"Will Willie MAYS Be Named Baseball's 'Greatest Living Player' Before HE Passes?"

If you read my last post about the passing of baseball's Willie McCOVEY, you’ll understand why it’s got me thinking again about his teammate and fellow Alabaman Willie MAYS...specifically, why Mays has never been named Major League Baseball’s “Greatest Living Player.”  

More importantly, WILL Willie be given this long overdue honor...before HE dies?

See, when Joe DiMaggio passed in 1999, he vacated the title of Baseball’s “Greatest Living Player” which he’d held for 30 years.  In all honesty, “The Say Hey Kid” deserved that title even THEN because it is he, not DiMag, who is often discussed as the “Greatest Living Player of ALL-TIME.”  (I mean, if you’re not in the running for best ALL-TIME player, how are you the greatest LIVING player over someone who is??)

Mays has been MLB's GLP for the past 50 years, since '68, truth be told.

(Some say MICKEY MANTLE held the distinction from '63-'68, but even The Mick said Mays was better than him!! When Mantle retired, somehow that "other" Yankee centerfielder, Joe D., apparently CLAIMED THE TITLE FOR HIMSELF and that's how he held the spot from '69-'99.  But again, MAYS should have been recognized the moment Mickey retired in '68....50 years ago.)

Mays himself, perhaps because DiMaggio was his boyhood idol, never, to my knowledge, complained about playing second fiddle to Joe D. during Joe’s undeserved reign. But when DiMag passed, Mays should have AUTOMATICALLY been given the title by MLB.  He wasn't. This led me to write “The Sporting News” in March 1999 to ask WHY, and they printed my letter but provided no answer.

I was a YANKEE fan by this time (see bottom of my previous post) and not a Giants fan anymore but it was totally unfair that the former Yankee, DiMaggio, was undeservedly honored from ’69-’99 and, perhaps due to racism? the former Giant, Mays, NEVER GOT HIS DUE.

After writing “The Sporting News” in ’99, the New York Daily News printed my letters about this subject three times in the next 17 years as I seized different opportunities to address the injustice.  Here are the letters.

     March 1^st, 2011   “With the passing of Duke Snider, only Willie Mays remains of "Willie, Mickey and the Duke," reopening an old wound for Mays' fans. When will he be acknowledged as "the greatest living ballplayer"? Twelve years ago, when Joe DiMaggio died, he vacated that title, which really belonged to Mays even then. Some of us are still waiting for Mays to get the honor he deserves. He will be 80 in May, and Duke's death reminds us that even legends are mortal. I cannot help but suspect that some sort of racism keeps Mays from being acknowledged as baseball's best.”

A reader of the News responded in agreement.

     March 9^th, 2011 “Chet Jelinski is right, Willie Mays was a greater player than Joe DiMaggio. Mays had more hits, doubles, triples, home runs and RBI than DiMaggio. Defensively, Mays had a higher fielding percentage, more assists and made fewer errors. DiMaggio retired after 13 years because his baseball skills were gone. On the other hand, in 1965 (Mays' 14th season) he batted .317 with 52 HRs and 112 RBI and won the NL MVP. Mays wins on all counts. DiMaggio was great, but Mays was the greatest.”

I used another occasion to bring this issue up to New York readers (Mays began, and ended, his career in New York) four years later.  This was written after A-Rod apologized for using illegal, performance-enhancing substances.

     Feb. 21^st, 2015 “A-Rod's handwritten apology to the fans is acceptable as far as it goes, at least with this Yankees fan. Problem is, it doesn't go far enough!

You see, he apologized to Yankees fans, Major League Baseball, the Steinbrenner family and the Players' Association. Fine. But not to Willie Mays. With only six more homers, A-Rod ties Mays on the all-time home-run list and gets a $6 million bonus for doing that. The Say Hey Kid never cheated to reach 660, and he did not make $6 million over his entire career. If A-Rod ties Mays, he should send him a check with the whole bonus in it, wrapped in another of his now-famous handwritten notes.”

The following year, I addressed the issue again.

     Jan. 10^th, 2016  “So Ken Griffey, Jr. is now the all-time high percentage vote getter for Hall of Fame balloting, surpassing Willie Mays? Mays beat Griffey in batting average (.302 to .284), hits (3,283 to 2,781), homers (660 to 630), RBI (1,903 to 1,836), MVP awards (2 to 1), All-Star appearances (24 to 13) and World Series Championships (1 to 0). Both were amazing centerfielders, but Willie had the better career. And, by the way, we are now 17 years past the death of the "Greatest Living Player," Joe DiMaggio. When will Willie get that title?”

And, again, another reader agreed with me wholeheartedly.

     Jan. 18^th, 2016 “Chet Jelinski is right on. Ken Griffey Jr. was a great ballplayer, but he is no Willie Mays. While we are on the subject, Joe DiMaggio was never the greatest living ballplayer. Whoever tagged him with that title never saw the Say Hey Kid.”



I suppose I could use the occasion of Willie McCovey's passing to write the New York Daily News AGAIN, about Willie Mays and the way he's being cheated....but I won't.  Mays HIMSELF wouldn't like me "publicly" using his close friend's passing that way.

And after all, I have this "private" BLOG now to ask this question...."Will Willie Mays be named baseball's Greatest Living Player...before HE passes??



 

                                  Above: I love my license plates!! Photo by: Me.
Below: my drawing of Mays was front and center on the cover of one of my 2012 books...