From CNN:
Mays passed away “peacefully and among loved ones,” his son, Michael Mays, said in a release from the Giants, the Major League Baseball franchise with which Mays was most associated.
“I want to thank you all from the bottom of my broken heart for the unwavering love you have shown him over the years. You have been his life’s blood,” Michael Mays said.
On May 6, 2016, the televersion of Willie Mays from Earth Prime-Time was inducted into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame on the occasion of his 85th birthday. (I always feel good when the TVXOHOF gets a new member while the Earth Prime person responsible is still living to enjoy it… not that I have any delusions that they ever actually see it.)
So this is just a recap with some added appearances which I now think deserve to be included in his tally. (And yeah… there are also a few I forgot eight years ago.)
Here are the shows and their episode which were cited in the original post. Most of the summaries and other points of interest are from the IMDb. (O'Bservations are all mine.)
THE DONNA REED SHOW
TRIVIA
Per the title, Willie Mays played baseball with New York/San Francisco Giants and the New York Mets. Nicknamed The Say Hey Kid, Mays was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979 and ended his career with 660 career home runs making him one of the greatest players of all time.
GOOFS
When Jeff and Donna first see Willie Mays he is taking batting practice in the cage. Jeff then calls Willie over and he is seen trotting in from the outfield with his mitt during an obvious game.
Now you see him...
Now you don't!
Endora throws a Halloween party at Darrin and Samantha's house, but Uncle Arthur causes havoc.
O'Bservation:
With this appearance, we learn that Willie Mays' televersion was actually a warlock. It's the reason why he was such a great ballplayer. (Personally, that claim bothers me now. I realize it was in jest, but he should have been acknowledged for having done it all on his own, despite being a warlock.)
One difference in my considerations for membership is that there is a distinct difference between the real people of Earth Prime and their doppelgangers in Earth Prime-Time. And that’s a good reason why Willie Mays’ televersion is a cut above most others.
It's George's birthday. He's been pushing Wesley to excel at baseball and when Wesley decides to cheat, George is upset at him and Wesley says he did it for him. They throw him a party, and help George relive some of life's greatest moments but that only shows him at how he has done nothing he set out to do, like play baseball with some greats. So Belvedere decides to give George a different present. The next day at Wesley's game, he arranges 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 playing against Wesley's team.)
And now… here are the new inclusions:
TONIGHT STARRING STEVE ALLEN
THE VERY FIRST SHOW!
(SEPTEMBER 27, 1954)
O’Bservation:
With each appearance as the Mystery Guest, it was always Arlene Francis who figured out that it was Willie Mays. She was a die-hard Giants fan with a special fondness for Willie.
IRONSIDE
At the end of the episode, Ironside's team was buttering him up with gifts and praise, but he could tell they were up to something......
This episode aired on April 4, 1968, and it was historical due to outside forces at work - it was during the broadcast of this episode on the East Coast that NBC broke in with the news that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had been assassinated.
O’Bservation:
I wrote about this episode back in 2017 after the World Series ended. (“O’Bligatory Post World Series Post”) You don’t have to check it out; the basics are here. But if you'd like....
IRONSIDE
1] THE LAYING ON OF HANDS (1970)
O’Bservations:
Willie Mays was only a reference in that first episode, which I discounted as solid proof at the time. But in the years since, I’ve decided that if somebody is mentioned, they must exist in that world.
With the second ‘Ironside’ episode, IMDb says he does appear. But I’ve never seen it. It was probably one of the scenes which preceded Ironside’s need for a seltzer.
DEAN MARTIN CELEBRITY ROAST:
JOE GARAGIOLA (1976)
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.
O’Bservation:
I can’t find this streaming anywhere. I am not surprised.
Like several other sports figures, the Say Hey Kid was multi-dimensional. The guest star on ‘The Hollywood Palace’ might be the televersion, but once he started doing a sketch, another version of Willie Mays showed up in Skitlandia. The same held true in The Tooniverse.
SKITLANDIA
O'Bservation:
I wish I found a picture which included Jack Carter, since he's also a member of the TVXOHOF. I don't know if it counts as irony or just coincidence, but Carter was also 93 when he died. (Buddy Ebsen's televersion is not, but Jed Clampett and Barnaby Jones are.)
THE TOONIVERSE
Fantasy cartoon story revolving around New York Giants outfielder Willie Mays, who is promised by an unconventional angel the chance to make his famed miracle catch, if he agrees to become the godfather of an orphan girl.
O’Bservation:
“Unconventional Angel”? Sounds like one of the Fallen Angels to me….
Here's a listed Tooniverse mention of Willie Mays which has to be invalidated....
PROFESSOR GOODFELLOW’S G.E.E.C. (1973)
From the SuperFriends wiki:
Ironsides tries to use the phone, but instead finds himself listening to a baseball game with Willie Mays at bat.
O’Bservation:
That is the synopsis in a wiki for ‘SuperFriends’. But I’ve seen the clip cited, and in the play-by-play which the robot “Ironsides” heard on the telephone, it was Bud Harrelson who hit right to the third baseman, giving the Mets two outs. So it’s not Willie Mays who was at bat.
And it can’t be Mays at third base because by September of 1973 when this episode aired, Willie Mays had joined Harrelson on the Mets team.
Oh well. At least I have a future profile picture out of it.
With Vin Scully
With Burt Reynolds
With Dean Martin
With John F. Kennedy Jr.
With Bing Crosby & Bob Hope
With Ed Sullivan
With Mr. Television himself, Milton Berle
(also Maury Wills)
Glad for your presence in the Hall these last eight years, Mr. Mays. Even among all the other “Boys of Summer” in the TVXOHOF, you were out standing in the field….
THE DONNA REED SHOW
1] MY SON THE CATCHER (1964)
Jeff plays an outstanding baseball game and is soon approached by scouts. The family advises him on how to respond to the pressure.
2] PLAY BALL (1964)
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.
3] CALLING WILLIE MAYS (1966)
Being baseball fans the Stone family are excited when Willie Mays leaves four tickets to one of his games. The problem arises when Alex, Jeff, and Donna all invite a guest to join them.TRIVIA
Per the title, Willie Mays played baseball with New York/San Francisco Giants and the New York Mets. Nicknamed The Say Hey Kid, Mays was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979 and ended his career with 660 career home runs making him one of the greatest players of all time.
GOOFS
When Jeff and Donna first see Willie Mays he is taking batting practice in the cage. Jeff then calls Willie over and he is seen trotting in from the outfield with his mitt during an obvious game.
Now you see him...
Now you don't!
BEWITCHED
TWITCH OR TREAT (1966)Endora throws a Halloween party at Darrin and Samantha's house, but Uncle Arthur causes havoc.
O'Bservation:
With this appearance, we learn that Willie Mays' televersion was actually a warlock. It's the reason why he was such a great ballplayer. (Personally, that claim bothers me now. I realize it was in jest, but he should have been acknowledged for having done it all on his own, despite being a warlock.)
One difference in my considerations for membership is that there is a distinct difference between the real people of Earth Prime and their doppelgangers in Earth Prime-Time. And that’s a good reason why Willie Mays’ televersion is a cut above most others.
MR. BELVEDERE
THE FIELD (1989)It's George's birthday. He's been pushing Wesley to excel at baseball and when Wesley decides to cheat, George is upset at him and Wesley says he did it for him. They throw him a party, and help George relive some of life's greatest moments but that only shows him at how he has done nothing he set out to do, like play baseball with some greats. So Belvedere decides to give George a different present. The next day at Wesley's game, he arranges 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 playing against Wesley's team.)
And now… here are the new inclusions:
TONIGHT STARRING STEVE ALLEN
THE VERY FIRST SHOW!
(SEPTEMBER 27, 1954)
Apparently, only the first half hour survives. As the opening montage plays out, Gene Rayburn announces that among the guests for the premiere will be "New York’s greatest Giant, Willie Mays."
Later, Rayburn does a news segment - real news - and a photo is shown of Willie Mays as the Giants are honored with a ticker-tape parade leading to City Hall. (It all looks so crude. Usually that happens because it's a washed-out copy of a copy, ad infinitum. But this was from the primordial days of early television and recorded as a "kinetoscope", so....)
WHAT'S MY LINE?
1] WILLIE MAYS (1954)
The mystery guest was Willie Mays. Mr. Mays' appearance is what dates the show specifically. During his segment, Arlene mentions that he hit his 31st home run that Sunday, and Mr. Daly mentions that the Baseball All Star Game will be played in Cleveland in 2 days.
2] WILLIE MAYS & PAUL ANKA (1962)
San Francisco Giants player Willie Mays led the National League (NL) in home runs in 1962 as his team won the NL pennant and faced the New York Yankees in the World Series, which the Giants lost in seven games.
3] WILLIE MAYS (1968)
O’Bservation:
With each appearance as the Mystery Guest, it was always Arlene Francis who figured out that it was Willie Mays. She was a die-hard Giants fan with a special fondness for Willie.
IRONSIDE
1] THE RETURN OF THE HERO (1968)
CHIEF ROBERT T. IRONSIDE
It wouldn't have anything to do with the Dodger-Giant game, would it?
SGT. ED BROWN
You mean the final game of the three-game series?
Playing today?
MARK SANGER
Marichal versus Drysdale?
DETECTIVE EVE WHITFIELD
We haven't even thought about it.
IRONSIDE
Good! Because we have a robbery to cover; let's go!
EVE
Robbery? Where?
IRONSIDE
The park! Candlestick Park.
Willie Mays told me he's going to steal second,
third and home.
third and home.
O’Bservation:
I wrote about this episode back in 2017 after the World Series ended. (“O’Bligatory Post World Series Post”) You don’t have to check it out; the basics are here. But if you'd like....
IRONSIDE
1] THE LAYING ON OF HANDS (1970)
Robert T. Ironside:
I don't think it was the jumbo hotdog that upset my stomach,
or the popcorn, or the peanuts, or the ice cream cone.
I think it was the triple cheeseburgers and milkshakes we had after the game.
Mark Sanger:
You are losing your cool.
Robert T. Ironside:
If you don't hurry up and give me something
to relax my stomach,
to relax my stomach,
I'm going to lose more than that.
O’Bservations:
Willie Mays was only a reference in that first episode, which I discounted as solid proof at the time. But in the years since, I’ve decided that if somebody is mentioned, they must exist in that world.
With the second ‘Ironside’ episode, IMDb says he does appear. But I’ve never seen it. It was probably one of the scenes which preceded Ironside’s need for a seltzer.
DEAN MARTIN CELEBRITY ROAST:
JOE GARAGIOLA (1976)
MY TWO DADS
YOU LOVE ME, RIGHT? (1989)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.
O’Bservation:
I can’t find this streaming anywhere. I am not surprised.
Like several other sports figures, the Say Hey Kid was multi-dimensional. The guest star on ‘The Hollywood Palace’ might be the televersion, but once he started doing a sketch, another version of Willie Mays showed up in Skitlandia. The same held true in The Tooniverse.
SKITLANDIA
HOLLYWOOD PALACE
S2 E6
The host is "Beverly Hillbilly" Buddy Ebsen, who does a comedy baseball sketch with San Francisco Giants' center fielder Willie Mays and comedian Jack Carter.O'Bservation:
I wish I found a picture which included Jack Carter, since he's also a member of the TVXOHOF. I don't know if it counts as irony or just coincidence, but Carter was also 93 when he died. (Buddy Ebsen's televersion is not, but Jed Clampett and Barnaby Jones are.)
THE TOONIVERSE
WILLIE MAYS AND THE SAY-HEY KID (1972)
O’Bservation:
“Unconventional Angel”? Sounds like one of the Fallen Angels to me….
Here's a listed Tooniverse mention of Willie Mays which has to be invalidated....
SUPER-FRIENDS
From the SuperFriends wiki:
Ironsides tries to use the phone, but instead finds himself listening to a baseball game with Willie Mays at bat.
O’Bservation:
That is the synopsis in a wiki for ‘SuperFriends’. But I’ve seen the clip cited, and in the play-by-play which the robot “Ironsides” heard on the telephone, it was Bud Harrelson who hit right to the third baseman, giving the Mets two outs. So it’s not Willie Mays who was at bat.
And it can’t be Mays at third base because by September of 1973 when this episode aired, Willie Mays had joined Harrelson on the Mets team.
Oh well. At least I have a future profile picture out of it.
Here are a few other members of the Television Crossover Hall of Fame who have appeared with Willie Mays over the years....
With Vin Scully
With Burt Reynolds
With Dean Martin
With John F. Kennedy Jr.
With Bing Crosby & Bob Hope
With Ed Sullivan
With Hank Aaron & Mickey Mantle
With Mr. Television himself, Milton Berle
(also Maury Wills)
All in all, when it comes down to it, I don’t mind that Willie Mays’ televersion in Earth Prime-Time was a warlock. But screwing around with his MLB history, even in the cartoon world? That ain’t right.
Here's to the Say-Hey Kid. I’m glad I was able to give you that 85th birthday present of TVXOHOF membership several years ago. And also to add to your roster of shows with a few new examples. I’m just sorry circumstances called for it now.
Glad for your presence in the Hall these last eight years, Mr. Mays. Even among all the other “Boys of Summer” in the TVXOHOF, you were out standing in the field….
Sorry. I won't repeat that joke....
