With the Say Hey Kid, there’s always more to say, and, in this unusual mix of memoir, self-help, and baseball history, Mays and coauthor John Shea, longtime San Francisco Chronicle sportswriter, find a thoroughly engaging way to say it … This approach, along with the book’s structure, which combines Shea’s narrative with Mays’ commentary, makes it possible to provide revealing detail about even the most-discussed events in the Mays highlight reel, and it gives Mays, who will turn 90 in 2021, the opportunity to reflect on the game and how to play it. Testimony from a host of past and present players, along with presidents and other notables, all inspired by Mays’ example, drives home the point that there’s never been anyone quite like number 24.
