The Willie Mays Story By Sean Keane and Danny Bonato

Willie Mays was born on May 6, 1931 in Fairfield, Alabama. When Willie was two his parents were divorced and Willie went to live with his aunt Sarah Mays. His best childhood friend was a boy named Charlie Willis. His nickname was and still is Bud Duck (after he broke into the big leagues it was shortened to Buck.) His first intrest in baseball showed when he was ten (he had heard about Joe DiMaggio.) Willie attended Fairfield Industrial High School and was their star quarterback and Charlie Willis was their star receiver. In an unforgettable game against Booker T. he threw the game tying pass to Charlie. Then Willie's coach Mr. McWilliams offerd Willie college scholarship playing football. But Willie said, "Mr. McWilliams, I'd love to play football, but my heart's set on playing baseball. So he did.

The Giants brought him up from Minneapolis. He started going 0 for 12 before hitting a home run off Warren Spahn. After that he went 0 for 13. His next hits were 6 home runs. After that he went on a tear. The Giants tied the Dodgers and played a three game playoff. They were tied after two games. Bobby thomson hit a home to win the game. In 1954, he hit 319, hit 51 home runs, and 110 runs batted in. His manager was Leo Durocher. Willie had had a truly great career so far and it was getting better every day. Good luck, Willie.