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Baseball Great Willie Mays Cried Before His 1st Home Game And Thought His Basket Catches Were Stupid
The Hall of Fame outfielder made things look effortless, but behind the scenes he had many thoughts about his play
If future technology had the ability to build a synthetic perfect baseball player from the ground up, they would most likely use Hall-of-Fame outfielder Willie Mays as their model. Impossibly athletic and effortlessly graceful, his physical attributes portended his historic production during a lengthy career. While he may at times have seemed otherworldly, he is and was just human at his core. As evidence of this, he once explained why he cried before his very first big-league home game and also thought his signature basket catch was “stupid.”
The right-handed Mays began his career in the Negro Leagues, but was snapped up by the New York Giants after the center fielder’s vast talent was discovered by them. In 22 big-league seasons (1951- 1973) with the New York/San Francisco Giants and New York Mets, he batted a combined .301 with 3,293 base hits, 2,068 runs scored, 660 home runs, 1,909 RBIs and 308 stolen bases. He won a Rookie of the Year award and two MVPs; was a 24-time All Star; and was a member of the 1954 World Series winning Giants. He was a first-ballot…
