Willie Mays, 1931-2024, The Say Hey Kid, is arguably the greatest baseball player ever. When people talk about "the catch", EVERYONE knows which catch at which game is being referenced: Game one of the World Series between the New York Giants and the Cleveland Indians at the Polo Grounds in New York. His stats are remarkable showcasing his super-human powers of speed, hitting, fielding, and stealing bases. He was also a leader in the civil rights movement and a helluva nice guy.
Kids today can learn something from this man about grit, persistence and strength of character..
Willie Mays made anyone who watched him play baseball, love baseball.
As we honor him today, tell your kids the stories of him playing stickball on the streets of Harlem and tell them he did all of this when as a Black man he encountered many bumps. A 24-time All-Star, Hall of Famer, with 660 career home runs, a 301 career batting average with 3,293 lifetime hits, it doesn't get better than that.
We need heroes in all professions, Willie Mays is a splendid one, and 24 is my lucky number!
Find a school where the qualities that made Willie Mays great as a player and a man, are celebrated, respected, and modeled. Healthy body, healthy mind.
Need help? Contact Wendy Levey Consulting, we've got this, all things education from kids two years old to eighteen.
(My brother, Steve Flink with the great Casey Stengle, holding my autograph book and his scorecard. Steve went on to be a Tennis Hall of Fame tennis writer.)
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