A baseball player of world renown and “immortal” status.

Date of birth: 1931-03-06
Place of birth: Westfield, Alabama, USA
Citizenship: U.S.

Willie Mays was named National League Most Valuable Player in 1954 and 1965. He received the Gold Glove Award in sports 12 times. In addition to playing in games, he starred in the TV series “Bewitched” and “Toast of the Town,” the family game “What’s My Line?”, the family comedy “Mr. Belvedere” and in “When Nature Calls.”

He was born on March 6, 1931 in Westfield, Alabama, USA.

To the little boy from Alabama, perhaps only his father prophesied a career as a sports star. Mr. and Mrs. Mays were athletes: Father played baseball on separately separated from white black teams, mother was the sprint champion at her school.

While Willie was growing up, Dad worked in a steel mill and played for a semi-professional team sponsored by the mill. Dad began teaching Willie how to catch a ball from the time his son was literally still on his feet. By the age of 14, Willie had joined his father’s team, playing soccer and basketball at his school. Even then, however, it was clear that it would be baseball that would fill his life in the future.

The young talent’s professional career began at age 16, playing for the Birmingham Black Barons in the Negro Southern League. His father, a passionate supporter of Willie’s ambitions to become a professional baseball player, insisted that his son receive a high school education. During his first year at the Black Barons, he imposed a series of restrictions on his son to make sure he didn’t miss school. And one day, with graduation behind him, Willie Mays signs a contract with the New York Giants (New York Giants; hereafter: New York Giants). At first the Giants sent him to Trenton, New Jersey, but he was quickly promoted to the Minneapolis Millers’ professional team.

In 1951 (Willie is 20 years old), the young athlete received a phone call about his participation in a game at New York’s famed Polo Grounds in Manhattan with the Giants.

Other managers probably would have panicked and sent Willie back to the minor leagues. But Leo Ernest Darroker, manager of the New York Giants, did not lose faith in the center fielder’s young talent. I must say, he was not mistaken. In his first season playing against Pittsburgh, Vili showed an exciting masterclass, becoming a leading player and contributing significantly to his team winning the National League title. The promising player temporarily disappears from the world of baseball, having been drafted into the U.S. Army. His team is unable to maintain championship status for two seasons while Willie is away.

1954 Mays returns to the Giants. In a game against Cleveland Indians, the center fielder takes his team to the world level. One of the greatest defensive moments in baseball history belongs to him when he catches a flying ball over his shoulder almost over the fence of the Polo Grounds Stadium at the World Series.

1964 Becomes team captain. And in 1966, signing a new contract with the Giants, becomes the highest-paid player in the history of the games. He becomes a peacemaker, calming a potentially dangerous situation when the team manager throws a racial slur at one sports columnist. In fact, Madison Avenue advertisers have not allowed a famous baseball player to advertise running merchandise, believing that a nation that has not fully lived up to racial prejudice is not yet ready for dark-skinned minions.