The child from the Slate Belt simply wished to say hey to the “Say Hey Kid.”
What occurred subsequent was a thrill of the lifetime for Robert “Scott” Saltern, who grew up in East Bangor and now lives in Pen Argyl.
The 12 months was 1967 and Saltern was an 8-year-old, wide-eyed baseball fan. Willie Mays, who died Tuesday at age 93, was one of many largest stars within the sport.
Mays and the San Francisco Giants have been in Houston in June for a four-game sequence towards the Astros within the Astrodome, which had opened two years earlier.
Houston was additionally host to a enterprise conference that week. Saltern was fortunate sufficient to accompany his father, additionally Robert, to the Shamrock Hilton for the occasion.
The lodge was a brief stroll away from the Astrodome — the world’s first multipurpose, domed stadium — and visiting opponents of the Astros stayed there.
The Salterns’ room was a ground above the place the Giants have been staying and it didn’t take lengthy for the younger Saltern to reap the benefits of his proximity to one in all baseball’s all-time greats.
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Saltern and one other boy — additionally the son of a businessman attending the conference — came upon what room Mays was staying in and bravely knocked on his door one afternoon earlier than the workforce left the lodge to play an evening sport.
A Giants teammate answered and requested what the 2 boys wished.
“We want to see Willie,” Scott answered.
“Willie’s resting,” the participant stated.
Then, from contained in the room, they heard Mays’ raspy voice.
“Who’s there?” Mays requested his teammate.
“A couple of kids. They want to see you.”
The boys thought that was as shut as they might get to assembly Mays, however then they heard him say, “Tell them to come in.”
So Saltern and the opposite boy nervously entered the room, and there was Mays sitting on the sting of the mattress. Mays made them really feel at residence, speaking baseball with them for about half-hour and even ordering a room-service supply of pretzels and Cokes for his younger admirers.
“It was an inspiring moment in my life,” stated Saltern, a Navy veteran who performed soccer and baseball for Bangor Excessive College within the Seventies. “We just talked baseball. It was Willie Mays, one of the greatest players ever. And he’s asking us what positions we played.”
Mays’ fondness for his younger followers is well-documented. In Ken Burns’ “Baseball” documentary, Mays is seen taking part in stickball on the street with neighborhood youngsters in Harlem. He would typically purchase them ice cream earlier than heading to the Polo Grounds, the place the Giants performed earlier than shifting to San Francisco.
In “24: Life Stories and Lessons from the Say Hey Kid,” authored by Mays and John Shea, Mays wrote, “I love kids. I love baseball. There is a connection, and I’ve tried to make a difference with both. I’ve tried to inspire others, and I know many people have inspired me.”
“God bless his family and fans,” Saltern stated. “What an inspiring soul.”
Throughout that sequence in Houston in 1967, Mays linked for a grand slam in further innings to win a sport for the Giants.
Nevertheless it was his further effort to attach along with his followers that received many hearts, together with that of the younger boy from the Slate Belt who made the additional effort to knock on his door.
Bradley Krum is a content material editor for The Morning Name.
