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A biography of the record-setting baseball player who is one of three in the game's history to hit 600 home runs. ... Read more

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A biography of the professional baseball player who played in every All-Star Game from 1954 to 1973. ... Read more

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Willie Mays' career bridged eras in baseball history, from the Negro Leagues to expansion to free agency. Through it all, his all-around ability and his love of the game set him apart. His career accomplishments include 660 home runs, 2 MVPs, Rookie of the Year, and the first 30-30 season. No other player is cited by so many of his peers as the best they have ever seen.

From his childhood growing up in segregated Birmingham, Alabama to becoming the first black team captain in baseball, Mays' life is described in detail. Readers will learn of his early life, his career with the Giants and the Mets, his induction into the Hall of Fame, understanding why he is regarded by many today as baseball's greatest living player.

Customer Reviews (2)

An average biography
Not the standard by which biographies should be judged, but okay.Unless you're a huge Willie or Giants fan, it's not a must read.There are a few editing mistakes and several factual errors.Juan Marichal was suspended eight days not nine in 1965 for his fight with John Roseboro as reported in the book.There were other errors that a baseball fan would know as obviously wrong, such as making a 400' throw from the outfield to 2nd base.

It covers Willie's life equally.Talks of his special relationship with Leo Durocher and how Willie didn't care for Bill Rigney.It talks about Willie's two marriages a sufficient amount and his problems in buying a house when he first moved to SF.It also tells that Willie moved back to NY to placate his first wife to try to save his marriage.Maintaining homes on both coasts was a strain on Willie financially.The book also mentions that Willie worn large baseball hats, so it was easier for his hat to fall off and impress the crowd.Now we know!

Captures all the highlights of his career and life.
For a solid biography of baseball's great, look no further than Mary Kay Linge's WILLIE MAYS: A BIOGRAPHY: it covers everything from his segregated childhood in Birmingham Alabama to how he became the first black team captain in baseball, then moved up to become a world-famous player. From his army stint to his championship season, WILLIE MAYS captures all the highlights of his career and life.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch ... Read more

Product Description
RARE 1970 paperback original; a glowing "biography" of the 'say hey' kid. RARE. ... Read more

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RARE 1970 paperback; a glowing "biography" of the 'say hey' kid. RARE in pb. ... Read more

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Babe Ruth...Yogi Berra..Willie Mays...

Here, for the first time, is the most definitive collection of baseball cards ever assembled. Organized by year, you get over 21,000 full color reproductions of Topps cards using a high-quality facsimile reproduction process especially developed for this purpose. Here are the lifetime statistics of over 4,000 baseball players-information on virtually every member of every team from 1951. And the authors have compiled year-end quizzes to test your knowledge of the sport and its cards.

From the glory days of all-time great sluggers like Mickey Mantle and Stan Musial and pitching heroes like Whitey Ford and Sandy Koufax, to Reggie Jackson, Fernando Valenzuela, Dwight Gooden, and Pete Rose. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Better Than Baseball Cards
I was made aware of this book about 20 years ago, but at $100, it was a bit pricey for me at that time.I collect baseball cards, and I have a friend who is now retired, with a lot of time on his hands.He loves baseball, but doesn't have the means, nor the desire to start collecting cards.He said to me, "wouldn't it be nice if they had a book that showed all the baseball cards in it."It reminded me of this book, and I looked it up on Amazon, and found 2 used ones. (One is for me, of course!)
When I gave this to him, his comment was that "this is better than the baseball cards."The "used" books were in beautiful condition, and the prices were excellent.Needless to say, we are each enjoying this purchase. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review
Start sharpening your debating chops. Any list that tries torank the best who ever played the game in numerical order is justbegging for a fight, and this coffee-table-sized offering virtuallydares you to take a whack at its chin. The fun part about it is thatit's intriguing enough, surprising enough, and persuasive enough tohold its own.

Pretty much everyone agrees that the Bambino'sNo. 1--and Smith doesn't topple over any ledges disputing that--butfrom No. 2 on, he gets interesting. He slots Willie Mays into theplace position, and rounds out the top 10 with Ty Cobb, WalterJohnson, Hank Aaron, Lou Gehrig, Christy Mathewson, Ted Williams,Rogers Hornsby, and Stan Musial. Joe DiMaggio hovers at No. 11, and300-game-winner Early Wynn is the list's closer. Several Negro Leaguestars make it despite never getting a chance to play in the show, andof those still in uniform, only Tony Gwynn, Greg Maddux, and BarryBonds crack the top 50; Mark McGwire (91) and Ken Griffey, Jr. (93)seem like comparative clubhouse stragglers.

Each of the 100players is extolled with a full-page photo and facing-page text thatserves up a quick tour of his career and accomplishments. Individualstats are collected and relegated to the end of the volume, but lotsof fascinating numbers are woven throughout. There are also a bunch oftop 10 lists offered up by players (some of whom are among the "100Greatest") and managers that cry out to be challenged, making this onebaseball book that can supply your mind and your lungs with an equallyvigorous workout. --Jeff Silverman ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Flawed But Entertaining
As national sports publications go, The Sporting News tends towards the low-brow; this can be charted both with the increase in recent years of NASCAR-coverage and by the quality of the copy itself--certainly not in the same class as Sports Illustrated, which, for all its faults, boasts the cream of the crop in terms of sheer sports journalism.
Thankfully, the book is not marred too noticeably by the usual TSN writing style; namely terse, fumbling little capsules that adhere strictly to certain familiar narrative arcs. The same cannot be said for the opinions therein, which are often almost painfully wrong-minded or dependent on faulty logic. It becomes clear that this volume was meant more as a stately coffee table book than a Bill James-style journey into the jungle of stats and lore to determine the pecking order of the great game.
I am a maniacal fan, to put it kindly, and one that must analyze history for its own sake. This book is intended for a fan of a slightly lesser level of obsession, which is not to say that it cannot be recommended heartily for most.

Baseball's 100 Greatest Players
Baseball is my favorite sport, and I love debating the greatest players of all time just like everyone else.And The Sporting News does a solid job of ranking the players, and offering why.The pictures are a wonderful addition to the text.And while they overvalue players like Rogers Hornsby and Pete Rose and undervalue players like Lou Gehrig, Honus Wagner, and Stan Musial, the idea of the book like this is to provoke arguments.Foolishy, they did not separate pitchers and position players, and I wish they would have written a little bit more about each player, but overall this is a great book.One final note: For the most part I believe that baseball's greatest players came from the bygone days, but Cal Ripken's 78 ranking in this book is an absolute travesty.He is a top 30 player.Overall, a great book.

The Sporting News Selects Baseball's Greatest Players
GREAT BOOK, GIVEN AS A GIFT AND HE LOVED IT.READS IT AVIDLY EVERYDAY.WIFE TOLD ME HE ABSOLUTELY LOVES IT.I AM SURE ITWILL BE LOVED BY THE AVID BASEBALLL FAN.MAKES A GREAT GIFT OR IF YOU ARE JUST BUYING IT FOR YOURSELF ENJOY EVERY PICTURE AND LINE YOU READ.

Scores a Home Run With These Pics!
Like their pro football book, this book selects what The Sporting News' editors felt who were the greatest 100 baseball players of all time. And it's very difficult to argue too hard with their choices. Babe Ruth at #1 is in my opinion a no-brainer. Ruth really saved the game at a time when it desperately needed a hero and he forever changed the way the game was played with his towering home runs on the field and his "carousing" off it. The book also features a nicely written foreword by the #2 all-time best player, Willie Mays. How honored I am that I got to see him play in his prime some 30 plus years ago as a boy.

I like that the choices in this book are unaffected by race, scandal or personality. Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, Buck Leonard, Cool Papa Bell, and Oscar Charleston of the Negro League made this list. It's truly sad that so many talented ballplayers were kept out of the majors because of their race. Joe Jackson, is another "Top 100 member" who of course was banned after the Black Sox scandal. Others like Ty Cobb, who was a notorious hothead in his day are also here.

Reading through the book brought many smiles to my face as I recalled watching so many players, like Harmon Killebrew, Kirby Puckett, Willie McCovey (my all-time favorite), Ernie Banks, and Hank Aaaron just to name a few.

So many excellent choices, this book is well-done and a great momento to all the athletes who have made baseball the game it is today.

A baseball collector's keepsake!
My favorite sports is baseball, so reviewing this book was an easy choice. As with all books that rank the best of all time, the listing are subjective, although this list is very close to my personal choices.Sporting News is a respected name and that adds credibility to thebook.

Starting with Babe Ruth, as most baseball ranking do, right tonumber 100 Early Wynn, there are stories, photos and quotes that make thisbook one the best. I was impressed by the vast collection of picturesthroughout the book.

The book has a top 100 timeline of players, the AllTime top 10 selections lists, all decade teams, top100 breakdowns and a top100 quiz included in the book as well. For every baseball fan and purest,this would make the prefect gift or collectors item.

A great addition tomy library, a book that I will share with my children for years to come,Baseball's 100 Greatest Players needs only to add a video to make the setcomplete! ... Read more