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Willie's Time: Baseball's Golden Age (Writing Baseball)

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"Willie's Time," by Charles Einstein, is a magical read, in my opinion. Einstein basically starts when Willie made it to the "Bigs," and he weaves history into the phenomenal career of Willie Mays, who is arguably the greatest baseball player that ever lived.

I started playing Little League baseball in 1960, and I played center. Willie Mays was my hero. Mays could-and did-do it all: (1)hit for average, (2)hit with power, (3)run the bases, (4)play defense, and (5)win games for his team with intangibles. Many players challenged Willie's arm, and Mays threw the majority of them out.

To attempt to compare drug-enhanced players of today with Willie Mays is ludicrous. They are mere children compared to Willie.

Today (27 May 2005), Major League Baseball no longer exists (to me). But "Willie's Time" was a wonderful reminder of not only a great baseball player, but also a time when Major League Baseball was fun. (RIP, Major League Baseball.)

In my opinion, you will NOT be disappointed if you buy this book.

This is a delicious read. Einstein weaves many aspects of life in the 50's and 60's into this paen to the greatest baseball player of all time (in my mind), Willie Mays. He writes of the truly marvelous talents of Mays, but he also includes societal habits and ways, presidents of the era, the eclipse of the old and and the advent the new, of the things we take for granted, not the least of which are television and jet travel. You will chortle and possibly emit an involuntary snort of two from your nostrils (you are fairly warned!) when reading this book. Who knew Babe Ruth loved batting practice so much!

Willie Mays was my hero when I was a boy. The book captured his vitality and spirit nicely. Picking up and reading it -- I'm 12 years old again watching him catch and hit again. That's MY Willie Mays!

This book is a great history lesson not just of baseball but of the times Willie played. There are many memories of the "Giants" of yesterday.