Willie Mays In 1949

The history you've never heard of

Willie Mays In 1949

While doing research for the OOTP simulation video linked above, I made an interesting discovery about Willie Mays.

Those of us who ignore biographies and look only at the stats might wonder what in the world happened to Mays in 1949:

The truth is that he was still playing with the Birmingham Black Barons. His stats, however, weren’t fully compiled, which is why they don’t show up in the history books.

Here’s a small collection of newspaper articles that provide ample evidence:

From The Alabama Tribune, April 22, 1949, page 6

From The Birmingham News, May 9, 1949, page 18

From The Birmingham News, May 26, 1949, page 49

From The Alexander City Outlook, July 21, 1949, page 8

From The Alabama Citizen, August 6, 1949, page 7

From The Decatur Daily, August 18, 1949, page 5

From The Alabama Citizen, September 10, 1949, page 7

From The Birmingham News, September 24, 1949, page 9

Anyway — keep that in mind the next time you read about the young Willie Mays. Like so many other great athletes, his talent and athletic prowess was obvious from the start.