{"id":2272193,"date":"2024-06-20T04:32:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-20T08:32:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/willie-mays-was-the-quintessential-baseball-star\/"},"modified":"2024-06-20T04:36:14","modified_gmt":"2024-06-20T08:36:14","slug":"willie-mays-was-the-quintessential-baseball-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/willie-mays-was-the-quintessential-baseball-star\/","title":{"rendered":"Willie Mays: The Ultimate Baseball Icon"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwillie-mays-was-the-quintessential-baseball-star%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2272193&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The \u200cdiscussion centers on the term &#8220;GOAT&#8221; (Greatest of All Time), heavily \u200ddebated in \u200csports \u2064circles\u200c due to media influence, which often overlooks older athletes not highlighted in the digital age. The article commemorates\u2063 Major League \u200bBaseball legend Willie Mays, who passed away at age 93 and is celebrated as one of the greatest all-around baseball players ever. Mays, mainly noted\u200b for his time with\u2064 the New York \u200band San Francisco Giants, \u200cwas\u2063 a quintessential five-tool player, excelling in hitting, power, speed, fielding, and \u200bthrowing. Despite \u2064missing nearly two years during the Korean \u2064War, Mays \u2064had\u200d an impressive career with a .302 batting average, hit 660\u2064 home runs, and set records in\u2064 stolen bases and Gold Gloves\u200d for fielding. \u2063His\u200d skills and versatility \u2064put him at the top, or near it, across all five key facets\u2063 of baseball, making \u2062him the epitome of a well-rounded player.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<figure>                         <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>In recent years, few things have become more ubiquitous in sports than the phrase \u201cGOAT.\u201d The constant presence of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/prageru-presents-michele-tafoya-my-freedom-to-speak-meant-more-than-my-job\/\" title=\"PragerU Presents Michele Tafoya: \u2018My Freedom To Speak Meant More Than My Job\u2019\">sports talk radio<\/a> on both radio and television has led to frequent use of the acronym, shortened from Greatest of All Time, in made-for-media debates about the best players in particular sports.<\/p>\n<p>Often, debates about \u201cGOATs\u201d suffer from recency bias, in which younger commenters online do not even think to consider athletes who played before the days of Twitter, YouTube, and viral highlights. But Major League Baseball lost arguably its greatest all-around player on Tuesday, when Willie Mays passed away at age 93.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>All-Around Talent<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Separate and distinct from the \u201cGOAT\u201d acronym, baseball has a unique term for evaluating position players. Scouts often describe a stellar prospect as a five-tool player, one who displays excellence in all facets of the game: hitting for average, hitting for power, running, fielding, and throwing.<\/p>\n<p>During his two-decade career, primarily with the New York and San Francisco Giants, Mays epitomized the five-tool player.<\/p>\n<p>He had a .302 lifetime batting average and 10 seasons of batting in at least 100 runs. He hit a total 660 home runs, 54 fewer than Babe Ruth. If not for a nearly two-year absence when serving his country in the Korean War, Mays could have broken Ruth\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ken-burns-new-documentary-reminds-fans-why-they-love-baseball\/\" title=\"Ken Burns\u2019 New Documentary Reminds Fans Why They Love Baseball\">career home run record<\/a> before <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/01\/27\/home-run-king-hank-aaron-was-also-a-paragon-of-grace-under-fire\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Henry Aaron<\/a> did.<\/p>\n<p>Mays had the most stolen bases during the 1950s, even though he didn\u2019t play for nearly two seasons during the decade, and was the first player to steal 30 bases while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/shohei-ohtani-is-the-unanimous-american-league-mvp\/\" title=\"Shohei Ohtani Is The Unanimous American League MVP\">hitting 30 home runs<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>He had a record total of 12 straight Gold Gloves for fielding, including at the age of 37 \u2014 an amazing feat for a center fielder, who must cover enormous amounts of territory in the outfield.<\/p>\n<p>And as for throwing, while Mays\u2019 famous <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7bLt2xKaNH0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">basket catch<\/a> in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series to rob Cleveland\u2019s Vic Wertz of a near-certain inside-the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-lawmaker-hits-rare-out-of-the-park-homer-during-congressional-game-at-mlb-park\/\" title=\"GOP Lawmaker Hits Rare, Out-Of-The-Park Homer During Congressional Game AT MLB Park\">-park home run<\/a> has become legendary, few remember how he quickly pivoted and fired a missile from the depths of center field in New York\u2019s Polo Grounds to prevent two runners on base from advancing in a tie game.<\/p>\n<p>ESPN\u2019s Tony Kornheiser made the cogent argument for Mays as a five-tool player: Babe Ruth was arguably the best power hitter, Ted Williams the best pure hitter for average, Roberto Clemente had the best arm, and so on. But Willie Mays ranks among the top three to five players in <em>each<\/em> of the five facets that comprise a position player, making him the most well-rounded baseball player.<\/p>\n<p>Likewise, ESPN\u2019s Tim Kurkjian <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/mlb\/story\/_\/id\/40382709\/willie-mays-new-york-san-francisco-giants-legacy-joy-watch\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">noted<\/a> that when reporting a story several years ago, virtually all the former players he interviewed named Mays as the best they had seen or played with. If the respect of one\u2019s peers and colleagues constitutes the true mark of excellence, then Mays had it in spades.<\/p>\n<p>Mays also brought with him a certain panache, both on and off the field. While Aaron spoke softly and let his game do the talking, Willie Mays carried himself with a style and swagger that few could match. Not many baseball players have popular songs written about them, but the \u201cSay Hey Kid\u201d had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=UduDreaZq6c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">one all his own<\/a>, recorded by the Treniers 70 years ago. And its tagline summed it up: \u201cThat Giants kid is great!\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Bittersweet Commemoration<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Mays\u2019 death Tuesday came two days before a special baseball game being held Thursday. The game, a previously scheduled tribute to the Negro Leagues, will take place at historic Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama.<\/p>\n<p>The game was essentially created as a tribute to Mays, with his former team, the San Francisco Giants, playing on a field where Mays himself starred for the Birmingham Black Barons 75 years ago. When the game was announced last year, Mays <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SFGiants\/status\/1671206777768284160\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a>, \u201cI can\u2019t believe it, I never thought I\u2019d see in my lifetime a Major League Baseball game being played on the very field where I played baseball as a teenager.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Those words seem particularly poignant in retrospect, given that Mays did not survive to see the game designed to honor his legacy. But that legacy will live on far beyond Mays\u2019 lifetime.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<div>\n<p>      Chris Jacobs is founder and CEO of Juniper Research Group, and author of the book &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/1645720020\">The Case Against Single Payer<\/a>.&#8221; He is on Twitter: <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/chrisjacobsHC\">@chrisjacobsHC<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Recently, the term &#8220;GOAT,&#8221; short for Greatest of All Time, has become widespread in sports discussions, largely due to sports talk radio&#8217;s prevalence on radio and TV. This acronym is often debated in media when discussing the top athletes in various sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":2272194,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/3315983531_51aba1a38d_o.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2272193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/3315983531_51aba1a38d_o.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2272193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2272193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2272193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2272194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2272193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2272193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2272193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}