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How’s it going, everybody? This is Mark Ibañez with another edition of Mark’s Remarks. You know, it was just a little over a month ago – May 6th, to be exact. I wrote that America was celebrating Willie Mays 93rd birthday. Little did we know we’d be celebrating his entire life. Less than two months later.
Now, theoretically, maybe you’re not supposed to be shocked or grief stricken when someone 93 years old dies. But I think when your true childhood hero passes away, it does take a piece of you some of that youthful bounce in your step. Gone. Wide-eyed dreams disappearing with that pure, unadulterated optimism. A man who could inspire a carefree tune like this. How could he be gone?
{Singing: “Say hey! Say who? Say Willie. Say, hey! Say Willie, swinging at the plate? Say, hey! Say, Willie!” }
Willie is gone though. And I know I speak for thousands of youngsters who grew up watching, reading or hearing about the “Say Hey Kid”. He sure got us thinking. There’s a big wide world out there. Let’s go get a piece of it.
{Singing: “Catch & throw. Hit & score. There goes number 24. He’ll beat you in so many ways… the legend, Willie Mays.”}
Willie Mays, he had that 1000 watt smile. He was competitive, not combative. Gracefu,l yet sturdy. Confident. Not cocky. Nothing he couldn’t do down on a baseball field. And he made us think we could do it, too.
{Singing: “And even though I was just a kid, I knew all the things he did. I used to dream I’d make the play … just like Willie Mays.” }
I remember as a kid just getting goosebumps hearing the PA announcer introduce him.
{Announcer: “Batting third and playing center field. Number 24, Willie Mays!”}
I just knew something great was about to happen.
{Announcer: “Now the two and oh. An there’s another one. Tell it “bye bye, baby.” Aaron doesn’t even move. It’s gone far up into the center field bleachers. Willie Mays has tied a record. Four home runs in a game. The county stadium is going mad.”}
So here we are in 2024. And ironically, the greatest number 24 has left us. Just like legends Bill Walton and Jerry West in the past few weeks. And as we all get older and childhood fades a little further behind us, more and more, doesn’t it seem like all we seem to do is say goodbye?
{Singing: “All we ever do is say goodbye.”}
{Willie Mays Speaking: “With my farewell tonight, something that I never feel that I would never quit baseball. But as you know it always comes a time for someone to get out. Willie, say goodbye to America. Thank you very much.”}
Those are Mark’s remarks. And I’m Mark Ibañez. This marks remarks brought to you by our friends at Decor Shower Doors and Glass – the Napa Valley’s window and shower door professionals.
Credits: “Say Hey (The Willie Mays Song)” by The Treniers; “Willie Mays” by Adam Stengel“; “All We Ever Do Is Say Goodbye” by John Mayer.
