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Book Cover for: Willie's Boys: The 1948 Birmingham Black Barons, the Last Negro League World Series, and the Making of a Baseball Legend, John Klima

Willie's Boys: The 1948 Birmingham Black Barons, the Last Negro League World Series, and the Making of a Baseball Legend

John Klima

Hardcover
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The story of Willie Mays's rookie year with the Negro American League's Birmingham Black Barons, the Last Negro World Series, and the making of a baseball legend

Baseball Hall of Famer Willie Mays is one of baseball's endearing greats, a tremendously talented and charismatic center fielder who hit 660 career homeruns, collected 3,283 hits, knocked in 1,903 runs, won 12 Gold Glove Awards and appeared in 24 All-Star games. But before Mays was the ""Say Hey Kid"", he was just a boy. Willie's Boys is the story of his remarkable 1948 rookie season with the Negro American League's Birmingham Black Barons, who took a risk on a raw but gifted 16-year-old and gave him the experience, confidence, and connections to escape Birmingham's segregation, navigate baseball's institutional racism, and sign with the New York Giants. Willie's Boys offers a character-rich narrative of the apprenticeship Mays had at the hands of a diverse group of savvy veterans who taught him the ways of the game and the world.

  • Sheds new light on the virtually unknown beginnings of a baseball great, not available in other books
  • Captures the first incredible steps of a baseball superstar in his first season with the Negro League's Birmingham Black Barons
  • Introduces the veteran group of Negro League players, including Piper Davis, who gave Mays an incredible apprenticeship season
  • Illuminates the Negro League's last days, drawing on in-depth research and interviews with remaining players
  • Explores the heated rivalry between Mays's Black Barons and Buck O'Neil's Kansas City Monarchs, culminating in the last Negro League World Series
  • Breaks new historical ground on what led the New York Giants to acquire Mays, and why he didn't sign with the Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Yankees, or Boston Red Sox

Packed with stories and insights, Willie's Boys takes you inside an important part of baseball history and the development of one of the all-time greats ever to play the game.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Trade Paper Press
  • Publish Date: Aug 1st, 2009
  • Pages: 320
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 9.48in - 6.38in - 1.03in - 1.30lb
  • EAN: 9780470400135
  • Categories: • Baseball - History

About the Author

Klima, John: -

JOHN KLIMA, an award-winning baseball writer, has written for the New York Times, Yahoo! Sports, and Los Angeles Times. His story "Deal of the Century" was selected by David Maraniss to be included in the 2007 edition of Best American Sports Writing. In 2007, he was honored by the Associated Press Sports Editors for column writing. He is a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America and the Society for American Baseball Research. Visit his websites at www.klimaink.com and www.baseballbeginnings.com.


Praise for this book

"Willie's Boys adds to baseball lore by recounting Willie Mays's service with the 1948 Birmingham Black Barons, which led to the Black Barons' participation in black baseball's final World Series. Baseball writer Klima (Pitched Battle: 35 of Baseball's Greatest Duels from the Mound) repeatedly delivers quotes from Black Barons, their adversaries, scouts, and other baseball figures regarding Mays's preternatural skills, particularly in the field and on the base paths. The hitting prowess, for both average and distance, came a bit later, but the raw talent and the drive were immediately present. Mays's personality, somewhat surprisingly, does not come through as clearly, unlike that of the other star of Klima's story, Willie's teammate, mentor, and first professional manager, Piper Davis. Even more than Mays's story, those of Davis and players such as the great third baseman Ray Dandridge demonstrate the strengths and weaknesses of black baseball, along with the hurdles even brilliant players had to overcome to enter organized baseball. Klima refutes long-standing notions regarding the supposed refusal of teams like the Yankees and Red Sox to sign black players, as both sought to sign Mays. Verdict: Recommended for all interested readers."
-Robert C. Cottrell, California State Univ., Chico (Library Journal, December 2009)

"I was a Willie Mays fan. When he was on the field, nobody could get at him. You couldn't take your eyes off him. He was like a kid playing out in the street. He did everything with flair. John has done some digging. It's hard to find those interesting stories."
--Joe Torre, New York Times bestselling author of The Yankee Years and manager, Los Angeles Dodgers

"John Klima has a delightful way of digging deep into a forgotten pocket of sports history and coming out with an unforgettable story. He does all lovers of Willie Mays and of baseball a great service with this fine book. I really, really enjoyed it. Well done!"
--David Maraniss, New York Times bestselling author of Clemente and Rome 1960

"Willie Mays was a dazzling ballplayer, but the story of his early career is much bigger than baseball. In Willie's Boys, John Klima puts us in the front row for one of the most fascinating periods in the game's history, as the Negro Leagues died and the Major Leagues struggled with integration. Mays is the perfect protagonist. The drama is real, the stakes are high, and Klima captures it with shimmering prose and hard-nosed reporting. I loved this book."
--Jonathan Eig, author of Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig and Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season

"In Willie's Boys John Klima's studious research and careful writing create a dramatic, important, and human story out of a line of agate--Willie Mays's rookie year with the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League. As Mays himself told Klima, 'You know more about this than I do.' So will the close reader of this fine book."
--Glenn Stout, author and Series Editor of The Best American Sports Writing