The administration often takes a lot of heat from students for myriad reasons, so it is only fair to give them credit when they impress us. I cannot speak for my fellow Dartmouth students, but I was shocked to hear that Willie Howard Mays, Jr. - yes folks, his real name is Willie - is receiving an honorary degree from Dartmouth at this year's Commencement ceremonies.
For those of you not familiar with "The Say Hey Kid," please pull your heads out of whatever dark orifice they've been residing in. Mays was the epitome of the five-tool player - he could hit, hit with power, run, throw and field. Mays may be the greatest centerfielder of all time, and debuted for the New York Giants in May of 1951, just after his 20th birthday and just four years after the integration of major league baseball. Mays currently stands fourth on the all-time home run list, with 660 (third in the non-steroid era division), and was certainly the best fielder of those highly ranked, winning twelve straight Gold Glove awards. Perhaps more appreciable to Dartmouth students, he also happens to be mentioned in the Bob Dylan song, "I Shall Be Free" (What I want to know, Mr. Football Man, is/What do you do about Willie Mays?).
Mays made the most famous defensive play in baseball history, a play so common in baseball folklore that it need only be referred to as "The Catch." Mays represents all that is iconic about sports with that play, barreling full speed to chase a fly ball to deep center field, his hat flying off as he runs, to make a fantastic over-the-shoulder catch. By age 23, he had done more than most people do in a lifetime. And if that was not enough to give Dartmouth credit for its selection of the honorable Mr. Mays, he did have the gall, when asked at his Hall of Fame induction to identify the greatest ballplayer he ever saw, to answer, "I don't mean to be bashful, but I was."
In one of my all-time favorite movies, "The Sandlot," the esteemed Art LaFleur, playing Babe Ruth, gives a speech to Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez, in which he says, "Remember kid, there's heroes and there's legends. Heroes get remembered, but legends never die."
This sports columnist is thinking of sticking around for graduation just to see a living legend. The phrase if often overused, but if there is anyone who truly fits the definition, it is the Say Hey Kid. His legend only grows as the years go on, and here is hoping that we can finally put that Mantle vs. Mays argument to rest. Seriously Yankees fans, Mantle was pretty damn special, but he was no Willie Mays.
Returning to Dartmouth sports, I have recently been mentioning the Dartmouth softball team. This week they stay on my radar, due to another perfect 4-0 weekend that improves them to 10-6 in Ivy League play. They are 14-21 overall, but that is not all that important. What is important is that 10-6 mark, because it puts them one game behind Harvard for first place in the Ivy League's North Division with a pair of doubleheaders coming up this weekend, the first in Cambridge and the second up here in Hanover.
When I first mentioned Dartmouth's softball team just two weeks ago, they were a dismal 2-6 in conference play, a mark which had me convinced their season was lost to the annals of history, in so much as a dismal season in Ivy League softball can be considered historical. Little did I know that Dartmouth just needed to reach the soft part of its schedule, and then all would be fine on the diamond.
As the lazy days of spring slowly pass us by, Dartmouth's fantastic idea of inviting Willie Mays to commencement has given me an idea. Maybe next year, after the classy Henry Louis Aaron sees sports' most famous record broken by a guy who is pretty much the antithesis of everything he stands for, we could invite Aaron to Commencement. Perhaps he could even deliver the Commencement address, as I am sure Aaron would have some words of wisdom to pass along to my fellow members of the Class of 2008. Hopefully, he might even still have the record at that point in time - count me in the club wishing for a career-ending injury to Barry Bonds, even if he is both on my fantasy team and I insist on giving him the benefit of the doubt in the whole steroid issue.
