Mays: So Proud When Obama Elected That He Cried

[Hissyspit]

Source: Associated Press

Mays: So proud when Obama elected that he cried

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 5 mins ago

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE – Baseball legend Willie Mays says he was so proud the night Barack Obama was elected president that he "cried for most of the night." The 78-year-old Hall of Fame centerfielder spoke with reporters as he flew with Obama from Michigan to St. Louis for Tuesday night's All-Star game. Obama threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Mays, who played much of his career with the San Francisco Giants, said he met Obama in Chicago on election night last November. He said he reminded Obama that he had dreamed about the day when someone of their race would be elected president.

- snip -

"I reminded him that I cried for most of the night in Chicago," said Mays, still emotional as he spoke about that night eight months ago.

"So that tells me all the things I went through, it was for good things," said Mays, who wore an orange-trimmed, black Giants baseball cap with his suit. "So I'm just proud of him, you know. He may be proud of something else. But I'm proud of him, what he stands for."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090715/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_all_stars_mays

[Javaman]

1. Say Hey Willie!

Mr. Mays, your dream has come true! :)

[BlooInBloo]

2. :)))))

[UrbScotty]

3. You had lots of company, Willie!

[Cha]

33. Yep, he

did!

[calimary]

37. No kidding!

We all did too, at this election night watching party we had. Crying, that is, when we weren't cheering, hugging, and pumping fists.

On edit - btw - Senator Franken is doing rawther nicely taking his turn questioning Judge Sotomayor. THAT is making me awfully proud, too!

Go AL!!! GO BARACK!!! Keep making us proud - 'cause we sent you there to get things accomplished, and fixed, for us.

[HughMoran]

42. You ain't shittin'

That was one emotional night...

[Pacifist Patriot]

43. Indeed!

[bluestateguy]

4. Mays was my father's childhood hero

Definently in the top 5 of players of all time.

[goclark]

48. Wow! Say hey Willie Mays!

When he hit that ball it was a thing of beauty.

[babylonsister]

5. Wow, now I'm tearing up. So nice! nt

[zonkers]

6. I am so glad Willie is with us, healthy and able to enjoy life. Love you willie!!!!!!

[Ishoutandscream2]

7. Greatest player to ever play the game, IMO

So nice to read this.

[Captain Hilts]

10. Agreed. And had he not lost two years to the military, he might have broken Babe's record. nt

[Ishoutandscream2]

14. Yep, still hit over 600 home runs

And played all the facets of the game at the highest level. Really, overall, the greatest player to play the game.

[The Wizard]

31. Had he not played half his games

in a place where the wind blew in from left field, as it did in Candlestick, he would have had a lot more homers. Willie Mays made me a baseball fan with his catch in the 1954 World Series. Everyone in my home was talking about it and it got my attention.
He was the best natural base runner ever, and did everything else as good as about everyone else.

[classysassy]

47. I'll second that

660 homeruns and two years in the army,those two years prevented him from breaking the Babe's record.

[RoyGBiv]

8. Awesome ...

One barrier breaker to another.

I'm glad I'm alive to see this.

[Captain Hilts]

9. With Robinson and Clemente THE best ever. Say Hey!

[sasquatch]

11. I always liked Willie Mays

He was a spokesman that was good at grabbing peoples attention, but he never took himself too seriously. The funniest commercials I've seen this year was the one he did for ESPN.

RIP Willie

[givemebackmycountry]

12. No reason to RIP Willie Sasquatch my friend -

He's still with us, and he's still the "Say Hey Kid"

Thankfully.

Today he met the President, and flew with him on AF1.

[Patchuli]

13. Yes We Did!!!

Mr. Mays! :yourock: I'll bet Obama loved hangin' out with you!

[applegrove]

15. Awww.I'm glad he lived to see the day.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

16. In a time of cool,

this is about the coolest thing Obama's done so far.

Just think - there are people around who don't know who Willie Mays is!

[Brother Buzz]

18. Some make an effort so others won't forget

"Willie Mays: The Catch" by Thom Ross. This piece first appeared on a hill outside of Petaluma, California, on May 6, 1984, to commemorate Willie’s 53rd birthday. Today it resides on a hillside above Spring Creek Ranch, Jackson, Wyoming.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

19. Absolutely WONDERFUL!!!!

You just made me feel a whole lot better.

Thank you very much!!!

:yourock:

[politicasista]

17. Kick

for the Say Hey man aka Willie. How cool must it have been to meet him face to face and ride aboard Air Force One.

I am glad he and Hank Aaron are still alive to see this day. :kick:

[MichaelHarris]

20. Crying?

There's no crying in baseball!

[Critters2]

34. LOL! I thought of that, too!

There's crying in making history, though!

[EFerrari]

21. Willie Mays was treated horribly here and in his best days.

I'm so happy he got to see that. :)

[Brother Buzz]

22. That is well documented in Charles Einstein's final Mays biography...

'Willies Time' by the late Charles Einstein (half brother to Super Dave Osborne AKA Robert Einstein, and Albert Brooks AKA Albert Einstein)

Charles Einstein superimposes Mays’s career onto the political and social events that framed his life. A totally engaging and unique read.
No chapters, just parts divided by presidents terms

Part one: Harry: The exact answer to the most critical need
Part two: Ike: The only man who could have caught it hit it
Part Three: JFK: Does the wind always blow like this? (Candlestick)
Part Four: LBJ: The fire next time
Part five: Nixon: His Mama didn't have but one

[EFerrari]

23. The last time I saw Mays, he was at SFO waiting to go to Pittsburgh

for a play off. He was tired, bitter and mean to my little brother "There's another Willie over there, go talk to him" and, it's no wonder. He was a beautiful player and this was one racist assed town.

But even so, us kids who got to watch him loved him. WE adored him.

[jonestonesusa]

24. Great post - thanks!

It's easy to forget sometimes what a huge milestone our country has passed, and it's a tribute to all who worked hard and strove to be the best despite all barriers.

We stand today on the shoulders of giants - like Willie Mays!

[EFerrari]

25. Looks like you were rec #24.

:)

[Name removed]

26. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Stellar]

27. The "Say Hey Kid!"

My Dad told me about Willie Mays. He said they called him the 'say hey kid'.

***"New York Journal American sportswriter Barney Kremenko said that in Mays' rookie season, the reticent Mays "would blurt 'Say who,' 'Say what,' 'Say where,' 'Say hey.' In my paper, I tabbed him the 'Say Hey Kid.' It stuck."***

http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00215053.html

I'm glad he was still around to see his dream realized.

[Oeditpus Rex]

35. No one in baseball called him that

To other ballplayers and his friends, Mays was "Buck" — a short form of "Buckduck," which was hung on him by a childhood friend as a Spoonerism of "duck butt." Mays waddled a bit, and an aunt who partially raised him said he was "kind of high-bottomed." :)

Sportswriter-generated nicknames such as "Joltin' Joe" are used only by sportswriters and fans. (DiMaggio was sometimes called "Clipper," for "Yankee Clipper," but his most common nick was "Dago," like every other Italian-American player back then.)



Welcome to DU. :hi:



Edit: Stoopid typo. x(

[6000eliot]

28. So did I.

Aside from the historic victory, I was just so happy that sane people would be in charge again.

[SeattleGirl]

29. Say hey, Willie!

So did I.

[No Elephants]

30. Me, too. Factoid: Jackie Robinson was one of the donors to the program that brought Obama Sr. from

Kenya to study in the US.

There were two phases of that program. Jack Kennedy wasm approached, but the Kennedys (via a family foundation, I think) ended up funding the second phase. Obama's father came in the first phase. Several celebrities, including Jackie Robinson, funded the first phase.

So, Obama ends up being the Jackie Robinson of the Presidency, if you will, and Ted Kennedy passed HFK's mantle to him at the Democratic National Convention.

[jmondine]

36. I wish Robinson had lived to see Obama's election

His pioneering courage in the face of unspeakable adversity helped pave the way for Obama.

[angstlessk]

32. I am (obviously) not a sports buff, but I had no idea Willie Mays was black

I knew he was a baseball legend, but I thought he was white? When I read he was on AF1 I just thought cause of his baseball greatness. Oh, my, I am crying now, too!

[DebbieCDC]

38. A lot of us felt that way

[madokie]

39. You got it Willie

This ole mostly white boy loves the man for what he is and what he stands for. No more will America have to put up with a piece of shit for brains president ever again. The tables have been turned and I have to say I'm proud of being part of it too.

[mitchum]

40. Buck is the greatest

[Zhade]

41. Me too. But Obama's many broken promises and continuation of b*s* policies made me cry more.

NT!

[llmart]

44. It must be awful.......

carrying around all that negativity all the time. This was a terrific thread and you had to spoil it.

[tabasco]

45. I was at Roberto Clemente's last game.

He got his 3000th and final base hit.

They stopped the game and Roberto and Willie Mays did a photo op.

I wish Clemente was still with us. He broke down barriers, too.

[AnnieBW]

46. He is.

He's looking down from that big diamond in the sky and cheering for Willie and Obama.