[Joe Hunter]

Since we're on the topic of Carl Mays/Ray Chapman, I have to tell you the story about my brush with Carl Mays. Mays owned a farm in Mansfield, Missouri where he had spent a portion of his childhood, and although he didn't live there permanently, he did spent a portion of his summers there in later life. He was also a bird dog scout at the time for several mlb teams. In 1968, I was a left handed pitcher for my high school team in Seymour, Missouri, which is only about ten miles from Mansfield. After one of our games that I pitched, my high school principal came up to me and introduced me to this very old guy who he said was there to see me pitch. At the time, I had no idea who Carl Mays was, so when he mentioned his name it made no impression on me. Turns out the principal's parents owned a farm next to the Mays farm, so they were pretty well acquainted. I never heard from Carl Mays again. He didn't offer me a contract, and rightly so, and it wasn't until years later that I realized who the man was and the infamy surrounding him.