Willie Mays, Private, U.S. Army

Icon, Legend, Soldier

Last week, baseball legend and pathbreaking American, Willie Mays passed away at the age of 93. One of the first Black Americans to play in Major League Baseball, Mays was among the greatest, if not the greatest, to ever play the game. He was also a soldier and veteran. Drafted into the Army in 1952, during the Korean War, Mays served at Fort Eustis, Virginia until 1954.

The draft notice came just as Mays was breaking out on the field. In 1951, just before he was drafted, he was recognized with the Rookie of the Year award. Despite what he knew would be a major disruption to his career, Mays never hesitated to fulfill his duty in uniform.

During his time in the Army, Private Mays played on the Army baseball team and served as a physical training instructor. He played approximately 90 games during his time in the Army. And it was in the Army that he learned his trademark “basket catch”.

Willie Mays’s service was at once exceptional and at the same time entirely standard. It was exceptional when we consider he was a world-class athlete; a Black American in the majors at a time when Black Americans made up only 2.9% of players; and he served in a state where segregation was still the law. Yet his service was also normal—over 1.5 million Americans were drafted during the Korean War. Mays’s unique story did not disappear when he joined the Army—and his own experience in uniform was distinct—but joined alongside the stories of millions of other Americans also serving in the Army at the same time.

Mays was an incredible American, one whose influence will be felt long into the future. Jason Gay, the sports columnist for the Wall Street Journal, described Mays by noting, “Icon is the most overused term in sports, but Mays was surely one.” He was an icon, a legend, and he was a soldier.

Additional Resources:

James Hirsch wrote the authorized biography of Willie Mays.

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