Harold Reynolds on Willie Mays' legacy, favorite memories

want to talk a little bit more about Willie Mays thought by Manny to be one of the greatest athletes of all time and the greatest baseball player they ever saw he was 93 when he died yesterday and baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said quote his incredible achievements do not begin to describe the awe that came with watching Willie Mays dominate the game Mae himself called baseball such a beautiful game that I just wanted to play it forever one of the future big Leaguers who admired him and then became a friend was Harold Reynolds now a broadcaster for the MLB Network he's at rickwood field in Birmingham Alabama where May got his start as a teenager in the Negro Leagues 75 years ago before becoming a big leer uh Harold thank you for being here this morning we were just talking about Willie Mays his size and I looked it up you know he's listed at 5111 180 which might sound ordinary at first and yet he did such extraordinary things on the field you met the man what are your memories of him well just think about the physique the first thing stands out is his hands oh my goodness I mean his hands are like these big Iron claws you shook his hand and you knew there's something different about Willie you know he also had this speed I was talking to Nate earlier he was wide receiver in the NFL he had this kind of go get it speed where he might not have been the fastest guy off the line but when that ball was in the air he would defy the math in your head you would think no way he gets there and then somehow he does as as a player yourself where do you rank his ability well well it's at the top I mean here's the thing you know Tony you said it so well one of the greatest athletes ever if you think about the Negro Leagues and the players that played in The Negro Leagues there wasn't another major sport they were going to like let's take for example LeBron James growing up in the 1930s and 40s would have been playing baseball and that was Willie Mays he could have played every sport and if you asked him he'd have told you so but uh he was just an amazing athlete and the personality uh was off the charts I I'll tell you a quick story then I'll I'll open it back to you guys but we were in the uh Hall of Fame a few years ago and we had one of our our guys wrote a book and he'd rank Willie number three Barry Bonds One Babe Ruth two and Willie three and I took him over to meet Willie And Willie said Son you haven't seen me play you know you do you haven't seen me play you know so it was pretty cool spend time with him I love those stories Harold um it's it's Gil here Barack Obama when he gave him the president of medal of freedom ceremony he said this because of giants like Willie that someone like me could even think about running for president so I I I think about that for a second but as someone who knew Willie Mays and I know earlier you got a chance to speak with his son what did his son say about his dad and what's your favorite I love the story you just told but what can you tell us about him as a person well you know Michael and I shared some tears earlier and then we just talked about Willie had this command about him that overshadowed everything his wisdom was beyond years and you know whether it was you're in trouble or whether it was a situation he'd always say you better handle his son you know he he made you accountable uh he was always on top of it and I I think the best way to describe Willie was he was a father not just to Michael who's obviously his Natural Born father but to all of us you know he he knew and understood where he was at and the and the thought I have off of of President Obama's quote was the fact that you think about Willie May's plan when he did and making the impact in the 50s and and on through the 60s and 70s the racial stress is going on I'm down here in Birmingham Alabama where he grew up and he crossed color barriers you don't listen to him about being the greatest black athlete ever you say the greatest ever and that was Willie May who was able to cross over in such a powerful way Harold we got to get going here but I want to give you one last opportunity if Willie was still here and you could say one last thing to him what would you say I say thank you you know he paved the way for so many uh the Charisma the personality but just uh his enduring love for other people it didn't matter what color what race uh he cared who you were and and I'd say thank you to him we appreciate you joining us man it's good to see you Herold you're one of the best to do itk you on and off the diamond um thank you so much

Channel: CBS Mornings

Views: 6,893

Keywords: CBS Mornings Clips, Sports, CBS Village Black

Id: JHknLWLLPhM

Length: 4min 25sec (265 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 19 2024