Willie Mays

I met Willie Mays in 1992. It was a chance encounter. My wife and I were taking our daughter up to college to begin her freshman year and we stopped at a diner just after leaving the Angeles National Forest above L.A. We sat down and I was facing the door of the diner and My wife was facing the back. She leaned over to me and said "Willie Mays is sitting behind us!" I was very skeptical but I turned around slowly and sure enough the hero of my youth was sitting a few tables behind us.
In the Fifties, there were three center fielders in New York and there was always the debate who was the best. There was Duke Snider of the Dodgers, Mickey Mantle of the Yankees and Willie Howard Mays of the Giants. Willie was always my favorite because he did everything with a natural ease whether swinging a bat, stealing a base or making his signature "basket" catch.
So I ask my wife "What do I do?" She always has a perfect answer, she says "Wait until he finishes eating, and go over and say hello!" I waited for what seemed like a year and got up to approach him.

All doubt vanished as I got to him as he was wearing a "Say Hey" logo on his shirt which was a trademark saying of Willie. I spoke nervously and told him I had been a fan of his since I was a little kid of 8. I told him I had seen him hit 2 home runs against the Phillies at the Polo grounds in the Fifties. He said in his wonderful voice "You got a good memory!" I asked for his autograph and he gladly obliged. It was a wonderful moment in my life!