Round 3: Champions Tour
November 5 2011
6:45 pm
Baseball icon Mays visits Schwab C’ship
By John Schwarb, PGATOUR.COM
SAN FRANCISCO — The Say Hey Kid dropped in on the Champions Tour Saturday.
Baseball Hall of Famer and San Francisco icon Willie Mays spent some time around TPC Harding Park at the start of Round 3 of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, greeting the final two groups on the first tee.
“Wish I’d have played with you, you could have showed me how to hit it long,” the 80-year-old legend said to Fred Couples and Mark Calcavecchia.
“You don’t need any help,” Couples said.
Indeed, Mays was a pretty good golfer back in the day, a mid-70s shooter who traveled with the PGA TOUR for a short time after his playing days, in association with a sponsor.
“They were so good, I’d shoot 75 or 78, they’d shoot 65 or 68,” Mays said. “When I was out there, it was a fun thing. I learned how to hit the ball, how to fade it, how to chip, how to read the greens. I played a lot with Raymond (Floyd), Trevino, Chi Chi.
Today golf is a popular pastime and topic of conversation in baseball clubhouses. Mays said that wasn’t the case in his time, though many ballplayers were good golfers.
“We talked baseball, why talk golf when you’ve got to go on the field and play baseball?” said Mays, who hit 660 home runs in 22 seasons, including 14 in San Francisco with the Giants. “We did have some golfers on the club. Most of the pitchers would play. But not me, they said ‘you couldn’t play.’ (Managers) Leo (Durocher) and (Alvin) Dark, they said ‘we don’t want you playing because it might mess up your swing.’
“Wouldn’t have messed mine up, but they didn’t see it that way.”
Mays, who was also at TPC Harding Park two years ago for the Presidents Cup, has history with several players in the field this week. Couples is a favorite, and Tom Watson goes back decades with Mays.
Watson remembers a priceless moment with his son and Mays from 1992 at Giants spring training.
“I remember it like it was this morning,” Watson said. “I went up to introduce Michael to him and myself to him, he had that big smile on his face and he looked at my son and started talking to him … ‘How would you like to play some catch?’ And for 15 minutes they threw the ball around. 15 minutes!”
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Will was a dear freind of mine for many years. He taught me how to catch a baseball with a glove. I used to catch it with my old goalie glove until he said it was baseball we was doing so I says
‘ya willie,show me da way to catch ball “
The great Willy Mays. God love him one of the all time greats and he keeps rolling along. Stay healthy and keep coming out so people ge the enjoyment of seeing you hale and hearty.
I remember Willie Mays when we played with the NY Giants. Duke Snider was with the Brooklyn Dodgers and Mickey Mantle was with the Damn Yankees.
All three Center-Fielders got lots of praise for their Long Ball hitting and great plays in the Outfield during the 1950s.
I was a Brooklyn Dodgers’ fan and would always argue that Snider was the best player during those years in New York. However, inside of me, I always gave the edge to Willie Mays. It is nice to see him on the go and hopefully he will be around for another few years yet.
Its true about Durocher having a lot to say about what Willie could do and couldn’t do and with all due respect to Durocher I know that his heart was in the right place for his Star player. Willie appeared to need guidance in the early part of his life and thankfully he can still talk and joke about his playing days. Now that Duke and Mickey are gone to the great beyond, Willie is the only one left to “Shag” those fly balls.
I just recently read an article concerning the selling of the property where the “Field of Dreams” movie was made in Ohio. I loved that movie and seeing this article on Willie Mays made me think about what …might be…in a re-make.
Maybe…Duke Snider and Mickey Mantle will be on the Team that walks out of the Corn Field to have some fun. If Willie stays in good shape, then he could be the Star again and make a Cameo appearance in Center-Field.
I would love to see him make another over-the-shoulder catch and “lose his hat” when he wheels and throws to Home-Plate.
Great memories from the Diamond…thanks.