Authorized by Willie Mays, the definitive biography of one of the greatest baseball players of all time.
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Dec 31, 2011
I was initially a bit intimidated by the size of this book. I knew I wanted to read about Willie Mays, but did I want to read that much about Willie Mays? Yes, it turned out I did. The accomplishments of his long career were easy to read. He began in the Negro Leagues, and when he first got called up to the New York Giants, he was so young and insecure that, at first, he refused to go. Leo Durocher gave him encouragement and protection until his skills blossomed. It seemed he did everything well
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Jul 17, 2011
Chuck
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It's stunning to think that, as important he is as a baseball player and as an American icon, there has never been a biography written about Willie Mays. For people who actually read my book reviews, you will note that my summer reading kick has included some sports biography. The last book I posted on was a life of Henry Aaron, and, although I didn't know a great deal about Mays at the time, the one troubling thing I found was the author's need to "dog" Mays to promote Aaron (someth
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Feb 13, 2011
Scott
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My first introduction to Mays was via the Peanuts comic strips of my youth. It was a spelling bee, and Charlie Brown was asked to spell "maze." "M...A...Y...S" Charlies says, and immediately the teacher says "Waaaa waaa waaaaaaaa" which, in this case, means "incorrect!" It illustrates something I learned in this book, that Willie Mays was not only a great baseball player but also a great ambassador for the game into popular culture.
An absolute More...
An absolute More...
Apr 09, 2010
Keith
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One of the professors at the seminary I attended once said that God is closer to us "than our underwear". For me, it's kind of that way with Willie Mays. I grew up looking at box scores in the daily papers searching for his stats. Every chance I got to watch him on that newfangled thing called a television, I was enthralled. He was the only player people expected to hit a home run every time he batted, steal every base he could if he didn't and got on some other way, catch eve
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Mar 28, 2010
Frank
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The best baseball player of all time. I'll concede that, maybe, anotehr player could hit, hit for power, run, throw and catch, better than Willie Mays. but I'll never be eight yers old again. And, back then, Willie Mays was God. An electrifying player--if the Giants lost, 15-1, it was OK if Mays had hit a home run. The biography was very satisfying and enlightening. If you don't enjoy baseball, you still might find the book worth reading, if only from the civil rights viewpoint. Mays, essentialy
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Mar 13, 2010
Andy
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This is a comprehensive biography of Willie Mays starting with his growing up outside Birmingham Alabama. We of course all know about Willie Mays but one thing I liked about this book is learning so many details about his life.
In high school, baseball was his "third" sport. He was considered a better basketball player and was an superb quarterback. Mays focused on baseball because in late 40's and 50's there were many more opportunities for Black athletes in baseball.
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In high school, baseball was his "third" sport. He was considered a better basketball player and was an superb quarterback. Mays focused on baseball because in late 40's and 50's there were many more opportunities for Black athletes in baseball.
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Jun 17, 2010
Gary
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Willie Mays was one of my boyhood heroes. Indeed, my now well-worn San Francisco Giants 1959 Yearbook with his (and Willie McCovey's) autograph remains a prized possession. One gratifying element in reading this book was to learn that my youthful hero-worship was not misplaced; Mays was and is an admirable man on and off the baseball field. More significantly, Hirsch places Mays's style of play and accomplishments within the context of baseball history, noting how he and other black stars enl
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Jul 02, 2010
Tom
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I loved this book. I guess the best compliment I can give this book is that I'm a baseball fan, but a Dodger fan and I LOATHE the Giants. I mean, I hate the colors orange and black because of them. But that being said, this book on the Say Hey Kid was flawless. It's long at 560 pages, but it's basically all baseball. About 10 to 20 pages on each year he played in the Majors, a little more on his years in 1951, 1954 and 1965, but all in all you get to follow Mays throughout his career. Only the l
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Apr 06, 2010
Bookmarks Magazine
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The readers who seemed to appreciate Hirsch's biography the most were those who either had a personal connection to Mays's story or those who delight in baseball records and minutiae. The book is undoubtedly a must-read for anyone who is excited about an entire chapter devoted to the famous catch in the 1954 World Series (according to Mays himself, the catch was less impressive than the throw). But many reviewers felt the book dragged, either because of the vast detail or the digressions into co
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Jun 19, 2011
The full life at 557 pages. Covers in detail his two years in the negro leagues and 22 years in the majors. Hirsch is good on race relations and portrays Mays as an arch conciliator, seldom taking offense and always seeing the other guy's point of view mainly because this was his personality. This caused trouble with more combative types like Jackie Robinson. I wasn't aware of Mays' difficulty in buying a house in San Francisco in the late 50s nor about the Giants' racial problems which Hirsch b
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Dec 01, 2010
Rich
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When I was a kid, I did not want to be a policeman or a fireman or even a baseball player - I wanted to be Willie Mays. My parents saved my crayon drawing of the center fielder with his back to home plate, racing to catch the deep drive, number 24 emblazoned on the back. In other words, this is not an objective review. I was simply enthralled with the book - details of his life in the South, the barnstorming tours of Latin America, the housing discrimination of San Francisco in the fifties, the
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May 08, 2011
Deedee
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Well, I love baseball and I will always love the smooth stride of Willie Mays deep in the grass. This is not only a story about Willie Mays but a story about segregation, family and America's game, then and to some extent now. Not a book for those the don't appreciate the skill it takes to catch a fly ball while running backward and fire it in from deep center to mid-field. BUT, if you understand the true nature of this kind of perfection, it's read not to be missed.
SPOILER ALERT: More...
SPOILER ALERT: More...
Mar 24, 2010
Len
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I like to start each baseball season by reading a baseball book, and it's hard to imagine a better baseball hero to read about than Willie Mays. This book was a thorough life story, starting with his childhood in Alabama through his time in the Negro leagues, on to his brief minor league experience -- and then of course the story of his remarkable major league career with the Giants and Mets.
Willie Mays has always been something of an anomaly -- a public figure with a very private pe More...
Willie Mays has always been something of an anomaly -- a public figure with a very private pe More...
Mar 29, 2010
Raymond
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Five-hundred-sixty pages on Willie Mays? This is what James S. Hirsch has produced with, “Willie Mays, the Life, the Legend.” Of course, Willie Mays is (probably) the greatest of all the great baseball players. Willie’s active years were the years of racial integration of major league baseball and the years when the leagues came to span the continental nation - Willie’s Giants moved from the Polo Grounds in New York City to San Francisco. And then: Willie Mays is a singular, magnetic person/pers
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Feb 03, 2011
"If you grew up loving baseball in the fifties and sixties in the New York environ, like I did, then you were a big fan of Willie Mays, possibly the greatest player ever. This authorized biography is a long but comprehensive life story of an individual who tried to be a positive influence on the game and his organization. However, the book provides a equal insight into history of baseball generally and of the social progress in race relations during the second half of the twentieth century.
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Mar 15, 2010
Dale
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There has long been a need for a Willie Mays biography, and while less than perfect, this one is welcome. The author, who says he never saw Mays play, nonetheless gives a good feel for the transformative nature of Mays' game as what is now called "the first five-tool player." Bridging the baseball eras of station-to-station, wait for the home run play to the modern game, Mays is portrayed as one of a kind on and off the field. My rating is this low mainly because the author is obviousl
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Mar 14, 2011
Adrienne
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As a fan of the San Francisco Giants, I knew all about Willie Mays. He played center field, had a great arm and hit lots of home runs. His nickname was the "Say Hey Kid" and he made an amazing catch in the 1954 World Series (I have a copy of the famous photograph on the wall of my office at work). So, yeah, I knew everything about Willie Mays.
At least, I thought I knew plenty about Mays, but after reading James Hirsch's entertaining biography, I realized that there was a lot More...
At least, I thought I knew plenty about Mays, but after reading James Hirsch's entertaining biography, I realized that there was a lot More...
Jul 06, 2010
Nathan
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My previous knowledge of Willie Mays was limited to the once-over given him in grade-school history books: he was an African-American who overcame racism in the national pastime and became a Great American Figure: a catalyst of social change who just happened to play baseball. Hirsch is more thorough, but hardly less adulatory -in the other extreme. This ponderous volume flirts constantly with hagiography. Hirsch paints Mays not as the Great African-American Hope (apparently, he was actually acc
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Apr 23, 2010
Jamie
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The first comprehensive authorized biography of Willie Mays, the greatest centerfielder of all time, was worth the wait. Hirsch examines all of Mays' playing years as a Giant and a Met (sigh), while looking at his rise to stardom in the context of the civil rights movement and his childhood growing up in the Deep South and playing in the Negro Leagues. It also delves into his relationships with coaches and other players, including the temperamental but fatherly manager Leo Durocher and Jackie Ro
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Apr 27, 2010
Nathaniel
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Jul 28, 2011
I never saw Willie Mays play and before this book I only knew that he was an African American baseball player. Now I feel like I've always been a fan of the Say Hey kid. The author did a great job taking me through his illustrious baseball career as an all around centerfielder with the New York Giants, San Francisco Giants, and the New York Mets. This autobiography deserves more than the maximum stars as it is obvious the author did his homework. Great book! I would recommend to any baseball fan
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Sep 03, 2010
Craig
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A pretty decent biography, but it kind of made me wonder if I really needed to read this. There was some cool stuff about traveling teams and civil rights stuff, but in general, there wasn't too much surprising.
I guess I just feel that while I really like Willie Mays, I don't know if his life was really full of enough interesting things to fill a multi-hundred page book. And I get to thinking this about a lot of people I admire. Kurt Vonnegut is my favorite author, but after Dresden, More...
I guess I just feel that while I really like Willie Mays, I don't know if his life was really full of enough interesting things to fill a multi-hundred page book. And I get to thinking this about a lot of people I admire. Kurt Vonnegut is my favorite author, but after Dresden, More...
May 06, 2010
Rich
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The "Say Hey" kid never used the term in public or private. He was the lowest paid "superstar in training " in the history of modern sportin 1952. He just loved to play his heart and body to its highest limits. Check his stats, next to Henry Aaron his stats are the highest in the National League, bar none of these beefed up players in the last 20 years. Literally, they could not carry his glove, bat or realistic ego.
Aug 05, 2010
Kate
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One of the best biographies --in any genre-- I've ever read. I wasn't certain that Hirsch's "what you see is what you get" thesis was going to hold up for 600 pages, but he gives us Mays's subtlety, intelligence and complexity in addition to some excellent social history. The chapter on the friction between Mays and Jackie Robinson during the civil rights struggle is especially thought-provoking.
Apr 15, 2011
David
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Just what I'd had in mind--a baseball book to get me limbered up for the season. More than bringing Mays to life for me again and placing him in context within (and above) the game, the book also placed him in societal context. It's a vivid refresher course in the complexities and drama of the civil rights struggle. Maybe because of those ambitions, it's sometimes more sober and studied than its great, exuberant subject might seem to promise--but it was still a pleasure.
Apr 18, 2010
David
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Willis Mays was a fine ballplayer, perhaps one of the best, and at 560 pages, this book seems to take forever to chronicle his career, game after game, hit after hit, to the point of tedium.
Hirsch idolizes Mays and it shows in every nuance of his writing, again, to the point of tedium; it'll be a while before I read another sports biography.
Hirsch idolizes Mays and it shows in every nuance of his writing, again, to the point of tedium; it'll be a while before I read another sports biography.
May 08, 2011
Matthew
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Enjoyable biography of one of the greatest ever to play the game. Willie's last season was 1973, which was just before my time (I started following baseball in 1974). Mays was (and still is) a very private person, so it is hard to get information about him. This book has both the good and not so good things about Willie.
Sep 05, 2011
Sue
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I loved this very long bio of one of baseball's greatest players. I was surprised that knowing more about a favorite player could actually make me like him even more. Usually the more you know about an idol the less you like them. There are lots of details about games and tons of stats and they all confirm the status of WM as one of the greatest athletes ever! I loved reliving games I remembered and moments often referred to in general baseball legend (the Bobby Thompson HR, "the catc
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Sep 26, 2011
Amatullah
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Great book. The book chronicles the good the bad and the ugly. Gives a great perspective on a man who is often misunderstood. Mays keeps his private life private. This hard working author worked to gain his trust, insight, and a perspective on one of the most amazing men to ever play baseball and certainly a man who's love for the game is unsurpassed. I wouldn't say the author is 100% objective. However, he is not judgmental and willing to offer different perspectives. He does a good job of rela
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May 06, 2010
Nick
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What can I say? I really enjoyed reading this biography of Willie Mays, who I saw play at the Polo Grounds as a kid. This is an authorized biography, so it doesn't explore every dark corner of Mays's life, but who wants to go there anyway?
