After reportedly years of being pursued for documentary purposes, Willie Mays finally relented--and there's no better source to do it justice than HBO Sports. In "Say Hey, Willie Mays!", viewers are treated to expert analyses of Mays' on and off-field career--including thoughts from the man himself!
The first thing that jumps out to viewers here is how thoughtful, articulate, and engaged Willie Mays is with the proceedings. Roughly 90 years of age as of filming, he is clearly sound in mind and body. Hearing--straight from his mouth--stories of baseball's golden age is delightful.
In terms of the "baseball stuff", luminaries such as Vin Scully, Bob Costas, Reggie Jackson, Juan Marichal, Orlando Cepeda, and John Shea (Willie's official biographer) take care of that, and HBO's unique visual presentation keeps everything fresh. All the high points and famous stories of Willie are accounted for here.
Off the field, Willie's racial status is delved into quite a bit--but in interesting and not at all pandering ways. An example: Mays--despite being as big of a sports star as San Francisco had ever seen--denied housing in certain parts of town in the 1960s. While Mays often came under fire (from fellow baseball star Jackie Robinson, in particular) for not being more outspoken on racial issues, director Nelson George does a very nuanced job of explaining all the behind-the-scenes ways in which Mays actually did contribute to furthering race relations. As one figure states: "not everyone can be Muhammad Ali". Willie, instead, largely let his play do the talking and did not want much publicity for his actions.
There is a decent amount of material here about Mays' relationship with Barry Bonds (including interview snippets from the now-tainted slugger himself). While some might criticize the steroid issue not even being hinted at, I'm sure that was the only way to garner Bonds' participation. I'm glad it played out the way it did, as I didn't realize the bond those two shared until viewing this doc.
Overall, I was highly entertained by "Say Hey" and even learned some new Mays details/insights. Some of the archived footage I had certainly never seen before. In other words, HBO Sports remains the undisputed king of documentaries.
