By Lucy Santiago
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Willie Howard Mays Jr. (born May 6, 1931), nicknamed “the Say Hey Kid“, is an American former center fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Regarded as one of the greatest players ever, Mays ranks second behind only Babe Ruth on most all-time lists, including those of The Sporting News and ESPN. Mays played in the National League (NL) between 1951 and 1973 for the New York / San Francisco Giants and New York Mets.
Born in Westfield, Alabama, Mays was an all-around athlete. He joined the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League in 1948, playing with them until the Giants signed him upon his graduation from high school in 1950. He proceeded to win the Rookie of the Year Award in 1951 after hitting 20 home runs to help the Giants win their first pennant in 14 years. In 1954, he won the NL MVP Award, leading the Giants to their last World Series title before their move to the West Coast. His over-the-shoulder catch of a Vic Wertz fly ball in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series is one of the most famous baseball plays of all time. After the Giants moved to San Francisco, Mays went on to win another MVP Award in 1965 and also led the Giants to the 1962 World Series, this time losing to the New York Yankees. He ended his career with a return to New York after a mid-season trade to the New York Mets in 1972, retiring after the team’s trip to the 1973 World Series. He served as a coach for the Mets for the rest of the decade, and later rejoined the Giants as a special assistant to the president and general manager.
A 24-time All-Star, tying him for the second most in history, Mays became a perennial MVP candidate, finishing in the top six in the voting in eleven of the next twelve seasons, twice as runner-up in 1958 and 1962. He led the NL in home runs four times and in slugging percentage five times while batting over .300 and posting 100 runs batted in (RBI) ten times each. Mays was also at the forefront of a resurgence of speed as an offensive weapon in the 1950s, leading the league in stolen bases four times, triples three times and runs twice, with his 179 steals during the decade topping the major leagues. He was the first NL player to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in the same season, the first player in history to reach both 300 home runs and 300 stolen bases, and the second player and the first right-handed hitter to hit 600 home runs. Mays also set standards for defensive brilliance, winning 12 consecutive Gold Glove Awards after their creation in 1957, still a record for outfielders; he led NL center fielders in double plays five times and assists three times.
A classic example of a five-tool player, Mays finished his career with a batting average of .302. At the time of his retirement, he held the NL record for career runs scored (2,062), and ranked second in league history behind Stan Musial in games played (2,992), third in home runs (660), at bats (10,881), runs batted in (1,903), total bases (6,066), extra-base hits (1,323) and walks (1,464), fourth in hits (3,283), fifth in slugging percentage (.557), and eighth in doubles (523); his 140 triples ranked fourth among players active after 1945. He holds major league records for games as a center fielder (2,829), putouts as an outfielder (7,095) and extra-inning home runs (22), and ended his career behind only Ty Cobb in total games as an outfielder (2,842) and ranking seventh in assists (188) and third in double plays (59) in center field. Mays was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979 in his first year of eligibility, and was named to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999. President Barack Obama presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
The cigarette company’s logo — or mascot — was a bellboy. In fact, an actor played the role for years, both in TV and radio commercials (his famous line was “Call for Philip Morris!”) and promotional appearances. The signs appeared in America in the 1930s and 40s in factories, stores, and other workplaces as both a reminder to put safety first and an encouragement to buy Philip Morris cigarettes.
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Born
- Sigmund Freud (neurologist & psychiatrist) –
- Rudolph Valentino (actor) –
- Orson Welles (actor & director) –
- Willie Mays (baseball player) –
- Bob Seger (musician) –
- Tony Blair (British Prime Minister) –
- Tom Bergeron (television personality) –
- George Clooney (actor) –
Died
- Henry David Thoreau (writer) –
- L. Frank Baum (author) –
- The Duke of Devonshire (Canadian Governor General 1916-1921) –
- Ethelda Bleibtrey (Olympic swimmer) –
- Marlene Dietrich (actress) –
- Otis Blackwell (songwriter) –
- Lillian Asplund (last American survivor of the sinking of the Titanic in 1912) –
Events
- London and Gore Railroad Co. incorporated–
- First postage stamps issued in the U.K.–
- Dr. John Gorrie patented an ice machine–
- Linus Yale, Jr. received a patent for a lock and key–
- Confederate General James Longstreet was seriously wounded by his own troops by mistake, Battle of the Wilderness, Virginia–
- Successful flight of Samuel Langley’s model Aerodrome No. 5 aircraft–
- Babe Ruth hit his first homerun–
- At California’s March Field, Bob Hope performed his first USO show–
- The Channel Tunnel, more commonly known as the Chunnel, linking England and France opened–
- Racehorse Barbaro won the 132nd Kentucky Derby in Louisville, Kentucky–
- Lt.-Col. Maryse Carmichael became the first female commander of the Canadian Snowbirds–
Weather
- State of emergency declared due to flooding, Winnipeg, Manitoba–
- Kentucky Derby horses and people alike endured the coldest temperature recorded since the race was introduced in 1875 – a brisk 43F.–
- Milwaukee recorded 0.6 inch of snow, the first measurable snowfall ever on this date–
- A cold wave brought morning lows of 17 degrees F to Bismarck, North Dakota–
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