Posts Tagged ‘Willie Mays’
Let me root, root, root for the home team…
From our old friends at Pop Chart Labs…
A comprehensive taxonomy of 482 professional baseball team names, spanning over 150 years and covering teams from the bigs to the minor and independent leagues, as well as the Negro Leagues, the Nippon Professional Baseball league, and more. Styled like an old school baseball card, this is the definitive guide to the nation’s pastime.
Pick one up at their site.
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As we don our colors, we might recall that this was a sad date in 1972: The San Francisco Giants traded Willie Mays to the New York Mets (for pitcher Charlie Williams and $50,000 cash). Mays had played with Giants– first in New York, then San Francisco– since 1951. As a Giant he won two MVP awards, played 24 times in the All-Star Game (a record he shares with Stan Musial), and won 12 Golden Gloves (also a record). Mays ended his career with 660 home runs, third at the time of his retirement, and currently fourth all-time.
in 1972, the Giants franchise was losing money. Owner Horace Stoneham couldn’t guarantee Mays an income after retirement, while the Mets–anxious to capitalize on Mays’ continued popularity in new York– could offer Mays a position as a coach upon his retirement… so a friendly trade was arranged.
They invented the All-Star Game for Willie Mays.
– Ted Williams
Location, Location, Location…
From Alien Loves Predator, the New York Movie Map… Can readers spot all (91) of them?
Click here for a hi-res version, with the films numbered 1-91.
As we we slip off into Big Apple dreams, we might recall that it was on this date in 1972 that Willie Mays, in his first game as a NY Met, hit the homer that beat his alma mater, the (San Francisco) Giants, 5-4.
On this same date in 1888, baseball enthusiast and (then New York) Giants fan, DeWolf Hopper first performed Ernest Thayer’s then-unknown poem “Casey at the Bat” at a game between the Giants and the Chicago Cubs. “The audience literally went wild,” the New York World reported the next day. “Men got up on their seats and cheered… it was one of the wildest scenes ever seen…” By coincidence, August 14th, 1888 was Ernest Thayer’s 25th birthday. Hopper’s gift to Thayer kept on giving: Hopper was the prime agent of the poem’s growing fame: he went on to recite it publicly over 10,000 times– in theaters, over the radio and on record (click here to hear), and ultimately in an early film.
Hopper, mid-recitation (source)
It may be a “guy thing,” still…
Your correspondent is no particular fan of the Dallas Cowboys. Still, he is grateful to Jerry Jones and the boys for sharing this remarkable “inside” video of the old stadium coming down:
Click on the image, or hereExternal views of the demolition, here.
As we duck to avoid the score board in the Cowboys’ new stadium, we might recall that it was on this date in 1965 that the “Say Hey Kid,” Willie Mays, set the National League Home Run Record. May’s 512th career home run broke (with sweet irony, famous Dodger) Mel Ott’s League record. Mays finished his career with 660 home runs– third on the all-time list at the time of his retirement.
Advances in Materials Science, Volume Eight(-ball in the side pocket)…
The folks at Nottage Design have built a pool table using a glass bed with a surface of a new material, Vitrik, which is transparent, but has the rolling characteristics of the traditional pool table surface, felt.
And, while it costs just under $40,000 (AUS), that includes a nifty accessory kit (silver cues and bridge stick, balls, racking triangle, etc.) and delivery… in Australia.
One can download the brochure here.
As we consider our caroms, we might recall that it was on this date in 1810 the George Gordon, Lord Byron, swam the Hellespont (the four-mile strait in Turkey now called the Dardanelles). Byron, 22 at the time and on an extended Grand Tour, was emulating the (legendary) Greek hero Leander, who supposedly swam the same stretch…
And continuing on the theme of athletic accomplishment, we might recall that it was on this date, exactly 170 years later, that in 1980, the great Willie McCovey hit his 521st (and final) major league home run– one year to the day after Bobby Bonds followed Willie Mays to become became the second member of the 300-300 Club (300 home runs, 300 stolen bases). Bobby’s son Barry became the 4th member of the 300-300 Club in 1995 (Andre Dawson “joined” in 1991); then Barry became the only member of the 400-400 Club in 1998, and then the only member of the 500-500 Club (in 2003)… Willie Mays remains the only member of the 300-300-3000 Club: 300 home runs, 300 stolen bases, and 3,000 hits.
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