Willie Mays (May 6, 1931 – June 18, 2024) was the last five-tool player of my youth to pass away. The other five players being, in my opinion, Mickey Mantle, Frank Robinson, Al Kaline, Roberto Clemente, and Hank Aaron. I believe that Mays was the best of all of them, because of his elite base running skills. In this podcast, I reflect on Mays’s approach to base running, offer an anecdote on how he influenced the way that I ran the bases, and offer several tactics that I used to apply that I would have liked to have shared with Mays. Instead, I’ll share them with you. I look forward to your reflections and comments: bcpodcastbaseball@gmail.com

Music: “Field Grass” by Sergei Pavkin

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