Willie Mays – Again

The Associated Press issued a wire photo to its subscribers on May 24, 1951 that serves to introduce today’s featured player. It shows a very young Willie Mays at a pivotal moment in his career. The slugging outfielder, who had been playing for the Minneapolis Millers, a top minor-league team, had just been called up to the major leagues to join the New York Giants. The picture shows Mays getting his ticket for a flight that evening to join the big club. Earlier that day the team announced that it was promoting the young player and that he would be starting in center field the following night when they played the Phillies at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. The Giants were clearly making the right move with the young Mr. Mays, who in 35 games that spring had punished minor-league pitching, hitting at a .477 clip. Willie Mays had nothing left to prove in the minor leagues, and he would never play another game at that level again. From here on, the sky was the limit.

 At this point our story will take a brief detour, but I promise we will return to Mr. Mays shortly. I have a friend I want to introduce. Ladies and Gentlemen, say hello to Irwin, a life-long Giants fan who I met in October 2011 when I was watching an Arizona Fall League game. As so often happens, two fellows sitting in the same row at a game started talking to each other, and from that conversation a friendship was formed. I’ll let Irwin tell the story from here.

 

“My Uncle Sol was a baseball fan,” Irwin recalled. “He lived in Manhattan and I used to take the subway. He’d meet me and then we’d get in his car, which was a big treat for me going in an automobile. My parents didn’t own a car. We would drive up to the Polo Grounds. We’d sit in left-center field in the sun deck there. He would take off his under shirt and he would relax in the sun. About the sixth or seventh inning he would get tired and bored and we would have to leave. I didn’t want to leave, but because he had a car we would listen to the rest of the game on the radio. Those were the years from 1946, 1947, 1948 and 1949. He died in 1949. Of course, once he made me a Giants fan, I remained a Giants fan.”

Here’s a picture of Irwin and his wife Alice that I took when we attended a baseball game together.  Now let’s continue with Irwin. “You could go to a ballgame at the Polo Grounds for $1.20, and a double header was the same price. The double headers were almost every Sunday and holidays. I remember I was sitting in a better seat the game that Willie Mays hit his first home run as a Giant. He had just been called up and (Leo) Durocher was the manager of the Giants. He had broken in with the Giants in Philadelphia in a three-game, weekend series. He didn’t get a hit. Durocher told him, don’t worry about it, you’re my center fielder.”

“He gets up against Warren Spahn and in his first at bat, he hit it clear out of the Polo Grounds. In those days I could see better, and I can still see that ball. He clobbered that ball out to left field. But the amazing thing about Willie Mays was that he was the greatest fielder you could ever imagine. By some magic he knew where the ball was going. I’ve watched a lot of outfielders, both Giants and opposition, and Mays had the knack of running to where the ball was by instinct. It wasn’t that he had such great hands or that he was that fast, which he was, but he knew where to go. Nobody could explain it. Just like he knew how to run the bases. He never got caught, tagged out, he always went from first to third if possible. Those were great years.”

Now at this point in our story I have to backtrack just a bit. On one of my more recent visits to Phoenix I went to Irwin’s house to see what his grown-up children call “the shrine.” This is an entire room devoted to Giants memorabilia, ticket stubs, yearbooks, newspaper clippings, books, bobble heads, pins and the like dating all the way back to 1946. I’ve seen it with my own eyes, John. It is truly amazing. While we were in the room I got out my digital voice recorder and started asking Irwin some questions about the Polo Grounds. I didn’t mention any of the team’s players, let alone Willie Mays, yet within two questions, without any prompting on my part, Irwin started talking about Mays. That, ladies and gentlemen, is the position Willie Mays holds in the Giants galaxy. A life-long fan Giants fan of sixty-six years, Irwin needed only two questions to get to Willie Mays.

I’m going to feature four Willie Mays cards. The first two are for Irwin, from Mays’ years in New York City. The next two are for John, in honor of Mays’ years in San Francisco. Gentlemen, enjoy. Irwin, John and Willie, this post is for you.

1951 Bowman # 305 – Willie was signed by the Giants after he graduated from High School in 1950.

1954 Topps # 90 – Willie rejoined the Giants this season after serving two years in the Army.

1960 Topps # 200 – Willie led the National League this year with 190 hits.

1969 Topps # 190 – Injuries undermined Willie’s performance this season, but he came back strong the following season.

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