[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by brian1961

Adam---I feel bad for you, bro, over what happened to you when Willie Mays was starkly rude to you, and most congenial to some of his fellow Black Americans. That must have hurt something awful. I soured on Willie Mays after reading an article by a freelance writer in Sports Collectors Digest in the late 1980s. As soon as Willie discovered he was a freelancer, Say Hey became rude, obnoxious, uncooperative, demeaning, critical, harsh, while a regular beat reporter got a decent interview from Willie at this same time and meeting place.

When the freelancer wrote his report of the occasion, he did not lambaste Mr. Mays in any way. Rather, he let the facts and Mr. Mays's own words reveal the other side of the man. Whilst 'tis true we all have another side, when you are a professional athlete great of whom many idolize, your demeanor to your public should be important to you. Much of the article I do not remember now, but as Maya Angelou was famous for saying, I remember loud and clear how Willie Mays made that poor freelancer feel. I then sold the majority of what Willie Mays cards I had, and never regretted it.

Whenever I see a replay of his quintessential baseball moment, the 1954 World Series catch, my heart is still filled with a monotonous languor. Were the extremely fortunate soul who owns what I consider Willie Mays's most valuable baseball card----the unique 1954 Stahl-Meyer Franks PSA 9 MINT, and offer it to me in an unbelievable gesture of generosity, providing I could not sell it for the money, I would decline. Seriously. I'd rather have the 1953 Stahl-Meyer Roy Campanella in SGC NM-MT 92, 'cause that one I'd cherish and never sell.

Anyways, glad you found someone you genuinely enjoy collecting. I know you don't respond to anything I say, or questions I ask, so this is from the heart. L'chaim Adam.

---Brian Powell

I don't? Sorry about that...I often get lost in my own head and think I've answered PMs or emails when I haven't.

My take on Mays was/is that if he feels such disdain for the public, that's fine, just stay at home. Same for any celebrity. If he chooses to go on a paid junket, he is doing a job and has an obligation to do it well. I am sure that Hank Aaron did not always feel like being congenial and engaging when he did a show but he was enough of a professional to turn it on and be "Hank Aaron, Superstar" when he was paid to do so. Mays never quite got the idea that he was providing a customer service and needed to show the customers that he gave a damn. Or maybe he's just a jerk and cannot find it in himself to be nice to people. Personally, I'd rather go through my professional life pretending to be nice than admitting I'm an a-hole, but that's just me...