Download This Sample
This sample is exclusively for KidsKonnect members!
To download this worksheet, click the button below to signup for free (it only takes a minute) and you'll be brought right back to this page to start the download!
Sign Me Up
Table of Contents
Willie Mays is a professional Major League Baseball player who played 21 seasons with the Giants and finished up with the Mets in 1972 and 1973.
See the fact file below for more information on Willie Mays, or you can download our 22-page Willie Mays worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.
Key Facts & Information
EARLY CHILDHOOD
- William Howard Mays was born on May 6, 1931, in Westfield, Alabama, an African American mill town.
- His father, William Mays Sr. (nicknamed “Cat”), is a professional baseball player for the local Birmingham Industrial League, and his mother, Ann Satterwhite-Mays, was a high school track star as well as a basketball player.
- According to his father, William Sr., Willie learned to walk at the age of six months.
- As he grew up, his father started to teach him the fundamentals of baseball, which he would use to become famous one day.
- Willie’s parents divorced when he was three years old; he was raised by his mother’s younger sister, Sarah, and was inspired to play baseball by watching his father perform flawlessly.
- Willie’s educational background is somewhat undisclosed and only a few facts are known. He has stated that as a child, he attended an all-black high school because there was color discrimination in America at the time.
- In 1950, he attended Fairfield Industrial High School, participating in a variety of sports and graduating with flying colors.
EARLY BASEBALL CAREER
- After moving to nearby Fairfield, Mays began playing for the Fairfield Stars in the Birmingham Industrial League along with his father. He was a standout on Fairfield Industrial High School’s football and basketball teams.
- At 16, he started playing weekends for the Birmingham Black Barons of the professional Negro Leagues.
- During the summer holidays in 1947, Willie Mays joined the Chattanooga Choo-Choos of Tennessee. Willie joined the Birmingham Black Barons, who went to the Negro Leagues World Series in 1948 when he was seventeen years old.
- By the time Mays was hired as the Black Barons’ center fielder, legendary baseball player Jackie Robinson had broken the color barrier in major league baseball, and the Negro Leagues were massively drafted by newly integrated (groups made up of players of all races) professional teams.
- One scout from the New York Giants came to a Black Barons game to watch a teammate of Mays, but it was Willie Mays who captivated him; the scout raved about him to his superiors in the Giants’ organization.
MAJOR LEAGUE CAREER
- Numerous Major League Baseball (MLB) teams were eager to sign Mays, but they couldn’t do so until he graduated from high school.
- Both the Boston Braves and the Brooklyn Dodgers scouted him, but it was the New York Giants scout Eddie Montague who was able to sign him to a contract.
- Mays batted .353 for the Class B Trenton Giants of the Interstate League for the remainder of 1950.
- In 1950, Mays graduated from high school and signed with the New York Giants. He was assigned to the minor leagues.
- He continued to play well despite facing housing discrimination and racial epithets from fans, and he was promoted to the big leagues in May 1951 after hitting .477 in 35 games with the Minneapolis Millers.
- Mays had a slow start with the Giants, hitting only one home run off Hall of Fame pitcher Warren Spahn in his first seven games.
- But the quick center fielder made a major impression with his incredible defensive ability, and he eventually proved to be a capable hitter as well.
- Mays was called up to the army early in the 1952 season but returned in 1954 to hit .345 with 41 home runs and win the National League MVP award.
- Mays finished the season with one of baseball’s most memorable defensive plays, running down a monstrous drive to deep center field in Game 1 of the World Series to assist the Giants in defeating the favored Cleveland Indians.
- On August 17, 1973, Mays hit his final (660th) home run against the Reds’ Don Gullett. After considering retirement for the entire year, Mays informed the Mets on September 9th that 1973 would be his final season.
- On September 20, he made the announcement to the public. “I thought I’d be crying by now,” he told reporters and Mets executives that same day, “…but I see so many people here who are my friends, I can’t…Baseball and I had a love affair.”
ACHIEVEMENTS AND HONORS
- Mays hit a league-leading 51 home runs in 1955 and won his first of four straight stolen base titles the following year. He was indeed a hero in his Harlem community in addition to being arguably the best all-around player in the game.
- Mays was famous for playing stickball with the local kids, earning him the nickname “the Say Hey Kid.“
- In 1961, he became the ninth player in history to hit four home runs in a single game. The following year, he led the Giants to a World Series victory before falling short to the New York Yankees.
- He scored his second Most Valuable Player Award in 1965 after hitting a career-high 52 home runs.
- Mays ranks among the all-time leaders with 660 career home runs, 3,283 hits, and 2,062 runs scored.
- By the end of his career, he was able to win 12 Gold Gloves for his fielding abilities and was selected to the All-Star Game a record-tying 24 times. In 1979, he was soon inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
- The San Francisco Giants created a statue of the baseball legend Willie Mays at their new ballpark, 24 Willie Mays Plaza, in 2000.
- He also received honorary degrees from Yale University, Dartmouth College, and San Francisco State University, despite not being able to attend college.
- In September 2017, Major League Baseball changed the name of the World Series MVP Award to the Willie Mays World Series MVP Award.
- Mays maintained throughout his career that he did not seek to set records, but he currently ranks among baseball’s leaders in many categories. He was third in home runs with 660 when he retired, and he still ranks sixth as of June 2021.
LEGACY AND LATER LIFE
- Willie Mays married twice in his later years and adopted a son named Michael in 1959.
- He founded the Say Hey Foundation in 1972 to assist underprivileged children through education and community support.
- Mays remained with the Mets organization as a hitting instructor until 1979 but was barred from baseball-related events after accepting a public relations job with Bally’s Casino in Atlantic City.
- Mays was reinstated by Commissioner Peter Ueberroth in 1985, and the following year was given the title of special assistant to the Giants organization, a position that became a lifetime appointment in 1993.
- Mays’ legacy was carried forward on the diamond as well. He was Barry Bonds’ godfather, who would surpass Mays on the all-time homer list with his 661st blast in 2004.
- Mays’ boundless enthusiasm, graceful demeanor, and breathtaking athleticism continue to inspire – both in and out of sports.
Willie Mays Worksheets
This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about Willie Mays across 22 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use worksheets that are perfect for teaching kids about Willie Mays, who was a professional Major League Baseball player who played 21 seasons with the Giants and finished up with the Mets in 1972 and 1973.
Complete List of Included Worksheets
Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document.
- Willie Mays facts
- Willie’s Sport
- San Francisco Giants
- Player Profile
- Playing the Role
- Willie Art
- Featuring: Willie Mays
- Inspired by Words
- A Team Sport
- The Sport I Like
- My Big Goal
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Willie Mays?
Willie Mays, Jr. was an American professional baseball player who played center field for the New York/San Francisco Giants and the New York Mets of Major League Baseball.
What is Willie Mays’s biggest accomplishment?
Willie Mays, a New York Giant, made an astonishing catch of a fly ball that was hit by Cleveland Indians first baseman Vic Wertz in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series. The catch is considered one of baseball’s best catches ever.
How did Willie Mays influence others?
He was one of the first to bring MLB expansion out west in 1958, his Decision helped San Francisco get the New York Giants. In his 660-homer career, he might have even stolen Babe Ruth’s record from Hank Aaron if he hadn’t lost nearly 2 years to military service.
Link/cite this page
If you reference any of the content on this page on your own website, please use the code below to cite this page as the original source.
Link will appear as Willie Mays Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, September 3, 2022
Use With Any Curriculum
These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.