“On this day we remember Willie Mays as a part of a long line of black patriots who have helped us see a better a better version of ourselves as Americans and as a Nation.-
-US President Joe Biden
“Defense to me is the key to playing baseball. They throw the ball, I hit it. They hit the ball, I catch it. In order to excel, you must be completely dedicated to your chosen sport.”
—MBL Champion. Willie Mays
POLITICS: A career that began near the age of 14 years that carried a salary of $500 dollars, Willie Mays began a life of success and admiration that transcended the barriers that beleaguered the paths of millions of black Americans in the 1940s. Willie Mays was a baseball enthusiast who , once having the opportunity to play the game professionally, he evolved as one of the America's greatest baseball players of all time. This week, the great , Willie Mays died at 93.
By Michelle Crawford-Sapenter
"It was a rite of passage to practice his basket catches. Daring steals and command at the plate—only to be told by coaches to cut it out because no one can what Willie Mays can do...He was an original in many ways." --US President Joe Biden
On the day ofthe celebration of Juneteenth, US President Joe Biden recognized the historical life of Willie Mays.
"The world stopped to watch him play."--US President Joe Biden
On Wednesday, President Biden commented in regard to Willie Mays' career and the impression he made on he and the entire nation of baseball lovers.
President of the United States, even Biden commented in regard to the appeal Willie Mays had on him as a kid playing baseball. Like many youngsters playing the game during the Willie Mays reign, boys playing city league ball wanted to play center field like Willie.
President Biden commented in reference to Willie Mays' :hall of Fame..." career in Birmingham, New York and San Francisco stating that in the three decades of his career, "...his final box score was 660 homeruns, 3295 hits, 301 batting average 12 Gold Gloves, the 1954 World Series Championship."
Beyond that point in Mays' career there might have been greater greats and higher heights, however, his progress had been interrupted by the US draft by 1952. the Champion ofthe Major League.
Prior to his service to the United States Army during the Korean War, Willie Mays played with the New York Giants in a championship post that had been kindled by the show of his athletic prowess in the Negro League-- a confederation of black professional baseball players who, because of the established Jim Crow laws, blacks were not, yet, granted the rite of passage to play in the Major League.
Biden reflected on the era of Jim Crow , the era that consumed the south and the state of Alabama where Mays was born. Biden commented of how Mays was a part of an initial wave of black players from the Negro League to integrate Major League Baseball.
Biden stated Mays' style was distinctive, " in constant motion with individual freedom with constant power and grace."
Mays was not only an entertainer in his game style, Biden stated, "...he inspired millions of people of all races to help break through the color line of sports and to break through the conscience of the Nation."
Willi Mays passed on June 19, the day before the 162nd Juneteenth National Holiday. Biden canonized the life of willie Mays in a manner comparable to the theme of Juneteenth stating it was a day of "profound weight and power that reminds ourselves of extraordinary capacity to emerge from the most painful moments with a better version of ourselves.
President Biden uttered words of condolences to the many millions of willie Mays fans adding that he and Jill send love to the Mays family and those he will continue to inspire with his one-of-a-kind legacy.
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