It's sad to hear how Willie has acted these card shows. I really haven't read anything much about his personal life. I know there was a biography written a few years back, although I don't know what it reveals about him, or if it is any good.
But what's interesting is juxtaposing the behavior mentioned above, with how Willie himself has described how he played, and his idea of baseball as being a kind of show business. He said he would try give the fans something different to remember every time they came to the ballpark. He famously used to wear his cap a little big so it would fall off when he ran the bases or after a fly ball. He was conscious of giving the fans a thrill.
And he truly did. And he was one of the greatest baseball players of all time. I'm completely sensitive to someone who idolized him coming to see him, and being treated rudely or poorly. What a painful experience that could be. But maybe there were reasons Willie felt bad about doing the shows. I don't know what his financial situation was or is. But maybe he needed the money. He took the job at a casino and didn't give it up when Kuhn suspended him from baseball. I'm just speculating. It's also possible, that maybe he just isn't the pleasant person we want him to be.
You know, if you analyzed every musician or composer's personal life, it's possible you might not like what you found out. Are you going to stop listening to a song or a piece of music by certain artists, because you didn't like certain things about them? Granted, we would like everyone to live up to our ideals. But there may be times, when even we fall short of our expectations. What it comes down to, is that all of these people were and are human beings. They did something amazingly well and became renowned for the thing they did. But underneath it all, they are only human.
Collecting may be a way to keep alive and continue living that feeling and magic you had as a kid with your favorite ballplayer(s) and/or team. And that's great. It really is. It keeps alive another time for us. Other people who were in our lives, but now are gone. Places we used to live, but have long ago left behind. Or a time and place that we only know about through history. I treasure all of this. The cards and memorabilia are a connection, which can bring all that to life. But while keeping a foot in that world, we also have to not lose sight of the other side of things, and not reduce those people we admired, into 2-dimensional cardboard (pun intended) characters.
One other thing: I was reading an autobiography by Felipe Alou. And to make a long story short (some of you might already be aware of this) there was some dissension on the early '60s Giants among some of the Latin ballplayers in reaction to some things that Alvin Dark was doing and saying. Some of the players were really ready to go off, but Mays, who was older and more experienced, convinced them to keep their cool and keep their eye on their careers. It would be interesting to hear Willie's teammates' opinions about him. There might already be a lot out there that I am just not familiar with. All of this talk about Mays has me thinking I'm going to seek out some books on him.
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