Quote:
Originally Posted by jsfriedm
This may not help much, because I can't say how high the bump will be or how lasting it will be. But my suspicion is, when Mays passes (and I hope not for a while), that there will be a tremendous amount of attention paid to it around baseball. I think they will introduce some kind of Willie Mays Award, there might be a push to retire 24 around baseball, and most importantly, I think there will be a move to sort of canonize him as the Greatest of All-Time. Baseball doesn't quite have its Gretzky, Jordan, or Brady, and while most would say Babe Ruth, the problem is that now that they have declared the Negro Leagues to be Major Leagues, it is problematic to have a GOAT who played segregated baseball. So Willie Mays seems like a logical choice for many reasons. I think future generations of baseball fans will hear much more about Willie Mays than Mickey Mantle because of this.
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I hesitate to say it, but I would agree for the most part. I think we've seen a stabilization of Post-War vintage, for now, at least until the next shoe drops. I hate to talk about the potential of one of the all time greats of the game passing away, especially because at the end of the day, he's a person.
I think baseball, for the most part, truly functions without having the "Greatest of All Time" debate, constantly. Too many different eras and changes, history is also greatly ingrained within the game. Fans of the Negro Leagues, Cuban Leagues, etc do not represent the majority. Takes someone with a passion for the history of our game to really get involved with that aspect of the games past.
However, I hope concerning your last point, you are correct, as it will make it a little bit easier to finish up my Mantle run, if that becomes the case!