Biography

Call 1.800.966.1380 to contact Willie Mays booking agent, publicist, manager, pr firm, representative and management company for booking Willie Mays speaker appearances, autograph signing, endorsement deals or hiring Willie Mays as a keynote speaker for your next event. Find Willie Mays official website information, speaker fees, booking fees, costs and schedule. Baseball legend, Willie Mays, was born Willie Howard Mays, Jr.on May 6, 1931 in Westfield, Alabama, outside of Birmingham. His professional baseball career began in 1947, when he played briefly with the Chattanooga Choo-Choos in Tennessee. Shortly thereafter, Mays returned to his home state and joined the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League.

Over the next several years, a number of Major League baseball franchises sent scouts to watch him play. The first was the Boston Braves. The scout that found him, Bud Maughn, referred him to the Braves but they declined. He then tipped a scout for the New York Giants.

Finally, in 1950 Willie Mays signed with the Giants and went to their Class-B affiliate in Trenton, New Jersey.. is a retired American baseball player who played the majority of his career with the New York and San Francisco Giants before finishing with the New York Mets. Nicknamed The Say Hey Kid, Mays was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979, his first year of eligibility. Many consider him to be the greatest all-around player of all-time.

It is not clear how Mays became known as "The Say Hey Kid". One story is that in 1951, Barney Kremenko, a New York Journal writer, having overheard Mays blurt " 'Say who,' 'Say what,' 'Say where,' 'Say hey,'" proceeded to refer to Mays as the 'Say Hey Kid'. The other story is that Jimmy Cannon created the nickname because, when Mays arrived in the majors, he did not know everyone's name. "You see a guy, you say, 'Hey, man. Say hey, man," Mays said. "Ted was the 'Splinter'. Joe was 'Joltin' Joe'. Stan was 'The Man'. I guess I hit a few home runs, and they said there goes the 'The Say Hey Kid.'"

While known as "The Say Hey Kid" to the public, Mays's nickname to friends, close acquaintances and teammates is "Buck."

Willie Mays won two MVP awards and tied a record with twenty-four appearances in the All-Star Game. He ended his career with 660 career home runs, third at the time of his retirement, and currently fourth all-time. Other career milestones include: in 1999, Mays placed second on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, making him the highest-ranking living player. Later that year, he was also elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. Mays is the only Major League player to have hit a home run in every inning from the 1st through the 16th. He finished his career with a record 22 extra-inning home runs. Mays is one of four NL players to have eight consecutive 100-RBI seasons, along with Mel Ott, Sammy Sosa and Albert Pujols.

Mays' first Major League manager, Leo Durocher, said of Mays: "He could do the five things you have to do to be a superstar: hit, hit with power, run, throw, and field. And he had that other ingredient that turns a superstar into a super superstar. He lit up the room when he came in. He was a joy to be around."

Upon his Hall of Fame induction, Mays was asked to name the best player that he had seen during his career. Mays replied, "I don't mean to be bashful, but I was." Ted Williams once said "They invented the All-Star Game for Willie Mays."

Mays began his career with zero hits in his first twelve at bats. On his 13th at bat, he hit a homer over the left field fence of the Polo Grounds off Warren Spahn. Mays' average improved steadily throughout the rest of the season. Although his .274 average, 68 RBI and 20 homers (in 121 games) were among the lowest of his career, he still won the 1951 Rookie of the Year Award. During the Giants' amazing comeback in August and September 1951 to overtake the Dodgers in the 1951 pennant race, Mays' fielding, and great arm were often instrumental to several important Giant victories. Mays ended the regular season in the on-deck circle when Bobby Thomson hit the Shot Heard 'Round the World against the Brooklyn Dodgers.

The United States Army drafted Mays in 1952 and he subsequently missed part of the 1952 season and all of the 1953 season. Despite the conflict in Korea, Mays spent most of his time in the army playing baseball at Fort Eustis.[9] Mays missed about 266 games due to military service. It is possible that had Mays played in those games, he rather than Hank Aaron would have broken Babe Ruth's career home run record of 714.

Mays returned to the Giants in 1954, hitting for a league-leading .345 batting average and also slugging 41 home runs. Mays won the National League Most Valuable Player Award and the Hickok Belt as top professional athlete of the year. In addition, the Giants won the National League pennant and the 1954 World Series, sweeping the Cleveland Indians in four games. The 1954 series is perhaps best remembered for "The Catch," an astonishing, over-the-shoulder running grab by Mays in deep center field of the Polo Grounds of a long drive off the bat of Vic Wertz during the 8th inning of Game 1. The catch prevented two Indians runners from scoring, and preserved a tied score that the Giants went on to break in the 10th inning for the victory.

Mays went on to perform at a high level each of the last three years the Giants were in New York City. In 1957, he won the first of twelve consecutive Gold Glove Awards. At the same time, Mays continued to finish in the NL's top 5 in a variety of offensive categories. Mays, Roberto Clemente, also with 12, and Ken Griffey, Jr. are the only outfielders to have more than 10 career Gold Gloves. 1957 also saw Mays become the fourth player in Major League history to join the 20–20–20 club (2B,3B,HR). No player had joined the "club" since 1941, and another would not join until 1979 when George Brett did it; and in 2007 both Curtis Granderson and Jimmy Rollins also joined the club.

The Giants were not one of the top teams in the National League between 1955 and 1960; they never finished higher than 3rd place or won more than 83 games in a season. After the 1957 season, the Giants franchise and Mays relocated to San Francisco, California. Mays bought two homes in San Francisco, then [10] lived in nearby Atherton. 1958 found Mays vying for the NL batting title, down to the final game of season, just as in 1954. Mays collected three hits in the game, but Philadelphia Phillies' Richie Ashburn won the title.

Alvin Dark was hired to manage the Giants before the start of the 1961 season, and named Mays team captain. The improving Giants finished '61 in third place and won 85 games, more than any of the previous six campaigns. Mays had one of his best games on April 30, 1961, hitting 4 home runs against the Milwaukee Braves. Mays is also the only Major Leaguer to have both a 3 triple game and a 4 home run game.

The Giants won the National League pennant in 1962, with Mays leading the team in eight offensive categories. The team finished the regular season in a tie for first place with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and went on to win a three-game playoff series versus the Dodgers, advancing to play in the World Series. The Giants lost to the Yankees in seven games, and Mays hit just .250 with only two extra-base hits. It was his last World Series appearance as a member of the Giants.

In both the 1963 and 1964 seasons Mays batted in over 100 runs each year, and hit 85 total home runs. On July 2, 1963, Mays played in a game when future Hall of Fame members Warren Spahn and Juan Marichal each threw 15 scoreless innings. In the bottom of the 16th inning, Mays hit a home run off Spahn and the Giants won the game 1-0.

Mays won his second MVP award in 1965 behind a career-high 52 home runs. He also hit career home run number 500 on September 13, 1965 off Don Nottebart. Warren Spahn, off whom Mays hit his first career home run, was his teammate at the time. After the home run, Spahn greeted Mays in the dugout, asking "Was it anything like the same feeling?" Mays replied "It was exactly the same feeling [and the] same pitch, too."[16] On August 22, 1965 Mays and Sandy Koufax acted as peacemakers during a 14-minute brawl between the Giants and Dodgers after an incident between San Francisco pitcher Juan Marichal and Dodgers catcher John Roseboro.

Mays played in over 150 games for 13 consecutive years (a major-league record) from 1954 to 1966. In 1966, his last with 100 RBIs, Mays finished 3rd in the NL MVP voting. It was the ninth and final time he finished in the top 5 in the voting for the award.[18] In 1970, the Sporting News named Mays as the "Player of the Decade" for the 1960s.

Willie hit career home run number 600 off San Diego's Mike Corkins in September 1969. Plagued by injuries that season, he managed only 13 home runs. Mays enjoyed a resurgence in 1970, hitting 28 homers and got off to a fast start in 1971, the year he turned 40. He had 15 home runs at the All Star break, but faded down the stretch and finished with 18.

During his time on the Giants, Mays was friends with fellow player Bobby Bonds. When Bobby's son, Barry Bonds, was born, Bobby asked Willie Mays to be Barry's godfather. Mays and the younger Bonds have maintained a close relationship ever since.

In May 1972, the 41-year-old Mays was traded to the New York Mets for Charlie Williams and $50,000.[19] At the time, the Giants franchise was losing money. Owner Horace Stoneham could not guarantee Mays an income after retirement and the Mets offered Mays a position as a coach upon his retirement.

Mays remained popular in New York long after the Giants had left for San Francisco, and the trade was seen as a public relations coup for the Mets. In his Mets debut, Mays hit a game-winning home run in the 5th inning against his former team, the Giants. Mays' played part of the 1972 season and all of the 1973 season before he retired. He only played in 133 games with the Mets, but was on the roster for the Mets in the 1973 World Series. Mays got the first hit of the series, which the Mets lost to the Oakland Athletics in 7 games. Mays registered only seven at-bats (with two hits), and fell down in the outfield during a play where he was hindered by the glare of the sun; he later said "growing old is just a helpless hurt." In 1972 and 1973 Mays was the oldest regular position player in baseball. Mays retired after the 1973 season with a lifetime batting average of .302 and 660 home runs.

After Mays stopped playing baseball, he remained an active person. Just as he had during his playing days, Mays continued to appear on various TV shows, in films, and in other forms of non-sports related media. Willie remained in the New York Mets organization as their hitting instructor until the end of the 1979 season.

On January 23, 1979, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. It was his first year of eligibility and he had appeared on 409 of the 432 ballots cast (roughly 95 percent). Shortly after, he took a job at the Park Place (now Bally's Atlantic City) casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. While there, he served as a Special Assistant to the President and as a greeter. Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle was also a greeter during that time. When he heard of this, Bowie Kuhn, Baseball Commissioner, suspended both men from involvement in organized baseball. Peter Ueberroth, Kuhn's successor, lifted the suspension in 1985.

Since 1986, Willie Mays has served as Special Assistant to the President of the San Francisco Giants. Mays' number 24 is retired by the San Francisco Giants. AT&T Park, the Giants stadium, is located at 24 Willie Mays Plaza. In front of the main entrance to the stadium is a larger-than-life statue of Mays.

When Mays' godson Barry Bonds tied him for third on the all-time home run list, Mays greeted and presented him with a diamond-studded Olympic torch (given to Mays for his role in carrying the Olympic Torch during its tour through the U.S.). In 1992, when Bonds signed a free agent contract with the Giants, Mays personally offered Bonds his retired #24 (the number Bonds wore in Pittsburgh) but Bonds declined, electing to wear #25 instead, honoring his father Bobby Bonds who wore #25 with the Giants.

Willie Mays Day was proclaimed by former mayor Willie Brown and reaffirmed by mayor Gavin Newsom to be every May 24 in San Francisco, paying tribute to both his birth in the month (May 6), and his number.

On 24 May 2004, during the fifty-year anniversary of The Catch, Willie Mays received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Yale University.

On 6 December 2005 he was recognized for his accomplishments on and off the field when he received the Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award.

Willie Mays received an honorary doctorate from Dartmouth College on 10 June 2007.

At the 2007 All-Star Game in San Francisco, Mays received a special tribute for his legendary contributions to the game, and threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

On December 5, 2007, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver inducted Mays into the California Hall of Fame, located at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts.

On 4 June 2008, Community Board 10 in Harlem NYC, voted unanimously to name an 8 block service Road that connects to the Harlem River Drive from 155th Street to 163rd Street running adjacent to his beloved Polo Grounds - Willie Mays Drive.

Mays was married to the former Margherite Wendell Chapman in 1956. They adopted a son before divorcing in 1961.

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