Well…here I am.  After spending years poking around other people’s baseball blogs, I have finally decided to dive in and start my own.

I’ve attempted to get this first blog post up and running for 2 days now but have been plagued with a slight case of writer’s-block.  I’ve decided to approach this first post as a lead-off hitter would approach his at-bat.  I’ll step in, work the pitcher a little bit and just poke one through for a base hit.

I can tell you, the blog at this point has no real “theme”.  I assume it will unintentionally gravitate towards the following topics:  The New York Mets, collecting cards and autographs, and baseball history.

Let’s lead it off by wishing Mr. Willie Mays a very happy 85th birthday.

“They invented the All-Star Game for Willie Mays.” – Ted Williams

Mays was born in Westfield Alabama on May 6, 1931.  At age 16, Mays starred for the Birmingham Barons of the Negro League.  In 1950, the New York Giants placed Mays in their center field and the rest is history.

His rookie season, Mays hit 20 home runs and drove in 68 runs earning NL Rookie of the Year honors.  1952-1953 was spent serving our country with the US Army.  The 1954 season enjoyed watching Mays win the batting title with a .345 average, 41 home runs and 110 runs batted in.  That was also the year the Giants took the NL Pennant and Mays dazzled the world with “the catch.”

Mays finished up his career with a .302 batting average, 3,283 hits, 660 home runs, 24 All Star Game appearances, 2 NL MVP awards, and 12 Gold Gloves.

So there you have it.  The first post is complete.  I guess there was a good reason it took me two days to find the right thing to write about.

I can’t think of a better “lead-off” post than Willie Mays.