Each year I try to read at least one baseball book. So far this is it for 2010 although I reserve the right to read the new biography of Henry Aaron also.
More than any other sport, baseball is a game of statistics. Most of us know that Babe Ruth once hit 60 home runs in a season, that Roger Maris hit 61, and that Barry Bonds hit 73. I could go on and on quoting baseball statistics.
No numbers stand out for Willie Mays. He hit 660 lifetime homers but that number is superseded by three others now. What I have learned reading this book is that Willie Mays had talents that don't necessarily relate to statistics.
I learn that he had an incredible arm. That he had amazing fielding prowess. That he was an electrifying player to watch. Yes, he was something of a hot dog in the field. Maybe that rubbed some people the wrong way. Yet many loved him.
More later.
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