Baseball legend Willie Mays, dead at 93, played pro ball in Trenton

For some of us baseball fans of a certain age Willie Mays was a childhood hero.

He didn't play for my team. I remember him mostly as a San Francisco Giant. He died peacefully at his home Tuesday afternoon.

Mays was invited to appear at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, the oldest remaining baseball stadium from the days of the Negro Leagues.

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His health was going to prevent him from being there, but he had agreed to appear via satellite from his home. Unfortunately, it was not to be.

Willie Mays' professional baseball career started there in 1948, when he played for the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro League before he had finished high school.

He signed with the Giants after he graduated high school in 1950 and was sent to their minor league club, the Trenton Giants.

He went on to play 81 games for the Trenton Giants. He quickly proved himself as an outstanding player, batting .353 with 20 doubles, eight triples, a .438 on-base percentage, and an impressive .510 slugging percentage.

He was called up to the New York Giants in 1951, where he would spend the largest portion of his Hall of Fame career.

As kids, we all wanted to be Willie Mays. We wanted to hit like him and play the outfield like him. This rare video footage was dubbed "the catch" for his amazing ability to catch a fly ball over his shoulder.

He could not only track down fly balls with incredible speed but also throw runners out from his position way out in the outfield.

We all have our fond memories of the "Say Hey Kid" and to think his major league career had its beginnings here in Trenton, New Jersey.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Dennis Malloy only.

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