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Mays 1973

Edgy DC Aug 19 2010 08:50 AM

I have no problems with athletes hanging on as long as they can, and I dismiss columns and blogs and other arguments that suggest there's something shameful or of a dis-service to fans when a player continues to play as his skills fade. I say play until no team can find a need for you. Beats working. Moreover, many of these pieces will cite with shame Wilie Mays' season and a half with the Mets. Always overlooked is that (1) he made noise about retiring and Mrs. Payson talked him out of it, and (2) Mays actually hit in 1972, and the heartbreaking poor play for the Mets really was limited to 66 games in 1973. But they frequently talk about an error he made in the World Series, and one account says he "fell on his face." As I recall, he misjudged a ball he lost in the sun, and had one other reported misplay that I don't recall. The team was banged up in the outfield or else he wouldn't have been in there, but how bad were these misplays?

batmagadanleadoff Aug 19 2010 10:40 AM Re: Mays 1973

I wish Frenchy would retire.

Ashie62 Aug 19 2010 12:34 PM Re: Mays 1973

In my opinion the magnitude of Willie's misplays in the 73 WS were exagerrated. He lost a ball in the sun. However the video image that has endured makes it appear as if heat is rising from grass and Willie is cowering in fear of being hit. The replay is shown in slow motion for effect and has the feel of a "manufactured" moment, to Mays' detriment. The World Series film shows Mays begging for a call at home and Curt Gowdy saying something close to "even the umpires can't save Willie from old man time this year." Part of me believes if the Mets didn't "blow" that series, and they did, these negative images of Mays' last playing days may not have formed. How can a player be accused of hanging around too long? Aren't most doing the thing they love most and getting paid for it. All the while knowing when you walk away it is forever.

Edgy DC Aug 19 2010 12:46 PM Re: Mays 1973

Mays only had one regular-season error as an outfielder that year (338 2/3 innings), and while he wasn't hitting much, he may have been the Mets' best defensive outfielder, despite spending part of the year hurt. And one of those errors was in a game where he got the winning hit, right? He still scratched together a positive 1973 WAR rating from FanGraphs. I bet that's a comfort.

Ashie62 Aug 19 2010 01:10 PM Re: Mays 1973

What I remember most is the joy in Joan Payson's face in seeing Willie and how dang cold it was in those night games at Shea. Willie clocks in at a final years salary of $165,000. Hmmm Hmmm Hmmm

G-Fafif Aug 19 2010 02:04 PM Re: Mays 1973

Hang on as long as you can. Just don't keep tearfully announcing your retirement and reneging. Willie's begging for the call in the '73 WS was, of course, on behalf of Buddy Harrelson. He was being a good, engaged teammate, not falling prey to Father Time. 1973 wasn't a great year for Willie, but he did give the Mets two big on-field moments in the regular season, one that was obvious when it happened in the bottom of the ninth inning of the second game of the season and one in July, immortalized 28 years later by Ira Berkow in the Times. Well, let me tell you about the greatest play in baseball I ever saw -- or thought I saw. Few recall it, though it was probably the greatest play Johnny Oates, a second-string catcher and later a big league manager, also ever saw -- or thought he saw. Oates was the hapless catcher in the play, which was executed by the wondrous and wily Willie Mays, who incidentally, is in the news, being frequently lauded by his godson, the basher Barry Bonds. I was reminded of the play at the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in Cooperstown last weekend when I saw Mays. I had wondered what he saw on that play -- if he even remembered -- it being so subtle, so long ago and his career so crammed with highlights. The play was not, to be sure, the famous, stupendous back-to-the-plate catch in center field off the Vic Wertz drive in the 1954 World Series, or any other of Mays's acclaimed swats or snares. It took place when Mays was a Met, in a Saturday afternoon game at Shea Stadium in July 1973. The great Say Hey Kid was no longer a kid, and no longer even greeting people with, ''Say hey.'' Mays was then 42, and in the 22nd and last season of his brilliant, Hall-of-Fame career. In my mind's eye, sitting in the press box that day, this was the situation: Close game. I forget the opponent. Late innings. Mays is on second base. The batter -- don't remember who -- drives a hit to right field. Normally, the runner would score from second fairly easily, but this is no ordinary runner. Mays seems to trudge around third, like, well, an old man, and heads home, cap still on head -- remember, in his heyday the cap used to fly off his noggin as if he were in a wind tunnel. The right fielder winds up to fire the ball to the plate, certain to nail Methuselah Mays. But incredibly, Mays picks up steam and there he is racing to the plate like, well, the Say Hey Kid! He beats the throw and is safe at home. Not only that, but because he drew the throw to the plate, the batter is able to go to second, sitting there now in scoring position. In an instant, Mays had craftily set the whole thing up in his marvelous baseball brain. He obviously had run slowly at first to draw the throw, knowing all along he could make it home. For me, there is nothing quite as exciting in sports as watching a player -- particularly an aging veteran -- use his experience, his intelligence and his considerable if waning skills to accomplish something remarkable under pressure. One hesitates to use the word genius in such endeavors -- especially with such folks as Einstein, Picasso, Freud and Frost looking from the stands -- but in my view certain athletes performing certain feats may indeed possess a kind of genius. Some three decades later I recalled the play to Mays, describing it as I remembered it. Did he remember it? ''Absolutely,'' he said, in that familiar high-pitched voice. ''It was against the Braves. But there's more to it. See, I was on second base and Felix Millan was a runner on first. Ralph Garr was in right field. But not only did I score, I slid into the catcher -- it was Johnny Oates -- and I pinned him to the ground so Millan could score, too.'' I didn't remember the pinning business, so I later called Oates, at his home in Virginia. ''I always tell that story at banquets,'' Oates said. ''It was the smartest play I've ever seen, and an embarrassing one for me.'' I told Oates what Willie told me. ''I was under the impression that it was a sacrifice fly,'' Oates said. ''And I don't remember him on top of me. He made a perfect slide and took my legs out from under me. My recollection is that I wound up on top of him. But definitely we were lying on the plate, and somehow Willie wouldn't let me get up. The throw went over my head, and the runner behind him did indeed score -- how he found the plate with us lying on it I don't know.'' To check further for details, I called the Elias Sports Bureau, located in Manhattan, the record keeper for Major League Baseball. Elias confirmed the play essentially the way Mays remembered it, with him and Millan scoring on a hit by Wayne Garrett. (Those runs gave the Mets a 7-6 lead in the eighth, but they lost the game, 9-8.) I like Johnny's version of the play, I like Willie's, and I still like mine. Take your pick.

metsguyinmichigan Aug 19 2010 02:13 PM Re: Mays 1973

The line, "Willie, say good bye to America" may be among most elegant things said in a Mets uniform. I'm proud he was a Met. I don't care how he played.

Edgy DC Aug 19 2010 02:19 PM Re: Mays 1973

Heck of an inning, with Willie coming to the plate against the sexily named Jim Panther after Tom House walked the bases full. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes ... 7070.shtml

John Cougar Lunchbucket Aug 19 2010 02:28 PM Re: Mays 1973

That's the same game Hahn and Theodore collided! I was there and don't recall the Mays thing. Although I do know that we went to that game so that we'd see Mays and Aaron play against one another, thank my dad for thinking of that.

Edgy DC Aug 19 2010 02:43 PM Re: Mays 1973

And your dad may never have gotten the matchup hadn't the collision taken place. Aaron didn't start either, but got a pinch-hit as both teams emptied their benches.

Frayed Knot Aug 19 2010 02:46 PM Re: Mays 1973

I either don't remember - or, more likely, missed the subtlety of - the Mays play too. Looking back over the box score, Willie only came in via the switches that took place on account of the Hahn/Stork collision.

Zvon Aug 19 2010 05:44 PM Re: Mays 1973

metsguyinmichigan wrote: The line, "Willie, say good bye to America" may be among most elegant things said in a Mets uniform. I'm proud he was a Met. I don't care how he played. Exactly. All I knew was that this was one of my biggest boyhood idols, right up there with Tommie Agee. I joke in a way, but I'm also serious. I knew Mays was a superstar for years, a shoe in Hall of Famer who was, IMO, the most all around talented player I ever saw (jeeze, I knew who Willie Mays was before I knew who the Mets were) and that Tommie was just a local world series hero, but it didn't matter to me. They both were larger than life to me, and Mays,..yea, larger then the game itself. It was SUCH a thrill to have the opportunity to go down to the rail in field box before the game and see Mays close up. Five feet away! In a Met uniform, no less! Smilin, jokin, tossing the ball with Buzz Capra or somebody. Like MGIM I was so proud he was playing for my team. I did not care how he did, and many times he did something that made me go WOW. I remember buying a big black and white poster of him in '72 jumping up against the outfield wall and robbing a homer. I found a picture of this poster over the internet at some point over the years, but I can't find it now. I hope I do. That poster was on my wall for a long time. The play in the 73 series. I have not seen it replayed since I saw it happen live on TV. I'd like to see that footage. I may remember the play wrong. I think he did lose the ball in the sun and took a route around it and then tried to make a lunging/diving catch of that drive. I do remember thinking it should have been caught. But I wasn't mad. And by rights I should have been, but I wasn't. I was sad. Because it did drive home the fact that Willie was no longer the flawless wonder that I grew up seeing. And I knew the end of the series was also the last time I would be seeing Willie play. Did that play really hurt us in the series. If I remember correctly, yes, very much so. But I never thought any less of Willie Mays. I tend to remember all the times I got to see him close up (I even waited for him by the Diamond Club a few times) and even say something to him, and get a response. Those experiences were worth it and far outweigh the 73 series loss. Could you imaging walking by Babe Ruth's side and talking to him as he strolled to his car? To me, that's what it was like to be around Willie. Here's a picture of that '73 WS play, actually two images I edited together years back.

Edgy DC Aug 19 2010 10:29 PM Re: Mays 1973

Zvon wrote: I do remember thinking it should have been caught. But I wasn't mad. And by rights I should have been, but I wasn't. I was sad. Because it did drive home the fact that Willie was no longer the flawless wonder that I grew up seeing. The thing is that he was never that flawless wonder. It's not really fair to him to compare him to that idealized image. He was probably the best centerfielder ever, but he had his slumps and mistakes and bad days too. You were just a kid and those days fell right through your filter. Some of you may have young children who admire David Wright now, and when they are 15 or 16 (or 21!) they may see Wright hitting .231 in his last year and think on this time as when he was flawless. We know that's not true.

Zvon Aug 20 2010 12:43 AM Re: Mays 1973

Edgy DC wrote: I do remember thinking it should have been caught. But I wasn't mad. And by rights I should have been, but I wasn't. I was sad. Because it did drive home the fact that Willie was no longer the flawless wonder that I grew up seeing. The thing is that he was never that flawless wonder. It's not really fair to him to compare him to that idealized image. He was probably the best centerfielder ever, but he had his slumps and mistakes and bad days too. You were just a kid and those days fell right through your filter. Some of you may have young children who admire David Wright now, and when they are 15 or 16 (or 21!) they may see Wright hitting .231 in his last year and think on this time as when he was flawless. We know that's not true. Yea, I was a kid and I didn't see Mays play on a day to day basis before he became a Met. I just saw the body of his work, mostly through baseball cards and whatnot, and I did look at him through those rose colored glasses. I did see Agee tho, and I saw his ups and downs pretty closely. Like all ball players he failed more than he succeeded, and I still held him way up high on a pedestal. All because of game 3 of the '69 WS he was a legend in my mind. And then every once in awhile he would do something, like that walkoff in that long extra inning game. (18 innings?22ininngs?I forget) I was at that game, right behind the plate cuz almost everyone had left and we all moved down. Cripes, my friends and I walked home through the park at like 2 in the morning. I wasn't proud of Agee like I was of Mays, because he was a true legend in everyones mind. But I loved Tommies style, his whole act. He never dogged it. He would loaf after easy flies moving like he was a 65 year old man and then get under it, tap that glove, always tapped the glove, and made the catch. But if it was a drive off the bat, a gapper, he would take off like a gazzelle, like Beltran in his prime. And when he came to the plate he would bend over and tap his bat on the plate like he was in pain or something. Slowly, swing out, tap the plate, swing back. He seemed to do everything slowly if he could. But he could turn it on at anytime and I thought this was such a kool guy. I remember Agee with much more detail than I do Willie Mays. These impressions are relative. I was in shock when they traded him. And then there was Willie. I'd feel the same way when I saw Tommie close up from field box or getting on the team bus, like I did with Mays. I see your point and its a very good one. But I would not change my attitude for anything in the world. And even when those two guys did wrong, they could do no wrong by me. This is just me though. This is the way I roll. If someone wants to say Willies days as a Met were a bad thing or a mistake or talk about them in any negative way, I don't think I'd debate it. Because that person honestly feels that way and the facts can back it up as they apply to that persons priorities. In my experience, for me and in my opinion, taking Willie Mays in at that time was one of the best things the Mets have ever done. Did I want to win the '73 WS? More than anything in the world. But we had Mays and Hahn and Mays was out there for that play and he couldn't make it. And that's the way the ball bounced. I wanted him so bad to have made that catch because I thought it would have been such a kool way for him to go out. No one would have remembered how he lost it in the sun, or ran a bad route to it. They would only have remembered that he made a huge diving catch in game 7 of the '73 WS. But he didn't lose the series. Mays played a very important role in game two with a 2 out RBI single in the 12th. That helped open the flood gates for 3 more runs and a Met win. I will note that upon hitting that ball up the middle, Mays almost fell down coming out of the batters box and I thought: You may have looked like an old man there but you did it! You came through! We out hit and outscored the A's. Reggie Jackson hit a crucial homer and also made an awesome catch off a liner by Grote. If that ball got by him, Jerry would still be running around the bases. It went right down to the wire. We were down 5-1 in game 7 and scored a run in the 9th and got the tying run to the plate. We had our chances. Sometimes that the way it goes in baseball. It's a wacky game.