Say, Hey, He’s Coaching Children’s Baseball : Youth fair: Willie Mays and friends pass along knowledge of the game to kids from 23 countries at UCLA this week.

Willie Mays may have a reputation of being a bit gruff, but there’s little doubt about his love for children.

His Willie Mays Foundation is devoted to kids and has put seven through college.

Mays has an adopted son, Michael, 31.

Mays is now involved in another project to benefit kids, the first World Children’s Baseball Fair, to be held at UCLA this week. It begins today and concludes Saturday with a celebrity game at 2:30 p.m. at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

Japan’s Sadaharu Oh, who played 22 seasons and hit 868 home runs, came up with the idea, and he invited a few of his American counterparts to participate. They include Mays, who also played for 22 seasons, hitting 660 home runs; Hank Aaron, Reggie Jackson, Steve Garvey, Ernie Banks, Graig Nettles, Jim (Catfish) Hunter and Tommy John.

They will work with some 200 youngsters, ages 9 to 14, from 23 countries, who were invited to Los Angeles to learn about baseball and American culture. They will be housed in UCLA dormitories and will take part in clinics, attend a Dodger game and visit Disneyland and other tourist attractions.

The International Baseball Assn., the world governing body for amateur baseball, set guidelines for choosing the attendees, and each country used different formats. The key is that all invited guests must show a genuine interest in baseball.

Although Oh is the founder of the fair, Agi Shi, who owns a Hollywood film production company, is the driving force, according to Mays. Shi came to Southern California from Japan 20 years ago to attend UCLA, where she got a Ph.D.

The fair is being funded by corporate sponsorships.

“We’re trying to get this thing off the ground,” Mays said. “The main thing is, it is educational for kids. That’s the part I enjoy.”

The second World Children’s Baseball Fair is scheduled for next year in Tokyo, with subsequent fairs planned for Barcelona and Atlanta.

Mays, who lives in Atherton, Calif., is mainly involved with public-relations work for the Giants and Bally’s casinos.

During spring training, he also works with some of the Giant players, outfielder Kevin Mitchell in particular.

He is bothered, though, whenever he hears a young ballplayer described as “the next Willie Mays.”

“I played for 22 years,” Mays said. “I don’t think you can call a 23-year-old kid who been in the majors for only a few seasons ‘the next Willie Mays.’ It’s not fair to the kid.”

The tag, the next Willie Mays, has been applied to several players, such as Bobby Bonds and Cesar Cedeno, and, more recently, Eric Davis of Cincinnati and Ken Griffey Jr. of Seattle.

“A couple of years ago, I talked with Eric Davis, and told him, ‘Don’t try to be me. You have to be you.’ ”

There really was only one Willie Mays. When he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1979, five years after he retired, he was quoted as saying he was the “best player I ever saw.”

Later, he admitted he was embarrassed by the statement.

“Some radio guy kept bugging me,” Mays explained later. “He kept asking me over and over again who was the greatest player I ever saw.

“I didn’t want to say anything, but when I finally did I had to say what I believed. I told him I hoped it didn’t sound like I was bragging, but I think I was the greatest, the greatest all around, that I ever saw.”

His point is tough to argue.

Asked if he would rather be playing now and making the big money, Mays said, “No, not really. I did OK. I made $150,000, then $180,000. What would that be today? At least a million.

“Nah, I’m proud of the era I played in.”

As Mays talked, he held a wrist grip he uses for exercise.

“I sign so many autographs, I have to keep in shape,” he said.

He wasn’t kidding.