The Podcast With Marben Bland
Willie Mays Made Baseball Great
In 1947 when Jackie Robinson broke the color line in Major League Baseball, his actions, courage, and play made baseball better. Setting the stage for Willie Mays who broke in 1951 to make baseball great.
Willie Mays, the Say Hey Kid, whom many consider the greatest baseball player ever died this week at age 93. Mays was the embodiment of the complete player, he could hit for power and average, he could run on the bases and in the outfield, he could field his position making electrifying plays and throws from center field.
However, perhaps Willie Mays’s greatest accomplishment is what he did for race relations as he became an American baseball hero without his race being a consideration. Without question Willie Mays was a black man, and he faced racism.
In 1950’s America he did nothing to mitigate his blackness.
He did not straighten his hair; he did not put on “white airs”. In fact, as he was the toast of the town in New York Mays chose to live in Harlem, where he played stickball with the black kids in the neighborhood in the afternoons before his games with the Giants.
At the dawn of the modem day civil rights movement Willie Mays demonstrated to America what was possible when people are judged only by the content of their character.
Juneteenth reminds us of the day when all American slaves became free. Jackie Robinson reminds us of when the Major Leagues become free. Willie Mays is the confirmation that when freedom is obtained, the people who were oppressed are now free to achieve greatness. And with that freedom Willie Mays made baseball great.
For More Great Content Go To Marben Bland.com
In 1947 when Jackie Robinson broke the color line in Major League Baseball, his actions, courage, and play made baseball better. Setting the stage for Willie Mays who broke in 1951 to make baseball great.
Willie Mays, the Say Hey Kid, whom many consider the greatest baseball player ever died this week at age 93. Mays was the embodiment of the complete player, he could hit for power and average, he could run on the bases and in the outfield, he could field his position making electrifying plays and throws from center field.
However, perhaps Willie Mays’s greatest accomplishment is what he did for race relations as he became an American baseball hero without his race being a consideration. Without question Willie Mays was a black man, and he faced racism.
In 1950’s America he did nothing to mitigate his blackness.
He did not straighten his hair; he did not put on “white airs”. In fact, as he was the toast of the town in New York Mays chose to live in Harlem, where he played stickball with the black kids in the neighborhood in the afternoons before his games with the Giants.
At the dawn of the modem day civil rights movement Willie Mays demonstrated to America what was possible when people are judged only by the content of their character.
Juneteenth reminds us of the day when all American slaves became free. Jackie Robinson reminds us of when the Major Leagues become free. Willie Mays is the confirmation that when freedom is obtained, the people who were oppressed are now free to achieve greatness. And with that freedom Willie Mays made baseball great.
For More Great Content Go To Marben Bland.com