Nostalgic Baseball Memories of Mays in May

When I was growing up, baseball was king.

The other sports were fillers between the baseball seasons.

I was a New York Giants fan. An avid one. Many people may not even remember they existed before they moved to San Francisco and broke my heart.
They played in the Polo Grounds, an oval shaped ballpark in Manhattan. It was across the way from another park, Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.
The pennants would fly above the Polo Grounds and the light towers surrounded what I thought was a palace.
There was nothing better than walking into the park and going from the dark tunnels of concession stands and scorecard vendors into the bright sunlight and brilliant green of the field and stands painted the same color. Or walking into the twilight when the lights were on but their full effect not yet evident.

I think of the month of May in particular, because that’s when a hot prospect named Willie Mays came up from the Giants Minneapolis farm club. He was hitting .477 and the Giants needed his spark. He could hit, hit with power, run, field and throw.
He would lose his cap racing for a catch in the spacious cavernous center field.
He would lose his cap stealing a base. He could do it all.
He sparked my team to an amazing comeback pennant victory over the rival Brooklyn Dodgers.

It was my first year as a baseball fan. And it all started in the month of May.