Thats a very good question. The 569 . That deep drive in the World Series opener was, he told Ed Sullivan, one of his greatest thrills in baseball, at least up until he caught the ball. Wertz gestured toward Mays, who shared the stage with him, the same stage on which Elvis and the Beatles would soon conquer the U.S. Say Hey also deals with baseball-centric trivia like the poorly chosen location of San Franciscos Candlestick Park, where high winds knocked down balls that would have been homeruns elsewhere, blunting Mays stats. 2023 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. "He played centerfield," the newsman said, "for San Francisco, formerly the New York Giants.". And so it went, wherever he went. All Rights Reserved. Willies coaching gig with the Mets would only pay $500,000 a year for the next two years. Rigid in his beliefs and a true believer in the power of the office, his reign would be marked by milestones and social change. Baseball is his whole outlet, his way to express himself, said John Shea, co-author of Mayss new book, 24: Life Stories and Lessons From the Say Hey Kid and a longtime baseball writer for The San Francisco Chronicle. I mean, he was spectacular. Was he ever. Privately, Mantle told anyone who would listen that MLBs rule was stupid.. Willie Mays was the reason I even followed NLB, and when he left, I stopped following the NLB. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Mexicans celebrate the 160th anniversary of the Battle of Puebla on Cinco de Mayo, The fantastic voyage of Rachel Welch: Actress and international sex-symbol. In 1951, Garry Schumacher, Giants publicity man from World War II to Watergate, said of Mays: Hes the guy wholl have us all eating strawberries in the wintertime. Red Smith liked the line so much he named a collection of his columns Strawberries in the Wintertime, an apt description of the vicarious thrills afforded baseball employees and sportswriters of that era, men like New York columnist Bill Corum, who said: I dont want to be a millionaire, I just want to live like one.. Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration. They continued to do their own commercials and appearances. Advertisement. But they could not rest in retirement as financial pressure led to a series of unfortunate decisions. Rosen played ten seasons for the Cleveland Indians and made a successful transition into the business world. This is someone whose solar razor burn through shades and who glides like hovercrafts on the Everglades. But when it comes to the arbiter of all thats hip, Wu-Tang Clan is clear: Yo, hey yo my rap style swing like Willie Mays.. An offer of $100,000 a year for 10 years was made. Birth Country: United States. In 1963, a young filmmaker named Lee Mendelson asked Schulz if he would sit for a documentary portrait. A More Mature Willie Mays, the "Say Hey Kid" Michael Nagle/Getty Images. Mays as a New York Giant in 1954, the year he won his first Most Valuable Player Award and his only World Series title. or Best Offer. Did you encounter any technical issues? Neil Leifer/Sports Illustrated. Mays continued performing at greeter gigs and had co-written several books about his life. He is considered by many to have been the best . Within just a couple of years, Mickey began making so much money off memorabilia and book deals, that Casino greeting would not be necessary much longer. There's a Mickey Mantle steakhouse right down the road from me that I can't afford, lol. Well, Willie Mays's age is 91 years old as of today's date 3rd March 2023 having been born on 6 May 1931. Kept on the World Series roster as the Mets made a remarkable run late in the year, Willie looked old. Berra resented Willie being on the team, and he made an effort not to show deference to the future Hall of Famer. As the coronavirus pandemic keeps him homebound, the greatest living baseball player is missing visits to the ballpark, as well as opportunities to promote a new book on his life. Then he signed autographs for Moorhead, York and Lynde. He could have gone a bit deeper especially about his godson, Barry Bonds, the home run king tainted by links to performance-enhancing drugs but controversy is not Mayss style. In the fourth inning, while facing actor Dale Robertson, Mays hit a towering fly to left field, where Woody Allen called off center fielder Peter Falk and made the catch. It caused the powers of the game to enforce a ban on any association with gambling. A lot of players were dissapointed that Buck O'neill and Minoso weren't inducted. Despite their status, there was fame, but not a lot of fortune. Mays played in major league baseball very soon after the colour bar ended, and he probably never received the respect due him based upon his skills. Even before he was old enough to walk, his father, Willie Sr., rolled a ball back and forth with him. Willie Mays (right) is congratulated by Jackie Robinson after the Giants beat Brooklyn 7-1 to enter the World Series on September 20, 1954. Mantle Takes $100,000 Jersey Casino Job. New York Times, February 9, 1983. And he didnt always do encores. Already registered? While Mickey laid himself bare for everyone to see, Willie held back. first baseman Willie Mays Aikens, who mixed cocaine with baseball and eventually landed in jail. Mike Francesa freaks out about Mets retiring SF Giants legend Willie Mays' number. Sorry about that. Willie was a beloved figure by now. Imagine, knowing when a fellow is going to hit the ball and how far and where and at what instant it will come down at a given point and being there when it does.. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code. Ballys Manufacturing, then known as a slot machine and pinball machine producer, quickly got in and became a major player. One of the players looking to defend himself from charges claimed a double standard. A young man was applying Brylcreem at a locker room sink when Starr intervened: Sam, Starr asked, You still using that greasy kid stuff? Old Bart knew what Young Sam didnt: Vitalis keeps your hair neat all day without grease., Brylcreem and Vitalis were hair-care products for white men. . Mays made metaphorical millionaires of fans, scribes, ushers and all the other hangers-on and hangers-around who, in the Beatles phrase, followed the sun. Birth Year: 1931. Mays shares the record, with Hank Aaron and Stan Musial, for most All-Star Games 24, naturally and the book conveys how seriously he embraced his role as an entertainer. HubPages is a registered trademark of The Arena Platform, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. Willie is a hero of mine, Schulz said to Mendelson, who replied that he had made the Mays film. Net Worth in 2023: $4 Million. Henry is close enough in the aisle to hear Mays say: This was my country/This was my song. Mays, in Henrys telling, is a mythic figure, Stooped by the burden of endless dreams/His and yours and mine., But lets raise the volume for this birthday shout-out. When that 1966 season ended, Mays guest-starred as a warlock, Wondrous Willie, on Bewitched, in which he appeared at a Halloween party with Elizabeth Montgomery (who played Samantha), Dick York (Darren), Paul Lynde (Uncle Arthur) and Agnes Moorhead (Endora). Though, he is 5 9 in feet and inches and 180cm in Centimetres tall, he weighs about 180lbs in Pound and 82kg in Kilograms. President Barack Obama with Mays, left, and Giants General Manager Brian Sabean, right, during a White House celebration of the Giants victory in the 2010 World Series. . 24 as part of festivities for the organization's first Old-Timers' Day since 1994. Mays turned 89 last week, and he is homebound in Atherton, Calif., because of the coronavirus pandemic. I contend Mays is the best that has ever been, not including pitchers, because I think pitching is its own thing and it's like apples and oranges. Cary Grant retired so he didnt have to watch himself get older on the screen. $155.00. WILLIE MAYS, nicknamed "The Say Hey Kid", was an MLB center fielder for 22 seasons with the New York/San Francisco Giants and the New York Mets. I wondered why would a guy like Willie Mays have to shill for some two-bit car dealer, etc. People said, How the hell can you do that? I dont know. Published He was a beautiful man, said Mrs. Mary Hughes of suburban Daly City. Sic transit gloria mundi. Bob Dylan, raised in the Minnesota town where Maris was born, had a soft spot for baseball. I'm a very lucky guy. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. I thought the National League was stronger than the American League. She went on to attend the University of Pittsburgh, where she earned a degree in sociology. He was a mainstream celebrity with crossover appeal to . Your IP: Yankee management tried to cut Mantles pay a couple of times, even threatening blackmail. And the song ends this way: (Say hey, say hey, say hey).. And right along with bagels, pizza, Sophia Loren and Charles de Gaulle is this line: What do you do about Willie Mays., For Joe Henry, it was tantamount to asking about the soul of the country this frightful and this angry land. Released in 2007, Our Song is a meditation on a lost America that opens in his imagination with Willie Mays and his wife looking to buy garage door springs at a Home Depot in Scottsdale, Arizona. 24 in honor of Willie Mays. Gee, he said near the end of his scene, while eating a deviled egg at the party, I think its about time for me to pop out to the ballpark. And then he vanished. So many ways to brush back that assertion. No one ever sees Willie Howard Mays unless he has a glove, a bat, a driver or a putter in his hand, Jim Murray wrote in 1971. Though by the mid-sixties, both were making over $100,000. He contacted Mays attorney. Yet fame can destroy. On the day in 1972 that a 41-year-old Mays was traded from the Giants to the Mets, a suburban widow spoke to the San Francisco Examiner as if her hero were dead. Vernard Adams, the Hillsborough County, Florida medical examiner, reported that Mays had hypertensive heart disease and that heart disease was most likely the cause of his death following the first autopsy on June 29, 2009. Throw in the fact that the 91-year-old Giants all-star lends his voice to the proceedings, and its a solid HBO documentary for anyone who loves the game, with one glaring error. In 1976, New Jersey passed a referendum legalizing casinos, but restricting them to Atlantic City. Willie Mays playing stick ball with kids in Harlem, N.Y. A journalist, writing in the London Guardian in the summer of 1954, tried to explain Mays to a British audience. Born on May 6, 1931, Willie Mays is an American baseball player from Westfield, Alabama. Despite racial jeers from fans and living in segregated neighborhoods, he joined the big leagues the year after. Then something new came along: Atlantic City Casinos. By October of 80, that baby was turning 26 and playing in a World Series, and requesting, without success, that his middle name be left out of itnot used on the public address and omitted from press accounts. He was a two-time MVP and is included in the all-time leaders' list in home runs and hits. There were two outs.. He becomes invisible 10 minutes after he has turned off the shower. Forget about Where is he now? and consider, for a moment, Where he was then.. Darren: You mean hes a, uh, uh [warlock] Sam: The way he hits home runs? Even after their retirement from baseball, their relationship only strengthened further and it's an inspiring thing to see. Page S7. She specialized in child welfare and is known as one of the pioneers in making single adoptions possible in San Francisco. Newsstands teemed with magazinesTime, Life, Look, Colliers, Boys Life, Jet, Ebony, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, Sport, The Sporting Newsand Willie Mays was on the cover of all of them. To celebrate Say Hey Kid's birthday listen to legend, Willie Mays, sharing his hitting philosophies in this exclusive footage from the Giants video archive. Once it was cleared with MLBs executive committee, Ueberroth invited Mays and Mantle to the Commissioner office in Manhattan. 1954 - National league MVP. From 1961-1971, his age 30-40 seasons, Mays hit 367 homers, drove in 1,044 runs and posted a .931 OPS. Well, Willie Mays's age is 91 years old as of today's date 11th February 2023 having been born on 6 May 1931. Though he finally seems to have achieved some measure of financial stability. No novelist, the eminent baseball writer Roger Angell wrote in 1963, has yet been able to concoct a baseball hero with as tonic a name as Willie Mays. (The New Yorker, April 20, 1963), That name. Please note the display name will appear on screen when you participate. His son Billy died in 1994 due to drug abuse. The pressure of trying to live up to fans ideals was immeasurable. The news comes on the same day that Mays is celebrating his 90th birthday. By the end of the decade, Mickey and his wife Merlyn would have four boys. With Amin Joseph, Elisabeth Rhm, Olivia Holgun, Andrea Navedo. Baseball is almost like oxygen for Willie Mays. The League minimum today is almost $550,000. By 1966, touring had physically imperiled the band, whose crowds had grown terrifyingly large200,000 lined the streets in Adelaide, Australia, in 64and dangerous. May 6, 2021 9:53am. All Rights Reserved. Willie Mays, San Francisco Giants center fielder whose bid for the purchase of a $37,500 home was turned down by the house owner, plays catch with 14-months-old Herbert Henderson at home of the . But he fell in the outfield in embarrassing fashion. Willie Mays weighed 170 lbs (77 kg) when playing. Celebrating Willie Mays' 91st Birthday. So happy birthday, Willie Mays. . Despite seeming to have it all, the truth was somewhat different. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. I agree on Mays. In a 1966 Peanuts strip, Charlie Browns teacher gives him maze in the spelling bee, and Charlie replies: Maze? In his sixties, Groucho Marx marked the pitiless march of time by the swift passage of another Willie Mays summer. Even though he retired with the third highest home run total in baseball history, Mays wasn't built like a typical power hitter at just 5-feet, 10-inches tall and 170 pounds. On Sept. 12, 1955, Groucho wrote a letter to comedian Fred Allen from his home in Beverly Hills. The 91-year-old Mays, arguably the greatest living baseball player, was not in attendance on Saturday. or Best Offer. Mays was born on May 6, 1931 in Westfield, Ala., a grimy steel-mill town near the outskirts of Birmingham. Willie Mays turns 90 on Thursday, and his legend even had an impact on the music culture from John Fogerty to Bob Dylan to Wu-Tang Clan and many others. But 70 years ago, when he made his debut with the Giants, and for the next 18 years at least, Willie Mays was not merely a transcendent baseball player, like Mike Troutor transcendent athlete, like Michael Jordanbut a transformative figure in the national psyche, a skeleton key that opened almost any door into American life. He still wanted it kept secret until the announcement, having the men stay in separate hotels and not tell anyone what was happening. ", kept him and others out of the Hall of Fame. He led the league in home runs four times, stolen bases four times, slugging percentage five times, total bases three times and triples three times. There was no shame in being eclipsed by Willie Mays. Albert Pujols, who was designated for assignment by Trout's Angels on Thursday and will . The Say Hey Kid is currently the oldest living Hall of . Or the slashing hits to all fields. Finally, in early 1983 the Claridge Hotel and Casino came calling with a $100,000 a year gig to be their goodwill ambassador. What better way to get your property noticed than hire former players. Can't be an Oklahoman without knowing about Mantle. Willie Mays was elected into the Hall of Fame . His best, Mays said, was against Brooklyn, Opening Day in 1952, bases loaded, two outs, a line drive by Bobby Morgan that Mays chased until he hit the unpadded center-field wall at Ebbets Field. Contract negotiations were not easy. So was filmmaker Denis Sanders, making the MGM documentary Elvis: Thats the Way It Is, in which he interviewed a young Presley fan in a powder-blue cardigan and eyeglasses so thick as to appear opaque. We collect and tell stories of people from all around the world. A month later, on Sept. 27, 1954, NBC aired The Tonight Show nationally for the first time, with host Steve Allen. In an era when the average annual salary was $7,000, they made six figures. Its hard to imagine a time when Willie Mays didnt exist. However, like Willie, he could attend events like Old Timers Days and other ceremonies. Out of the shower comes the football man, with a bottle of oil in his hand, Dylan sang in I Shall Be Free in 1964. So they had a steady income. The Boston Red Sox had a farm team that shared Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Ala., with the Black Barons, Mayss team as a teenager in the Negro Leagues. For ballplayers, it was a privilege to bask in his reflected blaze, and see how their best measured up to his. Both Ramos and Mays are built more like a running back or strong safety in the NFL than a center fielder. It sounds like Im comparing myself to Willie Mays., No one in baseball compared themselves to Mays. When I went to the All-Star Game over there in 1961 they wanted me to say that I wanted to be a Red Sock. After his parents divorced when he was a toddler, Mays lived with an aunt in nearby Fairfield. Stay well. Mays felt slighted and confused. It was the only explanation. Theres no way I wouldve stayed on third. He added later that it had all worked out for the best: I didnt like the ballparks in the American League. O.K., I would say, what, Groucho Marx, to name one thing, and Willie Mays, and the second movement of the Jupiter Symphony, and uh, Louis Armstrong, recording of Potato Head Blues, uh, Swedish movies naturally. The Charmed Season: Revisiting Derek Jeters Origin Story, How Ricky Williams Found Himself in the Planets and the Stars. In the 21st century, when baseball is deep in the shadow of other amusements, it can be difficult to fathom. He played center for the Oakland Raiders from 1960 to 1974 and had a punishing history of injuries. @ MikeLupica. 185.160.67.210 Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Absolutely incredible, said another of these living wax museum figures, of the men assembled for induction into the California Hall of Fame, especially when you have Willie here. It was Tiger Woods, one of the few men of the 21st century who had lived in that swirl, and had served as a measuring stick, his name invoked as the best-ever at something difficult and popular, with the attention that such a gift will bring. Run-DMC will do the job, with its 1993 song Whats Next. A couple of bored guys are walking down Broadway in New York with lots of lovely ladies like a-lookin our way. How to respond? So lets not credit Mays with more than he earned. Many issues awaited him, including the never-ending drug scandal, the players union negotiation and an umpires strike. He doesnt have access to all the players and the people for that taste of baseball, which he just lives for.. He met a sad end from liver cancer in 1995, having received a controversial liver transplant a couple of months before his death. Ed Kolenovsky/AP. He also interviewed opponents, historians, current stars like the Angels Mike Trout and the former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. So, between the prize money, bonus, and bets, he walked away with $3,000. The Chicago White Sox deliberately lost the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds at the behest of gambler Arthur Rosenstein. It may be the Beatles or Lenny Bernstein or Frank Sinatra or Picasso or Willie Mays or Wilt Chamberlain or Marlon Brando or Tennessee Williams., Or Bob Dylan, who, like the rest of TV-watching America, saw Green Bay Packers quarterback Bart Starr in a commercial in the early 1960s. He also recently was interviewed on espn with respect to the days of segregated baseball. Both came up as rookie phenoms, playing in New York and meeting in the 1951 World Series. Ben Margot/Associated Press. . Trusted friends like Shea can come see him, but the daily give-and-take at the ballpark is missing. However, neither was unanimously voted into the Hall of Fametypical of many snobbish baseball writers, the purveyors of petty grievances and protectors of the game. Cary Grant was in the opening-night audience. 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It seems only a few months since Durocher was a hero and Willie Mays was seriously being considered as a running mate for [Adlai] Stevenson. His widow, Merlyn, passed away in 2009. Fans and reporters alike gave him mixed reviews. Competition was swift and the owners sought new ways to attract customers. After a decade of pain, frustration was showing. He is still a crowd-pleaser at 89, forever symbolizing the combination of greatness and joy, as Clinton says, that explains so much about the allure of sports. Not sure how Aaron was in the field. The coolest thing in the world happened before Saturday's Giants . (King County Library ProQuest Historical Newspapers), Mays to Reveal Decision Today, New York Times, October 29, 1979: C3, Tuite, James. Birth date: May 6, 1931. Giants great Willie Mays, who turns 91 Friday, is as driven and upbeat as ever. He was indeed in the amusement industry. The last time I saw Willie Mays was at the funeral for former Giants owner Peter Magowan in 2019. Its anchored around talk fierce arguments across boroughs and barstools about whether Mays, Mantle or Snider was the better center fielder in New York during the 1950s. Come back all week for more. He summons a pantheon of outfielders: So say, Hey Willie, tell Ty Cobb and Joe DiMaggio/Dont say it aint so you know the time is now. Finally, there is the plea and the heart of the song: So put me in coach, Im ready to play today/Look at me, I can be centerfield. Mays, no doubt, would understand. Present at the creation of The Tonight Show, midwife to the Charlie Brown holiday specials, Mays was a progenitor of popular culture. willie mays autograph COA IS JSA BEST CERT AUTHENTICATION.. Last December, New Yorker critic Hua Hsu wrote of the futility in calling any artist better than the Beatles, a phrase that simply entrenches the Beatles as a cultural monolith. On the night he was honored at Shea Stadium in 1973, Mays said to himself, though into a microphone: Willie, say goodbye to America. But America cant say goodbye to him because Willie Mays is a timeless song, like the Beatles Yesterday or Sinatras The September of My Years, a standard new to every generation, and thus forever alive, for the song remains long after the singer has left the stage. 03/23/2020. Use the form below to reset your password. Ramos could be the closest homegrown outfielder the . But his day is gone. Theres plenty to choose from. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. Kuhn was a bit of a reactionary, and lacked an understanding of how little money those guys in the 50s and 60s really made. His MLB career began in 1950 when he signed with the then-New York Giants straight after graduating from high school. Barnum and Charlie Chan. Even Prophet acknowledges he didnt get everything right. He was a two-time NL MVP (1954 and 1965), a 24-time All-Star (he won the All-Star Game MVP in 1963 and 1968) and won 12 Gold Glove Awards in center field. First time I read it. Thats what I thought. In 1960, both men appeared on the show Home Run Derby. There were still large walls between the communities. Just noticed you left another comment several weeks ago and I don't remember getting a notification. In an age of gossip and celebrity, run of the mill baseball biographies would not cut it. Despite their immense physical abilities, they struggled with the everyday things in life. Fame was not fleeting for either man, but it certainly was fickle. Mays suffered nervous exhaustion frequently at the end of seasons, even being hospitalized in the early '60s for stomach problems. Or maybe the sheer joyful lyricism of the name Willie Mays.. Whats he doing here? Blow out the candles and, like an eagle bird, fly home. This was the High Renaissance of Late Elviswhen the King was all jumpsuits, sideburns and sunglasses. The promising career of former Kansas City Royal slugger Willie Mays Aikens quickly turned disastrous because of drug addiction. At the same time, Mays drew criticism for his unwillingness to speak out regarding civil rights, eventually prompting the trailblazing Jackie Robinson to publicly accuse Mays who wasnt outwardly political, as Bob Costas says of looking only to his security as a great star. That was true despite the racism that Mays himself faced, which included being initially denied the opportunity to buy a house in a posh San Francisco neighborhood. His catch in the 54 world series in deep center field with his back to home plate, and then firing the caught ball back to home was awesome. Shea presents Mayss words in bold, letting him steer the narrative before Sheas extensive reporting fills in the gaps. Here's a quick glimpse at their lasting love story. Two days later, in Game 1 of the World Series against Cleveland at the Polo Grounds, he made the most famous catch in baseball history, which he always described as not his best. Sometimes I dream of Willie Mays, the lyric goes, And the sun comes out, and the fog lifts, and hes there.. Darren: Sam, isnt that Willie Mays? Regardless of the less than stellar endings and public snubs, their legacies were secure even if their finances were not. As we celebrate Willie Mays' birthday, let's take a look back on the legendary career and life of the 24-time All-Star.Don't forget to subscribe! Fogerty goes on to sing of a player riding the bench and dying to get into the game. Yet the Red Sox passed on Mays, who signed in 1950 with a New York Giants scout, Eddie Montague, for $4,000 and a monthly salary of $250, with the Barons getting $10,000. Say Hey! The first one, The Resorts Casino, opened in Atlantic City in 1978. Even Snider wasnt about to argue. Lawrence Hebb from Hamilton, New Zealand on March 14, 2018: CJ Kelly (author) from the PNW on February 18, 2018: Hi Larry, as always, thanks for stopping by. For ballplayers, it was a privilege to bask in his reflected blaze. Despite becoming rich with his books, TV appearances and memorabilia sales throughout the 1980s and 90s, Mickey was on borrowed time. Mays himself was still socially immature and even his 50s struggled to have close relationships anyone, white or black. By 1970, Presley and Mays were locked into memory forever, with an enduring body of work behind them, and moments of greatness still possible on any given night. The New York Mets also officially . He and Kuhn parted amicably. Mays has collaborated on books before, but 24 feels like a valedictory address in which the speaker is too humble to brag, but waves of guests take the stage to give stirring testimony. When the Giants moved to San Francisco after the 1957 season, the rivalry cooled somewhat, but the comparisons never stopped. or to talk to Congressmen about racial issues in sports. Happy 90th birthday today to the "Say Hey Kid," Willie Mays.. They did something unique; it hired a former player, Al Rosen, who was already a successful executive in Major League Baseball. His last place in NYC did very well. John Shea. Willie Howard Mays Jr. (born May 6, 1931), nicknamed "the Say Hey Kid" and "Buck", is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). There were naysayers, who still thought of the game as a sacred endeavor, but most folks understood the struggle of making a living, even when theyre retired sports heroes. Larry Rankin from Oklahoma on February 18, 2018: Always enjoy your sports articles. But he was still fit and handsome, Elvis in excelsis. I wouldve tried for home. Willie Mays and Vin Scully chat in the broadcast booth at AT& Park before a Giants-Dodgers game on Oct. 1, 2016. The damage to his body was irreparable. If I have to be compared to anybody, the playwright and screenwriter Neil Simon said, at the height of his considerable success, it might as well be Willie. Hemingway, too, had the balls. Discovery Company. Associated Press, The two most frequent mentions come in what have become ballpark anthems: John Fogertys Centerfield and Terry Cashmans Talkin Baseball (Willie, Mickey & The Duke).. But I said, No, thats not how to do it. I never did that.. Shea collected anecdotes from several important figures who have since died, including Mayss former Giants teammates Willie McCovey, Alvin Dark and Johnny Antonelli and the former Giants owner Peter Magowan.