Comments on: Willie Mays could've been a Yankee

By: robert james

robert james — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:58:13 +0000

Remember, they also had Jackie Jensen at the same time as Mantle.
He did pretty ,pretty good for the Senators and Red Sox when they let him go.
outfield of Mays , Mantle Jensen ,not bad.

By: Oldtimer

Oldtimer — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:58:01 +0000

The other thing that would have happened would have been that with Willie in center, Roger Maris would have probably never been a Yankee.
Mays would have hit many more homers at Yankee stadium. Willie hit the low outside pitch to right with as much power as anyone ever has. With that short right field wall he could have probably added a hundred dingers to his total. Mays was the greatest player of all time, no question in this baseball fan’s mind.
Ruth was a great one, as was Wagner, Clemente, some others could be included in the discussion. Mays had no equal in the field, could pull any pitcher, but hit equally well to the opposite field, could run like the wind and knew how to run the bases. He had one thing that really distinguishes him – he loved to be on the diamond. I doubt he ever played with a hangover. His number one priority was to play.
I believe Bo Jackson could have been a player of the equal to Willie, but Bo didn’t dedicate himself to baseball. His foray into football cost him, what could have been, a brilliant career.

By: joe speranzi

joe speranzi — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 13:52:38 +0000

Mantle, Mays and Maris on the same team….one can only dream.

By: David Burden

David Burden — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:32:06 +0000

My gramps (Jack Schwarz) was involved in signing Mays for the Giants. If you want an alternate history idea, here you go: he told me that he had a verbal agreement to sign Hank Aaron. Trouble was, the Braves made a higher offer to Aaron’s club, and that club took the higher offer without calling the Giants back for a counter-offer.
Full disclosure:
Ya gotta be careful with these anecdotes. I did a little web search on “Jack Schwarz Willie Mays”, and got the link below, which seems to imply that my grandpa owned the team. His actual title was “Director of Player Development” by the time he retired in the early 80s – not sure what it was when Mays was signed. As I understand things, he was basically the office manager of the scouting department.
http://books.google.com/books?id=vm5H5R8EfMcC&pg=PA58&lpg=PA58&dq=jack+schwarz+willie+mays&source=bl&ots=eyeSIsrD_g&sig=t9ba4QtnbEttnEStqWnOI9_RODM&hl=en&ei=nV-uSszNKYOItgfM6tDQCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=jack%20schwarz%20willie%20mays&f=false

By: Howie Kaplin

Howie Kaplin — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:02:40 +0000

Craig – it’s an interesting idea, but one that has so little basis in reality that it can’t measure up to the DiMaggio-Williams switch. The reason I say this is that the American League, and the Yankees in particular were so far from bringing in an African American player. Not until Elston Howard in 1955 did they bring one in. And it’s been well documented that the National League was so much more progressive….look who dominated the All Star games then…..So, I find it hard to visulize Willie playing for the Yankees.

By: Jason @ IIATMS

Jason @ IIATMS — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:55:03 +0000

Maybe there would have finally been a call for a slotting process in the draft? (tongue firmly planted in cheek)

By: glumsby

glumsby — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:54:39 +0000

Great Story,
As a New Yorker who grew up with Mays-Mantle and Duke Snider that would have been fascinating. As it turned out it was terrific as it was with the Giant/Dogers/Yankees center fielders!!

By: Denny

Denny — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:45:36 +0000

Craig,
My stats book is at home. How many round trippers did he hit prior to moving out west and how many less would he have playing in Yankee Stadium during that period? Then, how many were knocked down or blew back into play before the bleachers were added at Candlestick? Even after they were added? I was a stout Giants fan back in those days and Mays was my favorite player. I know this is off track a bit but give him his 2 years in the military back and put in in the same ball parks that Aaron played in.

By: Craig Calcaterra

Craig Calcaterra — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:16:29 +0000

True, Denny. But he would have lost a ton of homers by not being in the homer-friendly Polo Grounds before 1958.

By: Denny

Denny — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:14:21 +0000

How many home runs he would have hit had his home field been Yankee Stadium? They played a lot more day games back then and there were no left field bleachers, to speak of, at Candlestick Park to block the wind coming in off the Bay. That may have been enough to put him ahead of Ruth’s 714. Never mind his time spent in the military.