Saturday, June 9, 2012

Hall of Fame Signed Baseball - Willie Mays

I was finally able to knock off some huge Hall of Famers recently when I sent a check to the Columbia Antique Mall (The antique store that I visit when I go to Columbia to see my brother).  I got a really good deal on this Willie Mays baseball because I bundled it with another signed ball that I will discuss later.
This ball has been signed in blue marker, is PSA/DNA authenticated and is on a really old Chub Feeney ONL Ball.  Mays marks my 69th Hall of Famer, and my 67th player/executive/manager.  I was really happy to throw some support toward Conrad over at the Antique Store; he is a really nice guy and is a 'friend of a friend.'

Willie Mays (b. 1931) is regarded as one of the greatest baseball players of all time.  He played in the majors from 1951-1952, 1954-1973 for the Giants of New York and San Francisco, as well as the New York Mets.  His 1973 Topps card with the Mets is one of my favorite cards in my collection.
Mays ended his career with 3,283 hits, 660 home runs, 1,903 RBIs and a .302 career batting average.  He was the 1951 NL Rookie of the Year, 1954 and 1965 NL MVP and won the World Series in 1954 with the Giants.  He also appeared in the 1951 and 1962 World Series with the Giants and the 1973 World Series with the Mets.

Mays was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1979 when he received 94.7% of the vote, his first year of eligibility.  I'd like to hear some of the reasons why 7.3% of the writers DIDN'T vote for him.  Anyway, I'm really excited that I now have a Willie Mays ball.  I've been waiting a long time to take his name off of my list.

Stay tuned to see who the other Hall of Famer was that I got.

1 comment:

Dodgerbobble said...

This is the second Mays ball I've seen today in Sharpie. Congrats on HOFer #69!