This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/7/2022
In baseball’s never-ending attempts to somehow order its gods, Mays is the only contender whose proponents rarely use statistics to make their case. It is as if Mays’s 660 home runs and 3,283 hits somehow sell the man short, that his wonderful playing record is almost beside the point. With Mays it is not merely what he did — but how he did it. He scored more than 2,000 runs, nearly all of them, it would seem, after losing his cap flying around third base. He is credited with more than 7,000 outfield putouts, many exciting, some spectacular, a few breathtaking. How do you measure that? An artist and a genius, for most of his 22 seasons in the big leagues, you simply could not keep your eyes off Willie Mays. The featured example of this stellar card presents far in advance of the assessed grade. The four corners appear of a NM/MT level including the all important lower right corner which echos a dreamy all black presentation. The centering left to right appears astute with a NM/MT grade while the top to bottom centering may be ever so slightly shifted to the bottom edge by a degree or two but still is most likely befitting of a grade in advance of the opined level. The color is astounding with a deep well focused image of the young superstar. The surface is shimmering underneath a stellar level of original gloss. The reverse is a well printed slate gray and red presentation that offers a stain free appearance. I absolutely love this card as it gets a thumbs up from this auctioneer!