Willie Mays Biography

Willie Howard Mays Jr., popularly known as ‘The Say Hey Kid’ in the baseball circle, is a retired professional baseball player who played as a center fielder with the New York and San Francisco Giants for most of his career. He played for the first time professionally with the Negro American League. He was fascinated by the game because his father was an exceptional baseball player who used to play for the local Negro teams - Mays witnessed a lot of his early games and learnt a few tricks from his father. He played in the minor leagues for two seasons before the New York Giants picked him up and in his first season with them, he was called the “Rookie of the Year”. He was outstanding in both batting and fielding and after the Giants could not afford him in 1972, he was traded off to the New York Mets. Mays retired from baseball a year after playing for the Mets. His stupendous success as a baseball player fetched him many honors like-- the Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award, a doctorate from Dartmouth College, special tribute in All-Star Game in San Francisco, etc.