen him at shows and he was quite the miserable jerk almost everytime. Now don't get on me for saying that, he just was, yet Mays/McCovey are my favorite all-time players. I grew up going to a lot of games during the Candlestick Park era. Most shows I have seen him at he wouldn't answer any questions or even look up at you when he was signing. Occasionally, he would grumble some inaudible. I think he is a bit more relaxed now. I guess old age does that to you. As a previous poster stated, those 50's-60's era years were rough on players of color. That's why I always liked Ernie Banks too. He took it all, clothes in different laundry piles, riding seperate buses, eating at different restaurants that allowed black players, etc. Mays will always be one of my favorite center fielders, happy birthday Willie...

1960toppsguy

I met Mays when I was the Director of Food & Beverage at a Sheraton Hotel, he was very polite and funny, I'll never forget I was carrying a tray of money for one of the points of sale and he jokingly acted like he was going to hold me up. He then proceeded to sign a couple autographs for me which I still have to this day, he could not have been more pleasant, I must have caught him on a good day.

lahmejoon

Happy B-day, Jueu Tur.

bobbybakeriv

<< <i>Great ball player. Not so great human being.

I actually witnessed Mays signing OVER a Mantle Autograph in
an all-star game program from the 50s that the owner was trying
to get signed by all of the players who were in the game. >>



Perfect summation, perfect example.