say hey

for some reason, a couple of months ago, i suddenly decided to pick up another certified willie mays autograph. i have one in my hall of famer collection, but wound up adding this one

that's a 2001 topps team topps legends autograph card that uses his classic 1952 topps card to great effect. here's the back:

fast forward a couple of days ago when i read the announcement that mays would not travel to his home state of alabama for the game at rickwood field, home of the birmingham black barons that he once took the field for. i figured things must be serious for mays if he was missing that trip. the next day, we learned that he had passed away.

is he the greatest all-around ballplayer of all-time? he just may be.

over the last year, i added a couple of his cards to my name/number on the back collection, including this 1993 upper deck baseball heroes insert

and this 2004 topps heritage flashback insert

i will always associate mays with my dad, who is, almost to the day, five years younger than the say hey kid. he was and is a dodger fan, and would talk about seeing koufax and drysdale at dodger stadium in the early to mid-1960's, but he also told us that he would often make sure the dodgers were playing the giants when he headed to chavez ravine so that he could see willie mays. and, he would, on occasion, drive north to candlestick to see mays play there, too. 

at some point in my early fandom, i became enamored of "the catch" and to this day i will add any card showing that play to my collection. i once compared a catch i made at little league practice to mays' catch, and me and my friends all messed around with his basket catch, too. i am thankful, by the way, for derrel thomas, who helped bring it to our attention in the early 1980's.

i never saw mays play in person, and if i had i wouldn't remember it anyway - i was only two when he played in his final game. however, i have read enough and seen enough during my lifetime to know that he was a blessing to the sport. 

hey.