Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend

by James S. Hirsch

The “enormously entertaining and wide-ranging” (Seattle Times) authorized, definitive, New York Times bestselling biography of Willie Mays, the most complete baseball player of all time.

Willie Mays is arguably the greatest player in baseball history, still revered for the passion he brought to the game. He began as a teenager in the Negro Leagues, became a cult hero in New York, and was the headliner in Major League Baseball’s bold expansion to California. He was a blend of power, speed, and stylistic bravado that enraptured fans for more than two decades. Now James Hirsch reveals the man behind the player.

Mays was a transcendent figure who received standing ovations in enemy stadiums and who, during the turbulent civil rights era, urged understanding and reconciliation. More than his records, his legacy is defined by the pure joy that he brought to fans and the loving memories that have been passed to future generations so they might know the magic and beauty of the game. With meticulous research and drawing on interviews with Mays himself as well as with close friends, family, and teammates, Hirsch presents a brilliant portrait of one of America’s most significant cultural icons.

Genres: Baseball, Sports, Biography, Nonfiction, History, Biography Memoir, African American

660 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 9, 2010

About the author

James S. Hirsch is an American journalist and author who has written about sports, race, and American culture. He was a reporter for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and his first book was the best-selling Hurricane: The Miraculous Journey of Rubin Carter.

Hirsch has also written Riot and Remembrance: The Tulsa Race War and Its Legacy, Two Souls Indivisible: The Friendship That Saved Two POWs in Vietnam, and Cheating Destiny: Living with Diabetes. His biography of Willie Mays, released in February 2010, describes how the Negro leagues phenom became an instant sensation with the New York Giants in the 1950s, was the headliner in Major League Baseball's expansion to California, and played an important but underappreciated role in the civil rights movement.[1]

Hirsch, a graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism and the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, lives in the Boston area.

Bibliography

Reviews

[Brian Eshleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was even more impressed on my second read through. Hirsch seems to understand the contours of the character of Willie Mays as they carry him through different phases of his life. Hirsch also displays a particularly adept understanding of the times Willie Mays lived through and the ways in which his subject was magnified and challenged by the culture that impacted him.

[Emsoca · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was totally fabulous.

[HR-ML · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this hardback while I had a home bout with
COVID-19. I had to stop reading at some points,
b/c of 'brain fog' & a reduced appetite. But I started
reading again.

The author interviewed 130 people who knew Willie,
read newspaper/ magazine articles & saw document-
aries about Willie. I gave this book 4 stars.

The author explained that Willie was born in Alabama.
His parents did not stay together after Willie's birth.
His father, Cat Mays, worked in steel mills and as a
Pullman porter & played in an Industrial baseball league.
Willie was mostly raised by his strict but loving Aunt
Sarah, 13 years his senior. Willie played baseball, basket-
ball and football in high school.

Cat and others noted Willie's special talent for baseball.
Willie played baseball for the Black Barons (Negro League),
2 yrs for the Army (when drafted), MLB Washington Giants
in Harlem, which eventually moved out West to become
The San Francisco Giants. And Lastly w/ the New York Mets.

Much was made in the book about Willie's quiet & reserved
nature, except with those persons he felt closest to. His sire
instructed him to avoid controversy & don't argue with the
umps/ fans/ co-workers/ opponents/ the media. Yrs later,
Jackie Robinson, who was the 1st black pro in MLB, criticized
Willie for not taking a harder stance in favor of civil rights
for persons of color in MLB & elsewhere.

We saw Willie as peacemaker in several instances. Giants
pitcher Juan Marichal used a baseball bat on LA Dodger
catcher Johnny Roseboro in a brawl. Willie led his friend
Johnny off the field and into the Dodger dugout, in order
to avoid further violence. MLB fined Juan and suspended
him from playing 8 games. Willie showed leadership.

We met Willie's 1st wife Marghuerite Wendell Mays & his
beloved 2nd wife Mae Louise Allen Mays.

The author also mentioned MLB & meth & later steroids
use by some players. Willie won numerous MLB awards:
IE Rookie of Year, batting champ, MVP, multiple Gold
Gloves, inducted into MLB Hall of Fame.

[Nathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

My previous knowledge of Willie Mays was limited to the once-over given him in grade-school history books: he was an African-American who overcame racism in the national pastime and became a Great American Figure: a catalyst of social change who just happened to play baseball. Hirsch is more thorough, but hardly less adulatory -in the other extreme. This ponderous volume flirts constantly with hagiography. Hirsch paints Mays not as the Great African-American Hope (apparently, he was actually accused by some as not being active enough on behalf of civil rights), but as a natural athlete with a superlative genius for the game. The stats fly hard and fast, the bulk of the book playing off as a highlight reel. None of it is undeserved, and indeed, I wasn't aware of just how good Mays really was (he was literally revolutionary). But it's repetitive to the point of tedium. The life story of Mays is presented here as mere filler between play after spectacular play, record after shattered record. It got old quickly. By time Mays wore out, I was ready to see him go, and the grand spectacle of his bowing out wasn't as affecting as Hirsch wanted it to be. Mays struggled mightily with retirement, but no one really thought he had any business trying to play any more. Hirsch, of course, can't bring himself to admit that himself, and just sounds rather whingey intead of properly elegiac. Mays' life after retirement is recounted with a sort of sighing perfunctoriness, and the book ends with a bland recap of the career stats.

As much as I love baseball, I was surprised that I didn't have more patience with this. It's not an efficient book. There's too much prose for the material; not that the material isn't worthy of it, but the prose is too aware of the material's grandeur to handle it properly. Die-hard Mays fans will probably already know most of this info, and newcomers will be daunted by the amount of it.

[Barnabas Piper · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's closer to 4.5 stars - a really excellent biography. Hirsch does a wonderful job balancing Mays the legendary ballplayer and Mays the enigmatic man. I never knew about the tensions Mays experienced throughout the civil rights era, and Hirsch lays out that story wonderfully as well. Mays always captivated me as a historic, but sort of shadowy baseball legend. This book told his story in rich detail and narrative.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always felt extremely lucky that I grew up during what is probably certain to be baseball's "golden age" - after World War II, but before television was widely available in most homes. In the summers, we played baseball all day in our neighborhood - boys and girls together - and then listened to baseball on the radio in the evenings at home with our families and friends. EVERYONE talked about baseball, knew the players, knew the scores, kept the stats. Even in school, our teachers "treated" us to listening to the World Series on the radio in our classrooms! In those days, it truly was The All American Game. And of all the wonderful players of that era, Willie Mays in many ways was certainly one of the most known and talked about. For one thing he was truly a tool player - he could hit, field, steal bases, bunt, slug and run with equal aplomb. Born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1931, he was raised up as a young teenager through the Industrial League in which his father, Willie Mays Sr. (aka: Cat) played, joined the Negro League during high school, and the minor league (St. Paul Millers) which had to wait for him to graduate from high school before he could be moved up to the major leagues with the New York Giants when he was just eighteen. Though he took time out during World War II to be in the Army (predictably, he played baseball for the official Army team for the entertainment of the troops), he played baseball, mostly for the Giants in both New York and San Francisco, until he retired in 1973 at age 42.

His records and accolades both as a hitter and a fielder are the stuff of which legends surely are made.
He retired with a lifetime average of .302 (it would have been much higher had he not played the last year and a half for the Mets) and 660 home runs and his lifetime total of outfield putouts, 7,095, is still the major league record. Season after season he finished "best," "most", "highest" in many categories of play. He broke multiple records almost every year he played. He was, as I recall, a joy to watch (or to "watch" while you listened!) As TV spread from house to house in my neighborhood in the late 50's, we'd crowd into living rooms - kids, parents, friends and neighbors - to actually see him live on "The Game of the Week" whenever the Giants were featured. Though I played with a Stan Musial bat and a Duke Snyder glove, the baseball I owned was a Willie Mays.

But he was a very private man. Always smiling on the field, he did not want to be bothered by much snooping and prying off the field. Like his godson, Barry Bonds, he snubbed the press. In an age when heroes like Jackie Robinson took strong stands in the emerging Civil Rights movement, he chose, he said, to let his baseball do his talking. He'd grown up in one of the most segregated cities in the South, but he personally had suffered much more, he said, by the covert prejudice he experienced in the North where "no one knows the rules, but the rules are firmly in place." To him this hypocrisy underscored the fact that the only way to overcome racism was to "rise above it." And so he took a drubbing in both the Black community and in the history of sports for his refusal to speak out, even when, as one of baseball's highest paid players, red-lining kept him from the house of his dreams that he wanted to buy in San Francisco. "Maybe it wasn't prejudice," he said. "Maybe she really didn't want to sell if after all."

This was one of the reasons James Hirsch wanted to write an authorized biography: to let Willie finally speak for himself on this subject. It took seven long years of hard turn downs to even get permission to begin. And this biography reads like a "authorized" version - Willie's reticence becomes the refuge of a shy "country" kid; his diffidence, the virtue of a man seeking to "keep the peace" between people in a troubled time. But ultimately the story in this story is baseball -- magnificently played. And in the end, that is the name of the game he played so hard, so well, for so long. I remember I was always happy to see him playing then; I was happy that I got to read about it now.

[Jason Koivu · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strong and well-constructed biography of one of the first black men integrated into the majors in early 1950s America, and more importantly to the man himself, one of the best players and nicest guys ever to play the game. Willie Mays: The Life, the Legend encompasses a great deal of this monumental and yet utterly humble man's life as well as the times he lived it in prose that is at times lyrical - especially when it comes to describing baseball - but which is at all times throughout the book yeoman-like in its adherence and diligence to the true story and timeline of Mays' entire life...well almost his entire life, because he's still busy living it! As a fan of baseball I was surprised at how little I knew about Mays (especially that he was still alive) and Hirsch's book went a long way in shoring up my shortcomings in that area. Whether or not it would do much for those who are learned in 50s/60s baseball, that I can not say.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Willie Mays The Life, The Legend

I'm talkin' Willie, Mickey and the Duke (Say hey, say hey, say hey)

We learn that Willie was born in Birmingham Alabama in 1931. His father, Cat, was once a semi-pro player and he played baseball with young Willie whenever he got a chance. He told Willie to ‘learn every position’ because the manager will need you somewhere.

Willie’s mother Anne died at 37 from a hemorrhage during her pregnancy, Willie was still a teenager. Shortly thereafter he became a paid player for the Birmingham Black Barons while still in 10th grade much to his principal’s displeasure. Willie did go on to graduate high school but his amateur career was over at fifteen.

In 1951 Willie achieved fame becoming the youngest African-American player to reach the majors. Expectations were high and he had a glorious rookie season, and made so many truly amazing catches that Bobby Thompson the Gold Glove winning center fielder was moved to left field to make room for Mays. Mays and Thompson powered the Giants to that amazing comeback from 13 games back to take the pennant from Brooklyn that year. In 1952 Mays was drafted into the service and missed most of the next two seasons. There was not much mention in the book of his time in the Army.

Upon his return, in 1954, the Giants won the World Series over the Cleveland Indians and Mays won the NL MVP award. Perusing the Hall of Fame’s greatest players, I could not find another example where a rookie in his first two full seasons led his team to two World Series and while picking up an MVP award. The Giants made it back to the World Series in 1962 but lost 1-0 to the Yankees in an epic Game 7. Mays continued to pile up gaudy statistics over the next decade.

After the Giants moved to the West Coast their rivalry with the Dodgers only intensified. In 1965 bad blood literally spilled over following a heated exchange between Giant Juan Marichal and Dodger Dodger catcher Johnny Roseboro. Roseboro has buzzed Marichal with a return throw to the pitcher, nicking Marichal’s ear. Marichal took issue, further words were exchanged and Marichal hit Roseboro over the head with the bat. During the melee Mays quickly jumped out of the dugout and prevented an injured Roseboro from retaliating. Mays walked Roseboro back to the dugout and tears were streaming from May’s eyes as the blood was trickling into Roseboro’s eyes. There were several players brandishing bats and ready to use them and Mays called them crazy. He helped defuse the tension. It was said by many to be Mays’ finest hour on a baseball field. This might have also been his finest season as a baseball player as well. He would win his second MVP later that year.

In all Mays made the All-Star team in 20 seasons. Only Hank Aaron made more All-Star teams with 21. Mays also garnered twelve Gold Glove Awards for his fielding prowess. Of the non-pitchers only Ozzie Smith and Brooks Robinson had more Gold Gloves. It is usually the miraculous catches and throws that most people remember most about Mays.

Mays also retired in third place in career Home Runs at 660 so he was a quite a slugger too. After retiring, Mays was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1979 garnering nearly 95% of the votes. Many say Willie Mays was the greatest all around baseball player in the history of the game.

It is pretty cool that three of the very best baseball players in history (Satchel Paige, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron) began their careers in Alabama in the Negro Leagues and crossed the color barrier soon after Jackie Robinson.

There is a short epilogue at the end of the book that covers the some forty years following Mays retirement. I think the author did pretty well describing Mays as the elder statesman.

3.5 stars. I am glad I read the book and the writing was pretty good. A few points that prevented this book from being better in my eyes. There wasn’t much on May’s personal life. I suspect that’s because this was an ‘authorized’ biography. Secondly some of the epic baseball games, like the game featuring Bobby Thompson’s ‘Shot Heard Round the World’ in 1951, the ‘Catch’ in 1954, and that World Series in 1962, could have been dramatized and expanded more. With the exception of the aforementioned fight, there was very little drama in this book and many baseball books have covered some of these great Giants moments better.

[Nathaniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well organized, sincere, detailed look at one of the great ballplayers of all-time. Many have noted it's lack of criticism, or even the scent of objectivity about its subject, it's a valid criticism. Perhaps one day, someone will do a more objective biography of this great player, but this is a very fine biography. I reserve most of my criticism for the author. Hirsch does a nice job covering all the topics but frequently I found him going on a bit too long, when the topic had been exhausted, a paragraph, or a page before.

Example: he deftly covers the inequities in pay African-American ballplayers faced in the 1950s (and throughout the book) smartly comparing them to white players of the day, even of the same stature of Willie (Mickey Mantle), but I feel then goes on, adding on unneccesarily. The facts Hirsch lays out explain all too starkly the injustice. Does anyone really need more?

Example: In Hirsch's analysis of The Catch, he smartly gets other players and managers criticism of Mays, and then gets the explanation from Willie that defends the play. Hirsch then goes on again. Willie's explanation, whether you buy it or not, is sufficent, what Hirsch add to the conversation, after that, is superfluous.

Example: Hirsch also makes noise about Willie having hit a HR in every inning from 1 to 16. Seems to me the correct part of that stat to go on about is from inning ten to sixteen, thats at least seven walk off HRS, not one to nine. But Hirsch ask rhetorically how many players [during their career:] come up in every inning? Really? You play long enough (in Mays case 22 years), probably every player. Don't get me wrong, I'm in no way diminishing Mays' achievement, I'm questioning the analysis.

I also don't know if Hirsch not being a noted baseball writer or even a more noted biographer hurts or helps him at the certain points. He doesn't screw up anything major, or even anything unforgivable (he misspells the hotel in Milwaukee, the Pfister...incredibly small beans), but there is a constant sense that Hirsch is a little uncomfortable in the language of baseball.

Look even after all that, if you have an interest in Willie Mays, all time great, and are a baseball fan, this is a trememdous book, and a whole lot of fun, and I totally recommend it.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m of two minds concerning this book.

The first is that it’s great and makes me a little sad. James Hirsch’s biography on Willie Mays captures the magic of mid 20th Century baseball. Pitchers pitched whole games, nobody had heard of steroids and games were an action packed two hours. People mostly heard games over the radio and players were people you’d see walking down the street.

Baseball mysticism aside, this book was kind of boring. Hirsch spends 500+ pages on Mays with another 100+ pages of notes. He goes through too many seasons game by game and goes into an incredible amount of detail on individual plays.

Instead of a straight biography, I’d rather it have been a history book with Mays’s baseball career as my guide. Tell me more about New York in 1950s when the Dodgers, Giants and Yankees all filled stadiums. Explain the changes in the world around Mays as he went from a token MLB player in the 50s to an uncomfortable race leader in the 60s. How baseball went from a pastime to a corporation. Mays was around for all of it, and I was always more interested in these topics than the highs and lows of his 22 year career.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

James Hirsch did his best. He tried his hardest to shine a light on a player notorious for being closed off and inaccessible. I have no qualms with the writing, which was very well done, and the research and anecdotes are top-notch. But I have no idea what Willie Mays felt or feels about anything. The racism he must have endured growing up and all through his playing career? We know he did virtually nothing in response, but did he really not have any strong feeling about the injustice? Or should his feelings be so obvious, that we're lesser for even asking?

Lots of great little anecdotes, but the lack of insight to Mays and a certain repetition that can be common in baseball bios bring down the overall quality. Definitely recommended, especially if you haven't read anything about Mays' life, but it takes third place to the Henry Aaron and Mickey Mantle bios that came out the same year.

[SoulSurvivor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good biography on perhaps the most complete baseball player in history !

[Chuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's stunning to think that, as important he is as a baseball player and as an American icon, there has never been a biography written about Willie Mays. For people who actually read my book reviews, you will note that my summer reading kick has included some sports biography. The last book I posted on was a life of Henry Aaron, and, although I didn't know a great deal about Mays at the time, the one troubling thing I found was the author's need to "dog" Mays to promote Aaron (something Aaron himself did not do).

Similarities between the two are many, the comparisons, natural. Both were born in Alabama in the 1930s, both were raised by strong, supportive fathers, both "came up" through the Negro Leagues, and both faced the segregation of baseball in the 1950s, as well as facing segregation in the supposedly "liberal" and "free" North. Neither publicly complained about the treatment they endured, and both were initially criticized for not using their athletic fame to comment on social issues, and both also became respected as pioneers, showing African-Americans in a positive light when few were visible.

However, both were different men. I won't discuss Aaron more--he is a man I profoundly respect whom I have written about elsewhere. And, perhaps because of the difference in their ages (Mays is a few years older), I have fewer memories of Mays playing that I do of Aaron. I do, however, remember Willie Mays 40th birthday because it was a national news event, and I realize from Hirsch's biography that he was still playing at a high level the season he turned 40. Interestingly, my memories of him are of spectacular catches in the outfield rather than at the plate.

Mays does a remarkable job of chronicling Mays life from the early days to the present, using testimony, documentary evidence, and, sometimes, interviews from Mays himself. Hirsch's usual patter is to tell a story with the evidence available, and then to provide Mays' comments afterward.

What emerges is a man who, because of a combination of skills and effervescent personality, gained acceptance in the the 1950s at a time when very few African-Americans were granted access to much of anything in society. And therein lies the rub with Mays--his celebrity got him a "pass," protecting him from some of the worst things that many black men at the time faced, and yet he faced much racism. His refusal to complain or even publicize the slights he faced causes some to criticize him as a "Tom" or as someone whose status as athlete made him out of touch with everyday African-America. Hirsch notes that Mays was a transformative player--the first African American baseball player that white youth actively emulated. He also notes Mays steadfast refusal to court controversy over the many slights he faced for his race (inability to gain housing in San Francisco even when he was the highest paid Giant is one example) as being part of a consistent philosophy, while continuing to note the criticism he received for not being activist enough. (This was virtually identical to the stance Aaron took). Important to remember is that both men were sons of the South, of segregation, and that it is easy for someone like Jackie Robinson, who grew up in California in an integrated neighborhood, to criticize people for not opposing segregation when they have less experience with it. Opposition in the South could get a black man killed, something taught by Mays' father.

However, this book is primarily about baseball. Mays' greatness is hard to quantify--at one level, he is considered the greatest player ever, but he doesn't hold many records, and those he does hold are obscure (he is the only player to cumulatively hit a home run in every posssible inning of a baseball game from innings one to 16, for example). But his records are impressive--660 home runs are, before the age of steriods, second only to Aaron and Babe Ruth, a career batting average over .300, nearly two thousand runs scored and two thousand runs batted in. It is the record of a player who was excellent for a very, very long time--quite productive into his 20th year in the bigs (although he faded quickly the year later, and regretted the last two years he played).

But more than that is the defense--the ability to anticipate the ball, to catch what would, for any other outfielder, be a home run or a triple, the rocket arm, able to consistently throw out a runner at home. Mays has far more putouts than any other outfielder, a record that hasn't come close to being reached in the nearly forty years since he retired. Also hard to quantify is the crafty base running, often being thrown out but distracting the fielders so a team mate can score the winning run, things that made his team win many games but never appeared in any stat line.

This is the genius of Hirsch's book--he is able to make the average reader understand the subtleties of Mays' greatness while meaningfully exploring the issues he faced in life. The book is flattering but not a hagiography; Mays faults are noted (it is interesting to note that he read every page of the book but did not ask Hirsch to change anything except a factual error or two).

I'm going to return to Howard Bryant's biography of Henry Aaron for a moment. I though it a superior book, but thought it was flawed by the author's need to push Aaron above Mays. It bothered me at the time because I thought it diminished from the strong case he made for Aaron's greatness, which stands alone and is not threatened by Willie Mays. Hirsch also notes that, given the way Mays was torn up by racial controversy, had he been in a position to assault Ruth's home run record, he would not have handled it as well as Aaron did (something Mays acknowledges).

However, rather than criticize Bryant, I want to celebrate one of its excellences, one that I didn't fully appreciate 'til I read Hirsch's book on Mays. Bryant, who is African-American, writes from an "inside" that Hirsch cannot access. When Bryant notes that Aaron was criticized for "not hustling," the author goes into a thoughtful explanation of the challenges faced by an African-American male in the South, noting that sunup to sundown labor was expected no matter what, and that there was no advantage for a black man to move a bit faster to impress a white boss. It's the kind of insight that helps explain a time, a place, and a bias very well. It's something that, as gifted as he is, as good as the book was, Hirsch as a white East Coast male, doesn't have the experimentally authority to write about. This isn't a flaw in the book at all, but I wondered if an African American author might have offered different analysis of Mays' refusal to court controversy.

This book is excellent; I always had in my mind that Mays was a good player, and now I can see what all the shouting is about. I heartily recommend it, for baseball fans and for those interested in social history of the 50s and 60s.

[Luke Koran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before I even dreamt of picking up this book, I surprisingly knew very little about Willie Mays, who is widely regarded as the greatest overall player in the history of baseball. As a growing baseball historian, I knew I had (and desperately wished) to start learning about the "Say Hey" kid, and fast. I began when I was putting my baseball card collection together, where I looked at May's statistics - both career, year-by-year, WAR, and defensive value - and read numerous publications that ranked the best players of all-time. Ken Burns' 22 hour "Baseball" documentary has a few nice segments on Mays as well, especially on one of the most iconic moments in all of sports, "The Catch." But I knew this still wasn't enough. As I developed a keen interest in sporting (auto)biographies, I knew one thing: Willie Mays was going to be near the top of my list to read about.

Thankfully, this newly-published Mays biography (and authorized, too!) made its way into my hands, and Willie's complete story will now forever be stored in my memory. Hirsch does an excellent job in documenting Mays like none before has quite accomplished and with such elegance and thoroughness. Yes, plenty of commentary is made on the Civil Rights era that paralleled Mays' career, including Jackie Robinson's criticism of his inaction. But every last word of it is necessary in telling the whole story of who Willie Mays was as both a man and as a superstar athlete. In any case, there are so many detailed layers to this biography. You will learn so much about this larger-than-life man that has been previously unknown to the public, especially his interactions with his teammates in the clubhouse. Those recollections of instances where Mays' was continually being teased, which always brought such an innocent high voice in him - as well as his constant mega-watt smile - really resonated with me, as I emanate these exact same qualities, or at least I've been told. Mays, it turns out, is one of the most likeable and relatable athletes I have ever encountered. Be prepared to enjoy this book, like, A LOT.

[Michael Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is, so the author states, the only authorized biography of Willie Mays, in my estimation the greatest baseball player to ever grace a professional baseball diamond - and this is no hagiography on my part (I grew up following his baseball exploits in the various media)! What sets Mays apart from others is that he was the quintessential "complete" player. Feared at the plate, on the bases, and in the field, Mays did it all, and better than anyone else, in his fabulous career: among the top 5 all-time in major offensive and defensive categories. What makes these accomplishments even more amazing is that he did this while enduring racism (he was a contemporary of Jackie Robinson) - and he missed 2 years (1952-1953) to military service.

One fascinating part of this biography concerns Mays's personality. Robinson was outspoken, but Mays was a very private person - even those closest to him admit they knew little about him, largely because he just did not talk about himself. Nor did he voice his opinion about popular topics when asked for it. Yet he displayed an outgoing personality, and was very popular in and away from baseball, and is humble about his accomplishments.

The author stated that he tried for several years to persuade Mays to allow him to write a bio. Thankfully, Mr. Hirsch was persistent. The result is a nostalgic, enjoyable trip down memory lane.

[Kevin Whitaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Longer than I really needed, but there were some really neat nuggets throughout. In the bigger picture the book set Mays' career well into the larger context of baseball's role in society, and surprisingly for someone who grew up reading practically nothing but baseball history, there was some on-field stuff I didn't know about before, such as Mays' game-winning homer on the final day of the 1962 pennant race to force a playoff.

Three things I learned:
1. Even though Mays was well-known as one of the best Negro League prospects, he had few major-league offers because he became eligible around 1950, after the first wave of Negro League stars had already signed, and many teams didn't want to have more than one black player on their team at first.
2. Mays learned his famous basket catch from a fellow recruit while playing baseball in the army during the Korean War.
3. Mays was reserved in his personal friendships but got along great with kids -- he would play stickball with children in the street on his way to MLB games before the Giants left New York.

[Kifflie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm often skeptical of authorized biographies, but this one won me over as I moved along through it. It's sympathetic to Willie, but Hirsch is upfront about all of this. The book is thoroughly researched and is a comprehensive study of Willie's life not only on but off the field. Hirsch doesn't shy away from reporting on Willie's money troubles, his problems with his first marriage, his problematic relationship with Jackie Robinson, and his sometimes prickly dealings with the press. But it's all overshadowed by his remarkable exploits on the field and his charitable work with kids. I am only sorry that I was too young and/or too much a follower of the American League as a kid and never really saw Willie play.

[Glenn Whipp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid, thoroughly researched sports bio, written with Mays' cooperation. Mays was a guarded interview subject, but his participation fills in some gaps and the author interviewed hundreds of other people to offer balance and perspective. The book illuminated some aspects of Mays' life and career that have been mythologized over time. RIP Say Hey Kid.

[Brittney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audiobook. This is the best biography I've ever read. Maybe you have to love baseball, but I do. Especially during the World Series sections, it felt like I was listening to the game on the radio.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a conventional baseball biography, in the best version of that genre. It's a positive book for the most part, and the criticisms of Mays are stated in polite, oblique terms. This is not a tell-all book, and that's fine. We don't need to have our heroes chopped down by every angry anecdote that can be dredged up. I was very happy to read a book that's mostly about triumph.

The writing in the early chapters neatly and poignantly evokes life in segregated Alabama, where Mays grew up, and the Negro Leagues where he began his quick march to fame. Those chapters set a tone that's carried throughout the book of pointing out in sportswriterly terms the achievements of Mays (great catches, big home runs, his flair and stylishness), and also the slights he endured as a Black man and an essentially shy person in a public role. Author James Hirsch has a knack for describing in words the balletic achievements of Mays, such as his ability to run back on balls and seemingly always go to the right spot for the catch, and then to instantly spin or turn to make a hard throw to the infield. But at the same time, Hirsch explains that those throws often went too far, as Mays couldn't resist trying to make the spectacular play. That need to entertain carried throughout his career on an equal level with his need to win.

Hirsch does a good job as well of showing how Mays seemed to be in the right place at the right time over and over. This doesn't diminish his achievements on the field, because he wouldn't have been in the right place if he wasn't one of the best and easily the most dynamic player in the game. But it's still remarkable that Mays played in the Negro Leagues in their last few years of popularity, then was the first Black player in his minor league, and then joined the NY Giants early in integration and played in a World Series as a rookie, and then had the defining moment three years later in the first televised World Series, and then was their most high-profile player when they changed the face of baseball by moving to San Francisco, and then played into the era of expansion and free agency that continues to drive the game today. Plus, he barnstormed in the winter in the US and then Latin America, the former as the star of the last successful barnstorming offseasons, as that 50-year old tradition died. Pretty remarkable that Mays was everywhere.

Through it all, a few themes seemed to emerge. First, Mays was distant and often a bit unsophisticated; not unintelligent, but untutored. Second, he distrusted most sportswriters because they would eventually criticize him in order to get attention. Third, he loved kids, shown with his early-career stickball games in Harlem (which continued on a less frequent basis for the rest of his career), and his endless visits to hospitals and fundraisers. Fourth, he hated to lose, so he played hard every day, pushed himself to play 150-plus games per year, ran into catchers all the time, and was an on-field coach who positioned all his teammates. In general, he was a remarkable baserunner, if the anecdotes in the book are true -- and the research seems very solid. Over and over, Mays would keep running on simple plays, and thus move from first to third on a bunt, or pretend to stop at third on a single to the outfield, and then when the outfielder started his soft throw, Mays would turn on the jets and score. Fifth, it seems that pitchers threw at him constantly, with the author saying he had to hit the deck once per game. Frankly, I find it hard to believe that baseball would tolerate so much head-hunting against a star player, but maybe it's true. The violence of the game in general -- Mays spiking catchers, beanballs, etc. -- is pretty shocking compared to today. This wasn't the 1910s and Ty Cobb, this was the 1960s and ABC's Game of the Week.

Mays must have been remarkable to see, as the book gives endless anecdotes about his catches in the outfield, his daring baserunning, his line drive homers. And the fact that he played hard every day set a standard for his team that surely led to more victories, even when Mays would have benefited from a day off here or there for rest.

I mentioned that the book isn't a tell-all. It doesn't ignore Mays's warts, but it downplays the controversial things that are the source of titillation in bad baseball biographies. For example, there's a brief discussion of the use of amphetamines, which was rampant when Mays played. Mays was accused by a Mets teammate of using and even having some available for other players. This seems highly plausible, given Mays's insistence on playing through injury and the exhaustion of travel and other stuff as a high profile player (interviews, TV shows, etc.). Plus, the author notes several times that Mays took sleeping pills daily -- which is a common need by athletes and entertainers to come down from speed. And it's further bolstered by Mays needing several times in his career to be hospitalized for a few days, which feels to me like weaning him off speed. But the author just mentions these things chronologically, as if they are unrelated, and he doesn't delve into their significance.

Same thing with womanizing. I'm fine that the author doesn't go into details about Mays's sex life, as lets keep the focus on him on the field. But at the same time, it's a big incongruous to say that for nearly a decade after his divorce, Mays dated a woman on again-off again, while "dating" other women. And of course, as a good-looking, wealthy, famous guy, he had women available all the time. And he had old-fashioned views about what women should do. So, a hard-hitting biography would look at this more closely.

The one non-sports area where the author does try to pull together a full view is race, and this is, of course, the most appropriate one to do. As noted, Mays rose to prominence just as Black players were becoming commonplace at least on American League teams and the general civil rights movement gained steam. But Mays stayed aloof from it for his entire career and post-career life. As the author notes, using comments from Mays over and over, he wanted to look forward, not backward, and to see progress, not harm. Leading figures in civil rights, including Jackie Robinson, were highly critical of him for his stance, but Mays never wavered. He understood that he got better-than-average treatment from Whites because of his fame and skills, but he also faced closed restaurants, homes that wouldn't be sold to him, and racist assumptions by fans and sportswriters. But he never publicly complained. That wasn't his way; his way was to show a positive, cooperative future. Others could do the fighting, and he could show what the world could be. I think that's a defensible position, and the author makes the case well. At the same time, he asks repeatedly what this did to Mays as a person having to hold in his anger and sadness about the indignities. It's very poignant.

In that same context, the author explains how over and over, Mays was a leader, even if it didn't look like it to the sportswriters who said he was a "natural" who didn't have to try hard and who was selfishly playing for himself only. There's the famous case of him tackling Orlando Cepeda when he was running onto the field vs. the Dodgers with a bat in hand, ready to escalate one of the ugliest brawls in baseball history that resulted in Juan Marichal hitting John Roseboro over the head with a bat. Mays actually helped lead Roseboro off the field and cradled him in his arms while medics checked his injuries. Those actions literally averted a riot, according to all accounts.

Meanwhile, Mays always mentored young players, coached them on and off the field about behavior, and set an example of being a non-drinker and non-smoker.

The bottom line message of this book is that Willie Mays defined an era of baseball, shining above an amazing array of stars. He was the one person that everyone would watch from batting practice to the last out. And he did it under the spotlight for more than 20 years, playing hurt, playing tired, playing while insulted and underpaid and unfairly criticized. It wasn't just about talent, it was about class. And Willie Mays had that to spare.

[Harold Kasselman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Willie Mays was the greatest all-around player I have ever seen. So, when i found this biography by James Hirsch, I was thrilled to be able to find out more about the man himself. After many years of trying Hirsch finally got Mays to authorize the biography and lent his support to the project. The result, in my mind, is a fascinating and thorough presentation of an American legend whose professional career spanned from the last year of the Negro leagues through 1973. Despite having seen Mays play in person and on television, I learned quite a few things about Willie that I had never known. The greatest never drank, smoked tobacco, or carouse- he was faithful to his sport and to excellence. He played with such emotion and physicality that he had several bouts of fainting spells, exhaustion, and hospitalization for same. After the Giants moved to San Francisco, Willie was booed multiple times by home fans for not living up to their expectations for his first four years there. This was likely due to the resentment of the west coast fans towards a New York legend who was trying to preempt their hero Joe Dimaggio. He wasn't a leader per se as a teammate, but he led by example until Al Dark made him the Captain of the Giants. Willie was a jokester, and fun in the clubhouse, but he didn't socialize much outside of the game. He offered help to teammates when asked but didn't initiate advice. He was as full of life and optimism when he played his game. His joy was evident at age twenty, when he broke in, up until he was traded to the Mets. You will learn of the paternalistic relationship he had with Leo Durocher, and the nurturing that Willie needed to master his trade. He craved and thrived off of the adulation from the fans, but he was distrustful of strangers, and preferred to stay in his hotel room or at home alone rather than seek celebrity off of the field. He remained in some sense a child and he made a lifetime of giving back to children, especially those hospitalized. We learn of his undisciplined approach to financial matters, his marriage to two wives, and his near bankruptcy state at some times in his life because of reckless spending/ and giving away clothes and cash to others. He would be financially dependent to others for guidance for most of his life-perhaps because his only pure love was for baseball and his second wife Mae. There is so much more, but this is a review and not a summary. Hirsch has done a wonderful job allowing us to see what was inside the myth. He closes with this quote which is essential for understanding the greatness of Mays the player. ..."the numbers for all their elegance, capture only part of the game, and they disservice Mays by failing to reflect his strategic, intangible contributions (inducing bad throws, quick first steps in the outfield, positioning, knowledge of hitters, and so on). The "five tool" designation understates his skills by ignoring his intelligence, preparation, and guile> Mays was always better than the box score." I saw his career, and he was one of a kind. The legend is worthy of all of the accolades given to him. One can only imagine what his numbers would have been but for losing two years to the Army, and the unfavorable ball parks that he played in during his career.

[Spiros · Rating 4 out of 5]

Willie Mays was my third childhood hero, right behind Curious George and Batman. In our games of streetball (or drivewayball), I willingly ceded any right to "be" Willie to Anthony McBride, who was a year older and infinitely more athletic than me. I was perfectly content to "be" Bobby Bonds. Hence, it was a long time before I nerved myself to pick up this tome, and it was only because I found a $10 hardcover copy at Housing Works that I wound up purchasing it, and carried it around the East Coast for a couple of weeks; when I returned to work, the first thing to greet my eyes was a shiny stack of $10 copies on our remainder table, but hey: it's nice to buy books at Housing Works (also, a tee-shirt to replace the Paul Madonna Green Apple shirt I had left in Baltimore).
All in all, Hirsch does a great job. What galled me the most, even more than the racist residents of Miraloma Drive who tried to stop Willie from lowering their fucking property values when he moved to the City in 1958, was reading about San Francisco's idiot parochial press. I mean, I have been known to drink, but I'm pretty sure I am incapable of the vitriolic spew that Charles McCabe scrawled about Mays, and it comes as no surprise that Glenn Dickey questioned Willie's baseball intelligence; Dickey is the same cock-knocker who would later opine that that the 49ers should trade Joe Montana after the 1985 season. In reading this, Barry Bonds' relations with the press become more understandable; Barry is my exact contemporary, and he grew up watching the local press buffoons rip into both his father and his godfather.
Actually, it always amazes me how het up journalists get about players' salaries. Was Willie taking money that Stoneham had otherwise earmarked for the media? Stoneham basically ran (or drank) the franchise into the ground: between 1968 and 1974 the Giant's debuted Bobby Bonds, Dave Kingman, George Foster, Garry Maddox, and Gary Mathews into their outfield; by 1977, none of those players was with the team. Did the press ever get snippy with Stoneham? Not even after he sold the team to LaBatts, and put the Giants in jeopardy of being moved to Toronto or *shudder* St. Petersburg. And yet these same stooges had the effrontery to accuse Willie Mays of "Uncle Tomming". Fortunately, the local sporting press has both shrunken and dramatically improved since Willie's time, and I willingly buy the fishwrap on Saturdays just to read Bruce Jenkins.

[Len · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like to start each baseball season by reading a baseball book, and it's hard to imagine a better baseball hero to read about than Willie Mays. This book was a thorough life story, starting with his childhood in Alabama through his time in the Negro leagues, on to his brief minor league experience -- and then of course the story of his remarkable major league career with the Giants and Mets.

Willie Mays has always been something of an anomaly -- a public figure with a very private personal life. Yes, we knew about his marriages and his financial issues and even his job with Bally's that kept him away from MLB for so many years. But he kept so quiet about his views on big issues that you perhaps thought he didn't have any views. But he definitely did.

Mays was one of the first African Americans in the major leagues and played during a difficult time in America for race relations. He wasn't outspoken like Jackie Robinson, but he experienced more than his share of racism and in his own way dealt with it -- by talking to kids and teaching them about right and wrong. He also was caught in the middle of baseball's expansion west and struggled with San Francisco fans early on being one of the last remaining New York Giants.

I loved reading about Willie Mays...both his on the field life and his off the field life. While I was too young to really compare him to today's baseball legends, I did get to see him play as a member of the New York Mets and remember even as a young child knowing there was something magical about him. I'll never forget seeing his pink Cadillac parked out front of Shea Stadium with the license plate that read "sey hey."

This is a great read for baseball fans, and for anyone who wants to explore what America was like in the 50s and 60s.

The only downside for me was that Hirsch was very rarely critical of Mays in the book. He did say a few things that were critical, but for the most part it was written as if Hirsch thought Willie Mays was never wrong and always the victim. This book is really a love letter of sorts to Mays. But hey, he was arguably the greatest all-around baseball player ever.

[hamptonenglish10 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eric Mikulan
Ms. Brooks and Ms. Sims
English Book Review
7 January 2013

For my non-fiction book I read the book Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend by James S. Hirsch. This book tells of the story of Willie Mays life from growing up in Alabama to becoming a Major League Baseball player. The book tells of May's struggles as he got drafted out of high school as he grew up in a time of great racism. His struggles continued as he began to play in minor league baseball in Minneapolis. Due to the great racism of the time of when he played in the Negro Leagues of the south which is were all the African American baseball players played until Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier of Major league baseball. The book goes on to tell of May's career in the MLB with New York and San Francisco, and gives praise to one of the greatest baseball players of all time.

This book on Willie Mays is a non-fiction biography, I know this because the author tells the story of Willie Mays and his life and Career in baseball. Some information that I found interesting in this book is that Willies Mays ranks fourth on the all time home run leaderboard with 660 home runs. Willie Mays was the highest paid player of the late 1950s making $100,000 which seems like a miniscule amount of money compared to todays athletes. Willies Mays played 22 seasons in the MLB which is a very long time to be in major league baseball where the average player only plays for around 5 years. Willie Mays set a Major league record for durability by playing more than 150 games in thirteen or more seasons.

Overall I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking to further there knowledge of one of the greatest baseball players of all time. I give the book four stars out of five since it provides lots of information about Willie Mays and Major League Baseball. However I did not give this book a fifth star because of the fact that it can become fairly boring at times. The book should be read if you like baseball and if you like the history of some of the greatest players.

[Paul Pessolano · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Willie Mays. The Life, The Legend” by James S. Hirsch, published by Scribner.

Category – Sports/Baseball Publication Date – February 09, 2010

“The Catch” was made by Willie Mays in the 1954 World Series, and there is no other “The Catch” in any other sport, that includes football.

The story of Willie Mays goes far beyond the sport of baseball, although baseball was his life and he gave everything he had to the sport. The era of Willie Mays saw not only great changes in baseball but also in politics, especially in the civil rights movement. Willie was a very personal person who steered away from controversy; he only wanted to play baseball. Willie came from a poor family in Alabama and very early saw his future would be tied to Major League baseball. He played in the Negro League and worked his way up to a starting position for the New York Giants. Willie was so intense playing the game that he took the success of the team on his shoulders. He was one of the few players EVER that was a complete ball player. Willie could hit, run, catch, and do anything else required of him, even to the point of breaking up fights and controlling an unruly crowd. Willie did have problems with marriage and finances. It was not until later in life that he found the woman of his dreams and was able to get his finances under control. Willie would do anything for “the kids”, he had a special place in his heart for them and made many a special effort to go to hospitals and sign baseballs for them and ask how they were doing. Many charitable things that he did went unnoticed because he did not want the notoriety.

The book not only covers Mays’s baseball career but the civil rights movement and the expansion of Major League Baseball. This is an excellent read for those interested in sports, especially a player that is one of a kind and will never be seen again.

[David Lucander · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read about someone I always revered but never knew much about (I'm 34), but this book really could have been shorter - especially considering that The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks and The Radical King give compelling stories with about half the page count.

I really feel like I got to know Mays, the same way I felt about Sam Cooke after Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke, and I appreciated what Hirsch had to say about Mays and his times, but this was just...a...little...long. If I were to read one book about a Black ballplayer from that era I'd stick with The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron.

All that said, Hirsch made me appreciate what the Giants meant to NYC and how the team brought Black and Latino players into their roster (Marichal, McCovey, etc.) and I'm going to wear an old S.F. Giants shirt that I inherited from a friend with a little more pride.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first comprehensive authorized biography of Willie Mays, the greatest centerfielder of all time, was worth the wait. Hirsch examines all of Mays' playing years as a Giant and a Met (sigh), while looking at his rise to stardom in the context of the civil rights movement and his childhood growing up in the Deep South and playing in the Negro Leagues. It also delves into his relationships with coaches and other players, including the temperamental but fatherly manager Leo Durocher and Jackie Robinson (who criticized Mays for not being enough of an activist for African American rights). And, of course, it recounts the memorable moments of his career, like the famous World Series catch in 1954, and his peacemaking role in the bloody bat-wielding brawl of 1965. Hirsch's definitive account sheds light on one of the superior athletes of the 20th century, who was often quiet, misunderstood, and bad at managing money, but who played hard (to the point of punishing his body) and possessed both enthusiasm and style that wowed fans and teammates, and he never shied away from helping his youngest fans, children in New York and San Francisco. Best player of all time? Probably, but definitely the best of his generation.

[Chris Munson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anyone that knows me knows that I have a passion for baseball. So, I often try to read something baseball related. I also like to read about great people. Recently, I saw that Willie Mays and I shared the same birthday and I saw this book in the bargain bin. Willie Mays definitely had an interesting life. From his time in the Negro Leagues to his debut in the major leagues, Willie's story shows what you can overcome if you work hard, never give up and are surrounded by supporting and loving people. With that being said...you will need to be patient with this version of Mays' story. The first third of the book reads like a newspaper account and lacks the charm, wonder, drama and excitement you would expect. The last two thirds of the book do a much better job of drawing the reader into Mays' life. I learned much about May's life (including that Jackie Robinson sounded like a bitter jerk), but I almost quit on this book because of the antiseptic first 200 pages. I'm glad I stuck it out.

[Ty · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the few biographies of the great Willie Mays and the only one written with his support (thus "authorized"). the book is a very detailed look at the Say Hey Kid's life and times. i believe that Mays is the greatest baseball player of all time, and not coincidentally, the greatest NY/SF Giants player of all time, of course. reading through the description of his playing career was fascinating for me, as i never got a chance to see him play in real life. i found it a bit odd that the author focused so much on race relations in the book, when Willie took such pains to avoid these controversies himself, but i guess it is difficult to avoid the grim realities of Willie's early days in the segregated South, dealing with Jim Crow laws and veiled or outright discrimination his whole life. throughout, the strength of character of Mays comes through...he was not perfect by any means, but he was a good man who tried to do right as he saw it and always respected The Game. highly recommended for hardcore baseball fans, but it is a very detailed read for the casual fan.

[Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard to find a problem with this bio, especially when I generally don't like them as much as a book focused on a short time-frame. Normally the problem is just that a bio's subject life just can't fill an entire book. Mays really wouldn't either but the author does something smart that most bio authors don't for reasons of filling out pages, he spends 90% of the book on the actual important times of the Mays's life-his time in baseball. It's a brilliant baseball career that deserves all these pages. Most bio's lean toward full-on praise and giving the benefit of the doubt and this one is no different but that doesn't feel completely out-of-touch with reality. He's honest about Mays's "firewall" for everyone but children, baseball players and pets. I feel like I know who he is though. The author does a great job hitting all the highlights and summing up when needed to avoid repetition.