Dom Amore’s Sunday Read: Chris Berman’s memories of Willie; SCSU star throws for gold; Reggie’s magnitude and more

CROMWELL — On a broiling hot afternoon at The Travelers Pro Am, Chris Berman pulled on his San Francisco Giants cap to remember Willie Mays, who died Tuesday at age 93.Some baseball legends are larger than life. Willie Mays was more down to earth, as Berman remembers him, but full of life.“His smile and his laugh were infectious,” Berman said, sipping a smoothie in the TPC River Highlands clubhouse. “I was a Giants fan because of him. Willie was a hero to so many of us, because you didn’t have to be a Giant fan to like Willie Mays. This was infectious.”Berman first saw Mays in person on May 4, 1963, the Giants beating the Mets, 17-4, at the Polo Grounds. Mays got a hit, took an extra base on a throw to third, scored. A pedestrian day, by Mays standards. “I remember my father telling me, ‘This kid playing center field for the Giants? Mays? He’s the best player,” Berman said.ESPN’s Chris Berman talks to the media about the passing of Willie Mays at the first tee during the 2024 Travelers Championship Celebrity Pro-Am at the TPC River Highlands. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)(My own trip to New York, specifically to see Mays on June 24, 1972, shortly after he was traded to the Mets, was a little empty. Willie, 41, didn’t play that day, Tom Seaver didn’t have it and the Mets lost, 11-0)Folks who love baseball, loved Mays, went out of their way to see him, or take their kids to see him, because, as Berman said, “What would he give us today?”Mays hit 660 home runs, might’ve hit 100 more in different home ballparks, but you weren’t necessarily disappointed if he didn’t hit one for you. He was known for making impossible catches in center field, most notably in the 1954 World Series. If you saw one, great, but a simple, signature basket catch would stay in mind’s eye. Maybe he’d get on base, then steal second and third, hat flying off his head as he ran, to get you on the edge of your seat. Maybe he’d cut a ball off in the gap and make a perfect peg without setting up.“He was the definition of a five-tool player,” Berman said, “rating a five in all five categories. If there were 15 categories, he’d rate highest in all 15. There was something different he could do great every day. As great as anybody else was, how many players can you say that about?”He mastered the nuances of the game, and until he began losing his eyesight in his 80s, Mays would frequently drop in on the Giants and share his wisdom, the things he’d been seeing.As Berman, 69, became prominent in broadcasting at ESPN, and his lifelong emotional investment in the Giants became well known, he got the opportunities to meet Mays, the first time, he recalled, was in Waterbury. Former Giant Bobby Bonds ran a golf event there to raise money for scholarships in the area.Willie Mays, the Giants’ electrifying ‘Say Hey Kid,’ dies at 93“He’d come to Waterbury because if it meant something to Bobby, it meant something to him,” Berman said. “And I remember thinking, ‘Okay, so that’s what a teammate is.’”When Berman would broadcast games in San Francisco, such as the final game played at Candlestick Park in 1999, Mays would join him in the booth for a couple of innings. He would just let Willie talk, share his insights on how the game could, and should be played.“He was so into the game of baseball,” Berman said. “It wasn’t just ceremonial when he’d go to spring training (as a guest instructor), he would see things.”Even as he approached 90, a meeting with Mays would prompt one to ask, “What will he give us today?”Berman would go to see the Giants during spring training and then-manager Bruce Bochy would let him “manage.” Mays would call Berman over to grill him on strategy.Dom Amore: For Tom Kim’s birthday, Sally’s Apizza and a round of 62 at the Travelers were in order“Willie was sharp at 90. He was very aware,” Berman said. “I went to spring training in 2018 and ’19, Willie would spend half an hour, ‘What are you going to do when you manage?’ I’d say, ‘Oh, it’s just ceremonial,’ and he’d say, ‘C’mon, you’ve got to do something.’”At the ballpark in San Francisco, longtime clubhouse manager Mike Murphy would whisper, “Willie’s here.” And Berman would go into the office to find Mays sitting there, waiting.“… And he’d say, ‘Chris, where you been? You haven’t been here in two month. How you doing? Everything good with you?’ In that high-pitched voice of his,” Berman remembered.But like millions who love baseball, even those who have only seen old black-and-white newsreels of Mays in his prime, he can only be remembered as the inspiration of John Fogerty’s Centerfield — and, yes, Fogerty, too, became friends with “Say Hey Willie” — roaming that young man’s area of the diamond, free and easy and full of joy, as if nothing could ever be beyond his reach.That Babe Ruth was a more dominant player of his era could be argued. That Mays, who last played in 1973, was the “greatest living player,” no argument should be attempted. Who has that title now? Maybe Mays’ godson, Barry Bonds. My vote would go to Ken Griffey Jr. With Willie Mays gone, the title just doesn’t seem all that relevant.More for the Sunday Read:Dom Amore’s Sunday Read: Meet SCSU Olympic hopeful Jordan Davis; a UConn inspiration and moreThrowing for goldWallingford’s and SCSU’s Jordan Davis, who had the top javelin throw in the U.S. this season, has reached the big moment. He’s in the finals at the Olympic trials in Eugene, Ore. He’ll be throwing Sunday night (9.40 p.m., NBC/Peacock) for a berth on the U.S team.A GoFundMe page has been raising money to help Davis with the costs of equipment, traveling, which has reached $2,600 as of Saturday.Davis advanced to the finals with a throw of 77.14 meters on Friday. He topped 84 meters at the NCAA championships. With 12 throwers left competing, possibly for only two spots, he will need his best throw Sunday.Sunday short takes*Rod Foster, who led New Britain’s St. Thomas Aquinas to a CIAC Class S boys basketball championship in 1979, averaging over 30 points per game, has been inducted into the UCLA Hall of Fame. Foster scored 1,365 points for the Bruins, helping Larry Brown’s team reach the Final Four as a freshman in 1980, and later played in the NBA with the Suns.*During the Cardinals-Giants game played at Birmingham’s Rickwood Field to honor Negro Leagues baseball, a plaque commemorating a memorable, 467-foot homer UConn’s Walt Dropo hit there. Dropo reached the Red Sox the following season.*The Red Sox are quite a bit better than folks realize and have shown to be ahead of the curve in taking advantage of the new rules favorable for base stealing. With nine against the Yankees last Sunday, they may be on to something.*The difference between light’s-out starting pitching and we-need-starting-pitching is, basically, one time through the rotation.*UConn’s Tristen Newton has been criss-crossing the country working out for NBA teams, as a player who will likely be looking to sign after the draft, must do. He’s already been seen by 13 teams, with the Timberwolves and Knicks to come.*Lefty Tim Cate (Cheney Tech and UConn) is in a rhythm pitching out of the bullpen for Rochester, the Nationals’ Triple A affiliate. Nine of his last 10 appearances have been scoreless. The curve ball specialist, Cate has 15 strikeouts in 10 innings since May 25. As we know, MLB teams are always looking for a new bullpen look.
“Coming back here is not easy.”
Reggie Jackson shares his emotions of visiting Rickwood Field. pic.twitter.com/dSK7hmCJZd
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) June 20, 2024Last wordReggie Jackson’s four-minute talk on the Fox telecast about the racism he faced as a 21-year-old minor-leaguer in Birmingham in 1967 was the highlight of MLB’s staging of a game at Rickwood Field. If you didn’t see it, find it on social media.Jackson’s eloquent, but raw talk gave the event a real purpose and shed light on a fact of baseball history that should not be forgotten. The barrier was pierced 20 years earlier, but obstacles existed long after Jackie Robinson. Reggie, as he did in his playing prime, kept it real. 

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