Baseball Hall of Famer Willie Mays stormed into the MLB right after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947. Willie Mays , a Hall of Fame baseball player known to fans as the“My father has passed away peacefully and among loved ones,” his son, Michael Mays, said in a statement released by the San Francisco Giants. “I want to thank you all from the bottom of my broken heart for the unwavering love you have shown him over the years. You have been his life’s blood.
In 1951, he was the National League’s Rookie of the Year, exploding onto the scene just four years after Jackie Robinson famously broke baseball’s color barrier on the Brooklyn Dodgers, helping usher in a new era in the MLB.
And that’s how Mays got his first experience in professional baseball — by watching it. Born to Cat Mays, a Negro League player, and Annie Satterwhite, a standout track and basketball star in high school, Mays grew up with baseball. As a 10-year-old, Mays watched his father from the bench of games, but soon, the roles were reversed.
Mays won the National League MVP award at age 23 after missing two years to serve in the Korean War. Those two years prevented him from beating Babe Ruth’s all-time home run record of 714, but provided him with the bulk to become a power-hitter.Although he quickly became a star, Mays grew to prominence in a racist era. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, he did not often speak about civil rights issues, for which he was criticized by Jackie Robinson.
Source: Education Headlines (educationheadlines.net)
Baseball MLB Celebrity Deaths Willie Mays
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