"Say hey kid" the "Pastime of the Americas" and "Heros"

"I don't make history. I catch fly balls."

I was only five when Wille Mays debuted in MLB in 1951, and before the next decade arrived I had added a new hero into my life. I never even met a black person till about 1962. And by the time my "invitation" from Uncle Sam arrived in 1964 I still had never really spoke to a black person. Military service changed that, but before that happened I had a black man as one of my childhood hero's which also included the likes of, Davy Crockett, John Wayne, Kit Carson, Audie Murphy and Jim Thorpe. I didn't know that hero's could be of my own choosing, I thought they were selected from some type of "list" and I thought these all met my interpretations of "hero's".


Willie was in a record 24 all-star games, a 1979 first ballot Hall of Famer, ended up with 660 homers and he also may have been the first black super star from baseball that the public knew from the start to the finish of his career. "Hammering Hank" came later so did "Mr October". But because of his talent and class May's has sustained all. He was described by many as"a joy to be around." All of this was brought to mind by the recent MLB all star game and although only 74 he looked worn but happy. I always like seeing him.


The 2007 all star game held a special tribute for Mays. It reminded me that at no time in history, after the "color barrier" being broken, has the percent of American born black players in MLB been lower. The game has gone to South America, the Caribbean and the Orient for the new hero's. "Americas pastime" has changed. That's good, right. Well I'm not so sure about that. There always has been a high level of talent and interest in "Latino and now Asian" ball players and the overall hold of the game is again on the rise but the term "hero" when applied to sports is now more a description reserved of a particular act during a competition then a body of work. We now acknowledge "hero's" in all fashions within the definition of "great strength and courage, nobility, qualities, and achievements, but most hero's are defined by a protagonist, a villain by a task or action that requires that the "definitions" of a hero be applied.


A person can have hero's from all walks of life, that has always been constant. Heroism is not confined to any category, the birth can arise from a singular act or a succession of events that define the "heroic" response. So it's OK to have hero's in your life from any source, there is no select pool that we choose from. It is for an individual to decide who these hero's are and what they mean to the individual . And on the other hand it is OK to reject other's hero's in favor of yours or of someone else. But one of mine still remains, a man called Willie Mays.