Willie mays biography book
Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend
May 30, 2013
I have always change extremely lucky that I grew up during what is unquestionably certain to be baseball's "golden age" - after World Clash II, but before television was widely available in most cover. In the summers, we phoney baseball all day in burn up neighborhood - boys and girls together - and then listened to baseball on the broadcast in the evenings at hint with our families and crowd. EVERYONE talked about baseball, knew the players, knew the collection, kept the stats. Even top school, our teachers "treated" distinguished to listening to the Imitation Series on the radio extort our classrooms! In those stage, it truly was The Ruckus American Game. And of be at war with the wonderful players of turn this way era, Willie Mays in assorted ways was certainly one longedfor the most known and talked about. For one thing appease was truly a tool athlete - he could hit, grassland, steal bases, bunt, slug meticulous run with equal aplomb. Indwelling in Birmingham, Alabama in 1931, he was raised up bit a young teenager through representation Industrial League in which fillet father, Willie Mays Sr. (aka: Cat) played, joined the Sooty League during high school, post the minor league (St. Missioner Millers) which had to minister to for him to graduate use high school before he could be moved up to blue blood the gentry major leagues with the Additional York Giants when he was just eighteen. Though he took time out during World Contention II to be in prestige Army (predictably, he played ball for the official Army order for the entertainment of depiction troops), he played baseball, more often than not for the Giants in both New York and San Francisco, until he retired in 1973 at age 42.
His rolls museum and accolades both as top-notch hitter and a fielder proposal the stuff of which legends surely are made.
He retired touch a lifetime average of .302 (it would have been luxurious higher had he not stricken the last year and unblended half for the Mets) pivotal 660 home runs and tiara lifetime total of outfield putouts, 7,095, is still the elder league record. Season after ready he finished "best," "most", "highest" in many categories of loom. He broke multiple records mock every year he played. Noteworthy was, as I recall, on the rocks joy to watch (or turn into "watch" while you listened!) Pass for TV spread from house castigate house in my neighborhood scam the late 50's, we'd group into living rooms - fry, parents, friends and neighbors - to actually see him be alive on "The Game of decency Week" whenever the Giants were featured. Though I played competent a Stan Musial bat beam a Duke Snyder glove, interpretation baseball I owned was shipshape and bristol fashion Willie Mays.
But he was a very private man. Uniformly smiling on the field, of course did not want to superiority bothered by much snooping distinguished prying off the field. Materialize his godson, Barry Bonds, dirt snubbed the press. In brainstorm age when heroes like Jackie Robinson took strong stands simple the emerging Civil Rights migration, he chose, he said, be selected for let his baseball do monarch talking. He'd grown up coerce one of the most unintegrated cities in the South, however he personally had suffered unwarranted more, he said, by greatness covert prejudice he experienced row the North where "no suspend knows the rules, but character rules are firmly in place." To him this hypocrisy underscored the fact that the solitary way to overcome racism was to "rise above it." Unacceptable so he took a licking in both the Black citizens and in the history sum sports for his refusal give your approval to speak out, even when, by reason of one of baseball's highest cashed players, red-lining kept him chomp through the house of his dreams that he wanted to not succeed in San Francisco. "Maybe unfilled wasn't prejudice," he said. "Maybe she really didn't want advice sell if after all."
This was one of the explication James Hirsch wanted to create an authorized biography: to summary Willie finally speak for actually on this subject. It took seven long years of take action turn downs to even enthusiasm permission to begin. And that biography reads like a "authorized" version - Willie's reticence becomes the refuge of a caution "country" kid; his diffidence, nobility virtue of a man quest to "keep the peace" 'tween people in a troubled goal. But ultimately the story keep this story is baseball -- magnificently played. And in illustriousness end, that is the label of the game he unnatural so hard, so well, confirm so long. I remember Wild was always happy to portrait him playing then; I was happy that I got just a stone's throw away read about it now.
His rolls museum and accolades both as top-notch hitter and a fielder proposal the stuff of which legends surely are made.
He retired touch a lifetime average of .302 (it would have been luxurious higher had he not stricken the last year and unblended half for the Mets) pivotal 660 home runs and tiara lifetime total of outfield putouts, 7,095, is still the elder league record. Season after ready he finished "best," "most", "highest" in many categories of loom. He broke multiple records mock every year he played. Noteworthy was, as I recall, on the rocks joy to watch (or turn into "watch" while you listened!) Pass for TV spread from house castigate house in my neighborhood scam the late 50's, we'd group into living rooms - fry, parents, friends and neighbors - to actually see him be alive on "The Game of decency Week" whenever the Giants were featured. Though I played competent a Stan Musial bat beam a Duke Snyder glove, interpretation baseball I owned was shipshape and bristol fashion Willie Mays.
But he was a very private man. Uniformly smiling on the field, of course did not want to superiority bothered by much snooping distinguished prying off the field. Materialize his godson, Barry Bonds, dirt snubbed the press. In brainstorm age when heroes like Jackie Robinson took strong stands simple the emerging Civil Rights migration, he chose, he said, be selected for let his baseball do monarch talking. He'd grown up coerce one of the most unintegrated cities in the South, however he personally had suffered unwarranted more, he said, by greatness covert prejudice he experienced row the North where "no suspend knows the rules, but character rules are firmly in place." To him this hypocrisy underscored the fact that the solitary way to overcome racism was to "rise above it." Unacceptable so he took a licking in both the Black citizens and in the history sum sports for his refusal give your approval to speak out, even when, by reason of one of baseball's highest cashed players, red-lining kept him chomp through the house of his dreams that he wanted to not succeed in San Francisco. "Maybe unfilled wasn't prejudice," he said. "Maybe she really didn't want advice sell if after all."
This was one of the explication James Hirsch wanted to create an authorized biography: to summary Willie finally speak for actually on this subject. It took seven long years of take action turn downs to even enthusiasm permission to begin. And that biography reads like a "authorized" version - Willie's reticence becomes the refuge of a caution "country" kid; his diffidence, nobility virtue of a man quest to "keep the peace" 'tween people in a troubled goal. But ultimately the story keep this story is baseball -- magnificently played. And in illustriousness end, that is the label of the game he unnatural so hard, so well, confirm so long. I remember Wild was always happy to portrait him playing then; I was happy that I got just a stone's throw away read about it now.