The documentary "Say Hey, Willie Mays!" premieres Tuesday night at 9 ET on HBO and HBO Max. The documentary features black-and-white and color footage of Mays' career, plus interviews with Mays, 91, as well as many of his fellow baseball greats, from Barry Bonds and Reggie Jackson to Giants teammates Juan Marichal and Orlando Cepeda. This story, by correspondent Pat Frizzell, first appeared in the July 25, 1970, issue of The Sporting News, under the headline, “It’s Still a Fun Game for the Incredible Mays”, as Willie Mays was chasing his 3,000th hit (he got it that month) and was set to appear in his 21st All-Star Game.
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Willie Mays, the most exciting baseball player of our time and almost certainly the best, plans to play as long as the game is fun for him.
This could be quite a while. Willie is having fun this season. He's feeling the strongest he has in years.
"I like to play happy," the all-time great Giant center fielder said. "Baseball is a fun game, and I love it.
"When the fun leaves, I'll retire. Even then, I hope to stay in baseball in some way."
When you see Willie hitting the line drives, making catches others can't approach or just frolicking around the field in practice, you realize his retirement as a player is far from imminent.
At 39, Mays has what coach Wes Westrum describes as "a body of steel."
"I weigh only three or four pounds more now than when I broke in with the Giants back in 1951," Mays said. "I'm about 185 or 186, compared with 182 then.
"I've felt better most of this season than at any time in the past three years.
"I got a little tired along in June or I'd have had the 3,000 hits earlier.
TSN Archives: Willie Mays named Player of the Decade for 1960s (Jan. 17, 1970, issue)
"I played some games because the other guys wanted me to and the club was losing, but I wasn't as strong as I'd been and wasn't swinging the bat well.
"But I'm not making any excuses. Until our last home stand at Candlestick Park before the All-Star break, I think I was playing well.
"My body heals quickly. I take good care of it.
"I expect to play a lot in the second half of the season. I've told Charlie Fox I'll play until I'm tired, then rest two or three days. Then I'll be strong again."
Mays is justifiably proud of his many records and the others that seem barely around the corner for him, but the main point he stresses is all-round performance.
"The most important thing," Willie declared, "is to do a good job in all categories of the game.
"This means a lot more to me than home runs. I want to be the best in everything. Even back when I was in high school in Alabama, I wanted to do everything well.
Popular With His Teammates
"If you can do that — if you run, hit, run the bases, hit with power, field, throw and do all the other things that are part of the game — then you're a good ballplayer."
Mays is popular with his Giant teammates, many of whom he has helped immeasurably to improve their own play. His skill is unanimously and deservedly admired in the clubhouse.
"Mays just has that great natural ability," said Willie McCovey. "Those of us who watch him play every day, every game, at home and on the road, realize how good he is.
TSN Archives: Willie Mays voted 1954 NL MVP (Dec. 22, 1954, issue)
"Some people see him play a few games and make some spectacular catches, but they can't know how great he is unless they see him day after day.
"Willie never really has to work on anything. He's that good. When spring training begins, he doesn't have to spend a lot of time catching fly balls or anything in practice yet in the first game he'll make all kinds of catches and the guys who've practiced so hard very likely will misjudge balls.
"Willie's base running, his throwing, almost everything he does, is the best. He's older now, of course, but still well above most players.
"He was so far in front of everyone that any drop just means he's only somewhat ahead of the others — but still ahead."
Although Mays' proficiency is unchallenged, he still works hard to perfect it.
'Thinks Baseball All the Time’
"You have to study baseball," said the next member of the 3,000-hit club and the No. 2 all-time home-run hitter.
"I think baseball all the time. I get hold of the roster of every club we meet and find out about any new men. I'm always seeking information.
"I study the pitchers, and I study the hitters on other clubs in batting practice. Sometimes I'll notice a guy has changed his stance a little. Maybe he'll pull the ball more. Then maybe I'll play him differently.
"Sometimes I have to wait until I've seen new guys play a series. An example is the new players the Phillies have this year. I played differently in the outfield against them when they came to San Francisco than I did in our first series in Philadelphia.
"You already know the older players, of course, but often you can learn more about them."
One of the main reasons Mays studies opposing hitters is so he can help other Giant outfielders.
"I relay Information to the guys while we're playing,” the amazing Giant leader said. "I talk to our other outfielders. 'When I move,’ I tell them, ‘you move.' We use little signs. I don't want to make any big public point of this. I don't ever want to embarrass anyone."
A fine example occurred the night of July 8 in Atlanta.
"Give Willie Mays some credit for saving my shutout,” urged Gaylord Perry after blanking the Braves.
"Why do you think Bobby Taylor was in exactly the right position to catch that long fly in the ninth inning?"
Taylor, one of the younger Giant outfielders, was Bobby-on-the-spot when Tony Gonzalez almost ruined the Giants first one-pitcher shutout of the season with a wicked drive to left field.
Bobby caught the ball with his glove over the fence. But he was in the right place at the right time. Willie's vigilant positioning of Giant outfielders was at least partially responsible.
Bobby Bonds, usually the Giants' center fielder when Willie isn't playing, is the first to emphasize how helpful Mays can be to younger players.
"There'll be another regular Giant center fielder some day.” Bonds said, "but never another Willie Mays."
Giant players are proud of playing with Mays and pleased by his feats and records. They mobbed Willie en masse when he hit his 600th home run in San Diego last September. They've carefully watched his progress toward the 3,000-hit mark.
"I think he's interested in his records," McCovey said, "but hates to discuss them."
Mays is modest, but he conceded:
"Yes, I'm proud of what I've done and can do. The main thing is that I want to do many things well.
Can't Overtake Babe Ruth
"No, I don't think I can hit 714 home runs and catch Babe Ruth."
Willie shrugs off the significant point that he certainly would have produced more home runs if the Giants had remained at the old Polo Grounds or played in many present day parks other than Candlestick, with its almost constantly in-blowing left-field wind.
"If I'd played in a smaller park, I'd probably have hit more home runs," Mays said, "but I don't think about that.
"I take what I have and make the most of it. How many guys are ahead of me, anyway? I'm proud of what I've done, and I don't worry about the park.
"Anyway, some kid will come along one day and pass both Hank Aaron and me and probably Babe Ruth, too."
Mays believes hits are harder to come by now than when he broke into the Giants' lineup back in 1951 and went 0-for-12 before swatting a home run off Warren Spahn.
"The pitchers are much better today," Willie said. "The most improved pitch is the slider. Everybody throws it now, and many throw it well.
"The pitchers are bigger today, and they throw harder. In the early 1950s, a club would have two good starters and one good reliever. Now most have four starters and two or three good relievers.
Better Relief Pitchers Today
"Relief pitchers today, many of them, are good enough to be starters. When I came up, Jim Konstanty of the Phillies was the most noted reliever, but he didn't throw as hard as these guys now.
"They used the older fellows in the bullpen then. Now many kids are in there."
Mays doesn't find pressure in moving toward such goals as 3,000 hits, but he admitted there was some when he approached his 512th homer, breaking Mel Ott's National League record, and again when he was trying for No. 600.
But pressure isn't a major factor for Willie. He enjoys the game too much.
"I always get to the park early,” Mays reminded, "usually by 4 or 4:30 before a night game. I get a good rubdown to keep my body in condition. Then I'm loose and ready to play.
"Leo Hughes, our trainer, does a great job of this. He's always there to help me get ready. Dr. Frank Bowman was when he was our trainer, too."
Willie doesn't believe in lifting weights or doing calisthenics, in or out of season, but in the winter he runs a lot, plays creditable golf and stays in shape generally.
"I think Mays can play as long as he wants to," said Fox, the Giants' skipper, who has known Willie since the Alabama youth joined the Minneapolis (American Association) club in spring training almost 20 years ago.
"Willie is so great to have on the ball club. The guys all like him and listen to him. He knows everybody in the league.
"And he's still the very best in baseball, in either league, in my opinion."
Fox, who then managed the Giants' St. Cloud farm club, but used to catch for Minneapolis in spring training, recalls telling Leo Durocher, then Giant manager:
"We've got a guy over here who can really play."
Others said the same thing. Willie was too good to begin his career at St. Cloud, in Class C. He went to Trenton of the Class B Interstate League in 1950, jumped to Minneapolis the following spring, then in May advanced to the Giants.
"He didn't get any hits right at first," Giant coach Wes Westrum, then the club's outstanding catcher, remembered, "but Willie hit line drives. We could see he was going to be a great one. He's the best player I've ever seen."
Russ Hodges, the Giants' veteran play-by-play broadcaster, the only man who has seen all of Mays' home runs, calls Willie, at 39, still the best.
"He's the greatest I've seen, by far," Hodges said. "He still can play the best center field in the business.
"If Willie hits just .200, any club would be very glad to have him."
Hodges believes some of Mays' overwhelming stack of All-Star votes from fans this season resulted from repeated showings on television of his fantastic catch of a drive by Cincinnati's Bobby Tolan.
Unbelievable Catch on Clemente
"I put that among Willie's 10 best catches," Hodges said. "But the greatest was one he made in Pittsburgh a few years ago against Roberto Clemente with the bases loaded.
"He made that one running into the light pole in left-center field at Forbes Field. He was running full tilt and, after making the catch, threw to second base all in one motion.
"I had to ask Frank Lane, who was in a nearby box, for a testimonial that Willie really caught that ball.
"But the main thing even yet is that Willie is so solid. You hit a ball to center field against the Giants and you’re out.”
Hodges has missed six of Mays' games, incidentally, for varying reasons — but Willie didn't hit a homer in any of the six.
Mays credits Herman Franks, along with Durocher, with helping him most in his baseball career and in his life.
“Herm was Leo's first-base coach when I joined the Giants,” Willie pointed out. "Then he was a Giant coach and our manager for four years.
"Last spring. I talked with Herman and he told me just to do my job and play ball, not to worry about the future or money or anything. I've taken that advice.
"I'm able to play happy. If I'm 0-for-4 one day, the thing to do is come back and try again the next."
Mays is full of fun and chatter around the clubhouse these days. The younger Giant players find his spirit contagious.
One day he'll be gone from the lineup, but hopefully not from baseball.
"I don't know yet in what way," Willie said. "It will depend on what jobs are available. But I certainly want to remain in baseball. It's my life."
Mays makes his home in Atherton, Calif., on the peninsula below San Francisco. His 11-year-old son, Michael, is in New York with his mother and will attend school there.
"I hope he isn't a ballplayer,” Willie said. "It will be all right if he's an athlete, but I'd much rather have him get an education and be able to do something else.
"I've seen sons of ballplayers suffer because people compared them with their fathers. I wouldn't want my son to go through that."
Willie Mays was a blithe spirit as he headed for Cincinnati and his 21st All-Star Game, for which he was chosen a 17th consecutive year.
"I love to play in the All-Star Game," Willie said. "It's a great honor, whether the fans or players pick the team.
"I'm especially pleased and grateful to be voted onto the team this time after not being a starter last year."
In the season's second portion, Mays will renew his chase of even more records. He's already in the all-time Top Ten in hits, home runs, RBIs, extra-base hits, total bases, runs scored, games played and a few other departments.
"I still can catch the baseball out there." Willie observed, "and I'll get some more hits."
And he's still finding baseball fun to play, which means more fun for the fans.
Postscript: Willie Mays retires (Dec. 1, 1973, issue)
Three-plus years after the above story ran in The Sporting News, the following two-sentence brief, announcing future Hall of Famer Willie Mays’ retirement, appeared on Page 45 of the Dec. 1, 1973, issue of TSN in the “Met Musings” portion of that week’s New York Mets notes.
Willie Mays’ formal request for voluntary retirement, in the form of a letter from Willie to the Mets, was forwarded on to National League President Charles Feeney for approval. Farm boss Joe McDonald handled the paperwork in the absence of General Manager Bob Scheffing, who has been taking it easy for a few weeks at his Phoenix home.