Born March 6 1931 Willie Mays, Hall of Fame baseball centerfielder, Giants, New York Mets .
The "Say Hey Kid" sometimes played first base when he played for the NY Mets back in '72. My dad was a huge Met fan. He took my brothers and I to game at Shea Stadium back then. We had GREAT seats. I remember dad leaning over toward me and pointing to first base. "I want you to remember this day, you're lookin' at the best baseball player of all time".
After the game, we waited as the stadium emptied out. We just sat in our seats watching everyone around us leave until the place was practically empty. Finally, Dad stood up and took a gander around the staidum and said.." Come on guys, guess we gotta call it a day" (it was one of dad's corny expressions" and we always laughed at him and would tease.."Yeah..it
IS a Day.." (guess ya had to be there, it was funny at the time
)
Anyway, by the time we got in the car to leave the stadium the parking lot was pretty empty. There were maybe a handful of cars headed for the exit. Being the oldest I got to sit in the front seat while my brothers smacked and beat one another in the back. I noticed this big car in front of us. "Dad look at that car, it's
PINK! (this was before Mary Kay made pink cars..so it was pretty unusual. Especially for a CADILLAC.
Sure enough, Willie Mays was in front of us driving his Pink Cadillac! He waved a "thanks" at my dad for letting him through. I'll never forget the look on my father's face, he was grinning from ear to ear.
Funny thing is, I couldn't tell you who the Mets were playing or if they won or lost, but I remember my dad telling me it would be a day I would remember forever. He was right. Just not for the reason he thought.
God, I miss him.
