Happy BIrthday Say Hey Willie Mays!

 

Willie Mays turns 90 today. Wow. How time flies. 

It was 1964 in Chicago. I was a small tyke on a road trip with the family. My Dad was taking us to Wrigley Field to see the Cubs play the San Francisco Giants. I had no idea who either team was. I hardly knew what baseball was. I remember seeing Comiskey Park from the Dan Ryan and wondering if that was the place. We arrived at Wrigley. We walked up the ramp and I saw the grass. The greenest grass I've ever seen. It literally was one of the most beautiful sights I've still ever seen. I fell in love with baseball at that moment. I didn't care what they did on that green field I just wanted to sit there and look at it.

The game started. In inning 1 up came a man named Willie Mays. My Dad leaned over and said thats Willie Mays, pay attention, he's the best player maybe ever. Ok Dad. I was munching popcorn or something and trying to pay attention. Then I heard maybe the most beautiful sound I'd ever heard. Mays swung at a pitch and the crack of the bat was loud as hell. The crowd roared. The ball sailed out to left field, I stopped eating, to admire what I was seeing. The ball went over the left fielders head and landed in the stands. It was a home run. Dad leaned down with a smile and said to me "Never forget this, you just saw Willie Mays hit a home run" Dad had watched Willie as a rookie at the Polo Grounds  when the Giants were in New York. He was thrilled what happened. I could tell he hoped I remembered. I do. 

My Dad never stopped asking me if I remembered that day. Nope Dad, I remember it as clear as day. Willie Mays hit a home run and I saw it just as you had back in the day. It was glorious.

But the real reason he wanted me to remember was what happened after the home run landed in the left field bleachers at Wrigley Field. After he told me to never ever forget that I saw Willie Mays hit a homer a middle aged black man sitting in front of us turned around with a huge smile on his face and looked at us. He said to me "Boy, you listen to your Daddy". Dad was even more thrilled about that. It was 1964 and the civil rights movement was starting to roll. A white man raised in Western Nebraska and a black man from Chicago came together over a home run by Willie Mays to put an impression on me I've never forgotten. 

Happy Birthday Willie Mays. You made my Dad and an anonymous man in Chicago very happy that day with that blast. 

You were the greatest player ever. Just because of that day.