Willie, Mickey, and the Juke

[DOUGHBOYS]

I love talking about Willie Mays. The 49ers closed out their home season with a good bye to Candlestick Park. I was out to dinner when a tv screen showed a shot of Willie Mays. "THERE'S WILLIE MAYS!" I pointed at the screen to my two grandchildren. I said it louder than intended and I saw every head near our table whirl towards the tv screen.
He's like Muhammad Ali. A name for the ages. But, there is a man who always seemed to get the best of Willie Mays...

To me, I've seen no better player than Willie Mays. Mickey Mantle was close. And Mike Trout looks a lot like Mickey Mantle.
Mays and Mantle were a lot alike. Both grew up poor. Both had fathers who dreamed of baseball stardom for their boys. Both began their careers in New York City. Both had to follow Joe DiMaggio's foot steps. Mantle in New York. Mays in San Francisco.
One or the other was involved in every World Series, but one from 1951 to 1964. Mantle, said to be the greatest World Series player of all time. Mays said to be the best All Star player of All Time.

They knew what each other was going through and handled it in different ways. Mantle became a bar hopping alcoholic. Mays became more aloof towards the public and more private. It was the reason Mantle was a poor All Star game performer. While the game was a showcase for Mays to show off his skills, for Mantle, it meant new drinking buddies in the bars, before playing the game with a hangover.
Since both of them grew up poor, it meant a lot of time in pool halls. Pool could be played for free if knowing the right people or playing for the right local teams. Mantle and Mays, with their athleticism and hand-eye co-ordination both became very skilled players.
This leads up to the story of when the two got together.

They first got together for a barnstorming tour. Mantle's American League All Stars vs. Mays National League All Stars.
Players did not need ownership approval to play in these tours. Most players were on one year contracts. Most contracts were not enough to cover a players living for a year. So, the good players made commercials, guest starred in ads, tv, or movies, and barnstormed. All other players took second jobs during the winter.

Mantle always seemed to get the better of Mays in gamesmanship. The National League All Stars were beating the Americans one day. Mays, at the time, was one of the few real base stealers in baseball.
Mantle devised a plan that he said could never be used in 'real baseball' because it would 'show up a player too bad'.
He instructed his pitcher to walk Mays and not look at him on first base, inviting a steal. Once Mays was on the second, the plan was set in motion. The A.L. 2B moved closer to the first baseman. The shortstop covering the hole, close to third.
This left Mays free to take a big lead off second.
The third baseman whistled. The pitcher turned around and threw to second base. And there was Mantle holding the ball on Mays with a big shit-eating grin.
The play was embarrassing for Mays. He pretended it didn't bother him. Truth is, it did.
Meanwhile, when Mickey hit the bars that night, the play was the main topic.
Promting one person to say, "It was Willie, Mickey, and the Juke!!!!"
Not knowing Mantle's pool skills, Mays challenged Mantle to a game of pool later. The pool hall crowded.
Delighted to see Mickey and Willie. Let alone seeing them try to better one another at a different game.
Mantle crushed Mays.
Mays could take some pride that his National Leaguers usually beat Mantle's American Leaguers. But, only a little.

Mays got another chance to beat Mantle.
Mantle and Mays were both known for hitting a lot of homers. Mantle's were of the kind that would drop a jaw.
Mays, unspectacular, but hard enough to reach the seats with the same regularity.
They, along with several other sluggers of their times, were all invited on 'Home Run Derby'.
A home run hitting contest tv show, with the slogan, 'It's all or nothing here on Home Run Derby!'
The Mays/Mantle matchup was the most anticipated and most watched. The players were paid $1,000 for winning a contest, plus there were bonuses for hitting three or more homers in a row.
Mantle, a switch hitter, had hurt his shoulder during the summer. The pain so bad, that he would hit right handed sometimes vs. right handed hitters to lessen pain.

Before the show started, he acted ultra relaxed. Not wanting others to know about the pain.'Others', in this case meaning Mays. Mantle announced to the broadcaster, with Mays within earshot, that he would be hitting right handed, even though the pitcher was also right handed.
Before the start of the contest, Mantle whispered to Mays asking if he would like to put some money on the show.
'How much?
'Let's do $500, that's half the prize'.
Mays, thinking about the laxness of Mantle and the news that he would hit all right handed, agreed.
Mays took an early lead and led 8-3 after six innings. That's when Mantle started playing with Mays head.
'I wish they were doing this by distance! My three homers were as far as your eight!
"Is that all the farther you can hit them?"
Mays started over swinging.
Mantle hit three more to be two behind Mays with one inning to play.
He went in for the kill.
"Willie, I know you're ahead by two, but I'm still willing to double the bet".
Mays accepted.
He over swung again and did not hit a homer in the top of the ninth.
Mantle hit three in the bottom of the ninth and collected two prizes.
One from the show.
One from Mays.