Thursday marked Major League Baseball legend Willie Mays’ 90th birthday, yet another notable moment for the current oldest living player in the Baseball Hall of Fame. And, around that, Deadline broke the news of an upcoming documentary on Mays (seen above during a 2018 Pirates-Giants game) that’s set to incorporate some new interviews. The documentary, directed by Nelson George (the co-director of Brooklyn Boheme and the author of The Hippest Trip in America) is already shooting, and it will premiere on HBO next year and be available for streaming on HBO Max. Here’s more on what to expect with this from Deadline’s Dominic Patten:
“Some say that throughout my life I have inspired others, but the truth is that so many have done this for me,” Mays told Deadline today, his 90th birthday “My teammates, my friends, and of course the fans mean so much to me. And so I hope this documentary can give back to all of them something enjoyable and inspiring in return.”
…“Willie Mays is an American icon, a prime example of black excellence and baseball’s greatest player,” director George says. “It’s an honor to be able to chronicle his journey from the Negro Leagues in Alabama, stardom with the Giants in Harlem and to the game’s apex in San Francisco.”
…HBO Sports has teamed up with Company Name, UNINTERRUPTED, Zipper Bros Films, and Major League Baseball to produce the documentary on likely the greatest baseball player of all time.
The Willie Mays documentary is expected to premiere on HBO next year before finding a digital home on HBO Max.
It’s certainly cool to hear of a new documentary on Mays, and he’s a great subject for a feature given his decades of interesting involvement with baseball. We’ll keep an eye out for more details on this.
[Deadline; photo from D. Ross Cameron/USA Today Sports]
About Andrew Bucholtz
Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.