Did you know that Willie Mays was still alive before you heard that he died yesterday?

I did not. I was surprised and somewhat saddened, but damn, what a run he had, what a legacy he left!

You mean that advertisment guy?

@ragingloli No. That’s Billie Mays.

Potato, Potato.

I was surprised. RIP beautiful baseball champion.

No I thought he was dead . . .

(Reads RedDeerGuy1’s post . . .)

Oh!

@RedDeerGuy1 You taught me something I didn’t know, today. Or at least, something I didn’t realize. I guess now that you mentioned it, I did realize I’d heard of a Willie Mays (old baseball star?), and a Billie Mays (OXY-CLEAN monster, and also a baseball player?), and that they seemed like different people.

I knew he was alive, yes. Or at least, I figured he had to be because I would’ve heard about it if he’d died. My dad is a big Willie Mays fan and I’m from Atherton, where he lived. I would’ve heard it from the local news or at least my family’s news.

No, I didn’t know.

No. When I saw he died the first thing I asked was how old was he. I’m curious to know what his life was like the last 40 years. I hope he was comfortable financially and well. I assume he was underpaid when he played baseball.

I thought he had died about 20–25 years ago. Sadly, I hadn’t heard that he passed yesterday. I’m sorry to hear the news. May he RIP!!!

I think that’s usually how it works… 0_o

I was surprised that he was still alive. My assumption was he was deceased already.

Of course I did. But I am local to San Francisco even though I am not a Giants fan.

Er, no. I’m afraid that happens to me a little too often: “He’s dead? I didn’t know he was still alive.” I thought Willie Mays passed into history ages ago.

I absolutely knew he was still coming down for breakfast.
I was reading about him a few weeks ago. My Mother got to see him play AA as a player of the Minneapolis Millers in 1951 prior to getting snapped up by NY Giants. She still remembers him as the best player she ever saw play the game. She recalled him throwing a guy out at home with a throw from deep center field.

When I heard that he just died my first thought was, “What age was he? 110?”

Of course he was alive, we read about him at least once a month in the Chronicle, when he would visit the Giants.

He lived three blocks away when I was in 2nd grade. A friend and I knocked on his door, but his butler said, “Mr. Mays is at the ball park,” When I told my mom, she said, “give the poor man some rest, he doesn’t need to be bothered by kids.”

Yes, I had known that he was alive. Mr. Mays had more than 3,000 hits and 600 home runs, a very exclusive club with just 4 members. He always stayed on my radar.

@Love_my_doggie Its quite possible that Mays would have over 700 HR and even eclipsed Ruth’s 714 had it not been for his missing 270 games to Military Service in his early career.

I read and watch the news daily, so if he had died before June 18th, I think I would have remembered; hence, I subconsciously assumed he was alive, although I had no direct evidence that he was.
However, this prompts another question to me: is Hammerin’ Hank still alive?
No: according to Wiki, he passed in 2021.

Okay, who here thinks that Mr. NBA Logo, Jerry West, is still alive?

@Forever_Free

“Its quite possible that Mays would have over 700 HR and even eclipsed Ruth’s 714 had it not been for his missing 270 games to Military Service in his early career.”

Using your data and conservatively estimating that Mays would have hit an average of 40 HR per 154 games, he could have hit about 70 homers in that game span.
This would have given him a career total of 730 HR, so I agree that he could have surpassed the Candy Bar man.

No I did not.

He should have had a roast like Dick Van Dyke so everyone could remember he was alive without the regret of him having died already.

And no, I had no idea. I was too busy grieving Angela Lansbury still.

@Smashley Agreed! Reggie gave a great homage to Willie prior to the game at Rickwood Field the other night.
A very emotional statement about racism as well.

@Forever_Free Yes, indeed. He and Ted Williams lost so much of their careers to military service.

I especially remember the baseball cards. The 3-M cards (Mays, Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle) were considered highly collectible.