Willie Mays, the iconic Hall of Fame outfielder who graced the fields for the Giants and Mets over a remarkable 23-year MLB career, passed away on Tuesday at the ripe age of 93.<\/p>\n
Players, fans, and sports pundits are fondly reminiscing about the breathtaking highlights of his storied life. Mays wasn\u2019t just about making jaw-dropping plays on the diamond; he was instrumental in paving the way for the acceptance of Black athletes in baseball and American culture at large.<\/p>\n
In a touching moment back in 2009, Barack Obama told Mays that without trailblazers like him and Jackie Robinson, \u201cI\u2019m not sure that I would get elected to the White House.\u201d<\/p>\n
Willie Mays\u2019 influence extends far beyond the baseball field, ensuring his legacy endures as he transitioned from the Negro Leagues to the MLB in 1951.<\/p>\n
He kicked off his career with the New York Giants, a team that would eventually migrate west to San Francisco. During his rookie season, he earned a moniker that has become one of the most famous nicknames in sports history, a testament to his enduring legacy even after seven decades.<\/p>\n
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Willie Mays, famously known as the \u201cSay Hey Kid,\u201d earned his iconic nickname during his rookie season with the New York Giants in 1951. The credit goes to Barney Kremenko, a sportswriter for the New York Journal-American.<\/p>\n
Mays had a habit of saying, \u201csay who, say what, say where, say hey,\u201d when he couldn\u2019t remember someone\u2019s name early in his career. Kremenko, seeing a golden opportunity, dubbed him the \u201cSay Hey Kid\u201d in his columns, and the nickname stuck like glue.<\/p>\n
\u201cSay hey\u201d was Mays\u2019 go-to greeting. When he was new to the league and couldn\u2019t recall everyone\u2019s names, he\u2019d simply say, \u201csay hey,\u201d leading to one of the most beloved monikers in sports history.<\/p>\n
As Mays recounted, \u201cWhen I broke in, I didn\u2019t know many people by name. So I would just say, \u2018Say hey,\u2019 and the writers picked that up.\u201d<\/p>\n
The \u201cSay Hey Kid\u201d nickname didn\u2019t just stay on the field\u2014it became immortalized in pop culture. The Treniers\u2019 1954 hit \u201cSay Hey (The Willie Mays Song)\u201d celebrated his persona, with Mays himself even joining in on the recording.<\/p>\n
There was also a charming TV movie titled \u201cWillie Mays and the Say Hey Kid,\u201d which aired in 1972. In this animated short, Mays voiced himself, helping a mischievous orphan girl while an angel ensures the Giants win the NL pennant.<\/p>\n
From a sports column to a song and a TV movie, \u201cThe Say Hey Kid\u201d lives on as a testament to Willie Mays\u2019 legendary status both on and off the baseball field.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Willie Mays, the iconic Hall of Fame outfielder who graced the fields for the Giants and Mets over a remarkable\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":294,"featured_media":23874,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[2818,3863],"class_list":["post-737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other-sports","tag-mlb","tag-willie-mays"],"reading_time":"3 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/294"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}