Throughout history, there have been absolutely fantastic baseball movies. And, don’t trip, there have been several incredible Black baseball movies: The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings, Soul of the Game, 42, Hardball, Mr. 3000 (That’s right, I said it), and, if we’re being intellectually honest, The Bad News Bears (1976) was about the Blackest thing I’ve ever seen on TV.
These movies — and so many more brought us some of the best Black baseball characters in the history of cinema. But let’s face it, and let’s not bury the lead: center fielder Willie Mays Hayes is the greatest Black baseball character ever. He beats G-Baby (RIP G). He beats power-hitting catcher Joe Louis Brown (Long Gone). He beats Afro-Latino pitcher Kenny DeNunez from Sandlot (you’re not fooling anybody, Kenny…we know). And, yes, he beats Billy Dee Williams, playing an excellent bootleg Satchel Paige in Bingo Long. Willie Mays Hayes, played by Wesley Snipes, beats them all. He is simply the greatest.
Let’s break it down, shall we?
Position: center field
Experience: No one knows
Rookie Year: 1989
Estimated Stats: OOTP’s simulator suggested that Hayes batted .279/.350/.336 and finished with 59 stolen bases in 74 attempts and scored 81 runs. He also won a Gold Glove and was valued at 5.2 WAR.*
Strengths: blazing speed, clutch performer, defensive general
Weakness: slow start to the season, too many flyouts, lapses in focus (Shoes untied pickoff on Opening Day)
Modern Day Comp: Cedric Mullins
All-Time Comp: Rickey Henderson; Willie Mays
WHAT MAKES HIM THE GREATEST?
Look, when people casually say: I’m not even supposed to be here, we usually take that comment with a grain of salt. You know, rapper X made it from inner-city poverty to the award stage — and we are all rooting for him; it’s a feel-good story. But, trust me, Willie Mays Hayes was really never supposed to be there. At the end of Major League, Hayes swipes a pivot base and scores the winning run. He was NEVER supposed to be there. He was NEVER supposed to be on this list. He was NEVER supposed to be on the Cleveland Indians. He was NEVER supposed to be at Spring Training. In fact, HE WAS NEVER INVITED!
Willie Mays Hayes just showed up at Indians’ Spring Training in Arizona — driving a Volkswagen Beetle disguised as a Rolls-Royce (I didn’t catch that until years later), and said what would be the first of many legendary quotes, “Willie Mays Hayes here. I play like Mays, and I run like Hayes.” From that line on, the rest was theatric genius.
Let’s just put in perspective that Hayes broke into the camp, not once, but twice. The second time, after he discovered practice had already started and he was sleeping outside of the fence. Hayes, somehow, breaks back into camp — in his pajamas — and runs a sprint that gets him a uniform.
From there, Hayes is a stalwart in center field for an upstart Cleveland team that went on to win the pennant. Hayes not only stole bases, but he also stole every scene of the movie he was in. The film was supposed to be about Wild Thing Rick Vaughn, played by Charlie Sheen, loveable (and washed) catcher Jake Taylor, played by Tom Berenger, and ego-maniac Roger Dorn, played by Corbin Bernsen. But to anyone with eyes, the film was truly made classic by its fantastic supporting cast led by Hayes, Manager Lou Brown, played by James Gammon, and, one of the greatest movie villains of all-time Rachel Phelps, played by Margaret Whitton.
On a team full of low-level talent, washed players, and flat-out cheats (pitcher Eddie Harris), Hayes turned out to be a breakout star. He was basically a weaker Rickey Henderson. The quotes, the commercials (American Express: Don’t steal home without it), the basket catch swag, everything was hilariously timed, down to the happy dance outside of the stadium when Hayes realized his dream of making the team. Hayes was a perfect character.
CLOSING ARGUMENT
I know what you’re thinking: What about Omar Epps in Major League II? Didn’t that ruin the Hayes character? No, it does not. Does Major League II ruin Major League? No! It’s a sequel. Does HOV’s Blueprint II ruin the five-mic masterpiece that was Blueprint? What about Rae’s Only Built 4 Cuban Lynx II? Did that ruin the Purple Tape? No! I still play the Purple Tape today, and it’s still classic. Major League II is trash. Omar Epps took a check, and that particular film didn’t work out; they all can’t be winners (He still gave us Juice, Higher Learning, In Too Deep, and Love & Basketball). But in no way does Epps’s portrayal of Hayes ruin the character that Snipes played. Hayes in Major League is just too damn good. And too important to the culture.
Let me know what you think in the comments. And be sure to follow @BlackBaseballMixtape on IG.
*Stats provided by May 2022 article in The Athletic by Dave Hayes
