 Regardless, Willie Mays is in the building and improving with every at-bat. And you can't keep a player like Mays in left field for long. Coot Willis. The center fielder there by the name of Norman Robinson, he was the regular center fielder for the Black Bears, but he was replaced by Willie Howard Mays. Freed from a high school schedule, Willie Mays is also getting his first taste of road life in the Negro Leagues.