Q&A: Willie Mays

Why was the book important?

You want to make sure kids do the right thing and grow up to do the right thing so their kids can do the same. That’s the message we wanted to send. It can be through baseball or outside of baseball. This is for the kids. People took care of me when I was young, and I wanted to do this for the next generations.

How important were All-star Games when you played because there’s talk nowadays about Allstars not caring so much?

I don’t see that. I enjoyed my time in All-star Games. It was important for us to win so I wanted to play the whole game. When I came along, they told me the American League was winning every year, so we came in and tried to change that.

Should we even have an All-star game anymore?

It’s good for teams to take a break during the season, give the guys the time off. Fans like the game. They like the leagues coming together for a game. You see guys you don’t always see. It’s a fun time, man. It’s for the fans.

Would you compare some of today’s players with players in your era?

I don’t like to put pressure on the guys today. It’s a whole new group. They’re taking after the guys before them, and then the next guys will come along. All the guys can play. It’s not right to compare any of these guys to us. Let them be who they are.