The "The Say Hey Kid" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Getting back in the "baseball" groove.  Recently went to see my grandson play a practice game in a Midget-Midget "B" League in Lancaster County.  This league is the beginning level of participation in baseball travel teams.  Eventually, in Lancaster County, there is Midget-Midget "A", Jr. Midget, Midget, High School and Legion, College and Professional ball.  I went thorough the system myself as a child and coached my two boys in the system as they played baseball.  My youngest son stopped playing at the High School level while my oldest son played College ball and almost made it into professional ball.  I tell you all this so you can understand when I tell you that in Professional ball there are also levels of play with the Major Leagues being the ultimate pinnacle for a baseball player.  Back in 1950 I got to see, in person, one of the best baseball players that ever lived.  Not only got to see him, but got to talk to him when he played centerfield for the Trenton Giants in the Interstate League which was a class "B" team.  I lived a couple of blocks from Lancaster's Stumpf Field and my dad would often take me to see games in the summer.  

Willie Mays, "The Say Hey Kid" 

To a young boy who was baseball crazy, I loved making the trips to the ballpark.  My dad allowed me to stand along the left-field foul line where the players entered and exited the clubhouse nearby.  I can remember seeing this young man swagger out of the clubhouse and play centerfield for the Trenton Giants.  The Giants came to town several times during the 1950 season and I got to see this guy quite a few times during that summer.  My dad often told me that this guy was going to be a great player in the Major Leagues some day.  Even at 6 years of age I too could see that he was so much better than most of the other outfielders.  

The Catch!

How right my dad was for you see that young man became known as "The Say Hey Kid".  1950 was the only year he played at Stumpf Field for he made it to the Major Leagues, just as my dad said, the following year.  Got to see him play on TV in the 1954 World Series when the Cleveland Indians played the New York Giants.  The Giants swept the series and that young man made one of the most famous catches in baseball history when he caught a fly ball in centerfield that was over his shoulder.  He caught the ball, turned and fired it back into the infield all in one motion.  That young man's name was Willie Mays and to this day is one of my all-time favorite players.  He entered the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979.  Even have a bobble-head of him!  There were a few other players who traveled through Lancaster when we had a minor league team such as Robin Roberts and Brooks Robinson, but to me "The Say Hey Kid" was my favorite.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.