Thursday Night We Celebrated 70 Years Since “The Catch” By The ‘Say Hey Kid’
After Thursday night's MLB game between the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals at Rickwood Field, we look back at the iconic catch in the 1954 World Series, and celebrate and honor the life of Willie Mays, and all who played in the Negro League.
The year is 1954, and spring training is underway as the month of March rolled in. Just one day removed from being discharged by the U.S. Army, Willie Mays reported to camp with the New York Giants and prepared to resume his baseball career.
Mays professional career began in 1948 when he had a short stint with a Negro minor league team, the Chattanooga Choo-Choos. Shortly after, he joined the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League, which went on to lose the 1948 Negro World Series.
Drawing interest from many major league teams following the season, Mays was signed by the Giants after he finished high school, and made his way through the ranks until his call up to the big leagues on May 24, 1951. The Giants would go on to play the New York Yankees in the 1951 World Series, in which the pinstripes were victorious, and Mays was still without his first title.
But, once the season concluded, Mays had been drafted to serve in the Korean War, and off he went to report to Fort Eustis, Virginia, where he was able to continue to play baseball for the Wheels military team during his service. It’s been noted this is where Mays learned the basket catch from a fellow outfielder and teammate, Al Fortunato. His time with the Wheels ended in the summer of 1953 when he chipped a bone while sliding, and he was discharged from the army early next spring.
Which brings us back to Mays reporting for spring training with the Giants in 1954, with a trip to the World Series to conclude the season. The Giants were the underdogs to the 111-43 Cleveland Indians — who had recently won their second title in 1948 — and New York was looking to capture another one after their last in 1933.
The first game of the series was set for September 29, 1954, at the Polo Grounds, and the game was knotted in late innings with the score tied up at 2-2 in the eighth. With runners in scoring position for Cleveland, Vic Wertz hit a deep fly ball that's been estimated at least 425 feet to center field, and the catch that continues to be marveled at nearly 70 years later was made.
Mays took off running at full speed toward the wall and made a no look, over-the-shoulder basket catch, without breaking stride. He then turned and fired the ball into the infield before stumbling over to prevent runners from scoring.
The catch.
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) June 19, 2024
RIP Willie Mays. 🙏
(via @MLBVault)pic.twitter.com/GAMrB5zSzx
The Giants went on to win the game 5-2 in the 10th, and ended up sweeping the Indians in the series. And as we all know, Cleveland would not win another pennant until 1995, and have been without a World Series title since 1948.
Thursday night, the Cardinals and Giants met at the historic Rickwood Field, where Mays once graced the field with the Barons and got his start to a legendary career that was amplified by the presence he brought around the game. While the festivities were preplanned to honor the past greats of the Negro League, baseball fans all across the world were able to celebrate the life of Mays, who had just passed away at the age of 93 on Tuesday.
And as for Cleveland, we got to remember our ties to Mays and relive what’s deemed as the most iconic catch in baseball history — and tip our caps from wherever we took in the game in a grand farewell to one of the greatest who ever touched the diamond.
Say Hey Kid, rest easy.
ADRIENNE GOEHLER