Willie Howard Mays, Jr. (born May 6, 1931), nicknamed "The Say Hey Kid", is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder who spent almost all of his 22 season career playing for the New York and San Francisco Giants, before finishing with the New York Mets. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979, his first year of eligibility.
Mays won two National League (NL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards and shares the record of most All-Star Games played (24) with Hank Aaron and Stan Musial. Ted Williams said, "They invented the All-Star Game for Willie Mays." Mays ended his career with 660 home runs, third at the time of his retirement, and currently fifth all-time. He also won a record-tying 12 Gold Glove awards beginning in 1957 when the award was introduced.
Mays' career statistics and longevity in the pre-PED era, recent acknowledgements of Mays as perhaps the finest five-tool player ever, and the overwhelming consensus of many surveys and other expert analyses carefully examining Mays' relative performance have led to a growing opinion that Mays was possibly the greatest all-around baseball player of all time. In 1999, Mays placed second on The Sporting News's "List of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players", making him the highest-ranking living player. Later that year, he was also elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.
Mays is one of five National League players to have had eight consecutive 100-RBI seasons, along with Mel Ott, Sammy Sosa, Chipper Jones and Albert Pujols. Mays hit over 50 home runs in 1955 and 1965, representing the longest time span between 50-plus home run seasons for any player in Major League Baseball history. His final Major League Baseball appearance came on October 16 during game 3 of the 1973 World Series.
Willie Mays turned 85 today, and as he made significant appearances as his fictional self in enough TV shows to qualify, I figured today was the perfect day on which to induct him into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame, especially since we are celebrating the League of Themselves with our entire lineup this year.
Here are the TV show episodes which made the play for Willie Mays:
THE DONNA REED SHOW
"My Son The Catcher"
From the CTVA: Jeff wins laurels for his baseball playing – and is immediately pounced on by a number of college scouts.
From the IMDb: Alex helps to organize a charity baseball game to benefit the hospital. When Willie Mays, Don Drysdale, and Leo Durocher show up it's no longer a game involving amateurs.
From the CTVA: Baseball star Willie Mays portrays himself in this account of the Stones' trip to San Francisco.
"Twitch Or Treat"
From the IMDb: Endora throws a Halloween party at Darrin and Samantha's and Uncle Arthur causes havoc.
"The Field"
From the IMDb: It's George's birthday and Belvedere arranged for some great players like Hank Aaron, Willy Mays, Reggie Jackson, Johnny Bench, and Ernie Banks to be there, along with George and Robert Goulet.
"You Love Me, Right?"
From the IMDb: Michael's uncle shows up and he's not exactly pleased to see him. It seems he has a habit of making promises that he doesn't keep. And he's making some to Nicole.
The great thing about the televersion of Willie Mays is that he is radically different from the one here in the Trueniverse, along the same lines as Dennis Rodman being an alien......
And the Say Hey Kid won't be the only baseball player to make it into the Hall this year. You'll even see that other fellow in this post....
Happy birthday, Willie Mays. And welcome to the Television Crossover Hall of Fame!
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