"After I got back into the lineup, I never felt strong again for the rest of the season," he recalled. [132] Mays reveled in the fact that he had finally won the support of San Francisco fans; "It only took them five years," he later said. [165] He played 148 games and upped his batting average to .289, accumulating 84 runs scored, 144 hits, 23 home runs, and 79RBI. [124] Mays said in 1959 that he did not mind the booing, but he admitted in a 1961 article that the catcalls were bothering him. [47] By the end of his career, Mays had won a Gold Glove Award 12 times, a record for outfielders today (shared by Roberto Clemente). [252] David Schoenfield of ESPN, James, and Barra each think he should have won the NL MVP Award at least seven times. In Game5 he hit a consequential fly ball, which DiMaggio and Yankee rookie Mickey Mantle pursued. [33][34] Mays spent the rest of 1950 with the Class B Trenton Giants of the Interstate League, batting .353. [26] The Boston Braves and the Brooklyn Dodgers both scouted him, but New York Giants scout Eddie Montague was the one who signed him to a $4,000 contract. This is because of a discrepancy in the RBI total for, New York / San Francisco Giants retired numbers, List of Negro league baseball players who played in Major League Baseball, List of Major League Baseball home run records, List of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders, List of Major League Baseball career putouts as a center fielder leaders, List of Major League Baseball career putouts as an outfielder leaders, List of Major League Baseball career triples leaders, List of Major League Baseball annual runs scored leaders, List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders, "Mays at 75: The Say-Hey Kid has lots of fond memories, few regrets", "Reams of Sports: Mays Challenges for Rookie Honors, "New film remembers long-gone West Jefferson community of Westfield, home of Mays, Clemon", "Baseball Great and the Fort Eustis Connection", "Chicago Cubs at New York Giants Box Score, June 25, 1954", "Players with at least 30 HR by All-Star Game", "Philadelphia Phillies at New York Giants Box Score, April 21, 1957", "New York Giants at Chicago Cubs Box Score, May 21, 1957", "St. Louis Cardinals at San Francisco Giants Box Score, September 28, 1958", "San Francisco Giants at Cincinnati Reds Box Score, June 24, 1960", "San Francisco Giants at Philadelphia Phillies Box Score, September 15, 1960", "San Francisco Giants Team History & Encyclopedia", "San Francisco Giants 14, Milwaukee Braves 4", "Willie Mays Finally Has Love of San Francisco Giants Fans", "Willie Mays Says Watch Pirates Next Season", "1962 San Francisco Giants Batting Statistics", "Houston Colt .45s at San Francisco Giants Box Score, September 30, 1962", "Willie Mays Postseason Batting Gamelogs", "July 2, 1963 Milwaukee Braves at San Francisco Giants Box Score and Play by Play", "Letting Off Steam confrontations between players, fans and umpires", "Los Angeles Dodgers at San Francisco Giants Box Score, August 22, 1965", "San Francisco Giants at Houston Astros Box Score, September 14, 1965", "A complete list of every 50-homer season", "San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers Box Score, September 7, 1966", "They Wuz Robbed: Tales of Head-Scratching MVP Voting", "San Francisco Giants at Cincinnati Reds Box Score, June 7, 1967", "Houston Astros at San Francisco Giants Box Score, July 14, 1967", "Mays Honored as Top Player of 1960s by Sporting News", "Montreal Expos at San Francisco Giants Box Score, July 18, 1970", "New York Mets at San Francisco Giants Box Score, May 31, 1971", "Turn back the clock: Willie Mays played a vital role on '73 mets", "Cincinnati Reds at New York Mets Box Score, August 17, 1973", "1973 World Series Game 2, Mets at Athletics, October 14", "1973 World Series Game 3, Athletics at Mets, October 16", "All-Star Game Records: Career All-Star Game Hitting Records", "Ten Reasons Willie Mays is the Greatest Ever", "100 Greatest Baseball Players by The Sporting News: A Legendary List by Baseball Almanac", Don Zimmer, Who Spent 60 Eventful Years in Baseball, Dies at 83, "Career Leaders & Records for Runs Batted In", "Career Leaders & Records for Def. [142] Ruben Amaro, Sr., hit a ball to the scoreboard at Philadelphia's Connie Mack Stadium. "[149][g] The next night, Mays hit one that he considered his most dramatic. "[57] Al Rosen remembered "you had the feeling you were playing against someone who was going to be the greatest of all time. [295][291] NBC-TV aired an hour-long documentary titled A Man Named Mays in 1963, telling the story of the ballplayer's life. [299][300] Others mentioning him include "I Shall Be Free" by Bob Dylan, "Talkin' Baseball" by Terry Cashman, and "Willie Mays is Up at Bat" by Chuck Prophet and Kurt Lipschutz. 
Mays missed about 266 games because of his military service. [222] The team travelled around the southern United States the first two years, attaining crowds of about 5,000 in 1955 but drawing less than 1,000 in 1956, partly because of the advent of television. [168][169] On September22, he hit his 600th home run, saying later, "Winning the game was more important to me than any individual achievements. [46], The Giants met the New York Yankees and Mays's boyhood favorite DiMaggio in the 1951 World Series, which the Giants lost in six games. Though Baseball-Reference list Mays as 12th in career RBI, MLB.com ranks him 11th. [224] The tradition soon died out, as the expansion of the major leagues, the increased televising of major league games, and the emergence of professional football had siphoned interest away from the offseason exhibition games. [68] "All I can say is that he is the greatest player I ever saw, bar none," was Rigney's assessment. [229] His signature play was his "basket catch," the technique that was on display when he made "The Catch" in the 1954 World Series. [45] He would bat close to .290 for the rest of the season. The next batter, McCovey, hit a line drive that was caught by Bobby Richardson, and the Yankees won the deciding game 10. [190][191], Mays had remained popular in New York, and owner Joan Payson had long wanted to bring him back to his major league roots. [183] After the season, Mays was honored as the winner of the inaugural Roberto Clemente Award, known at that time as the Commissioner's Award. With the Giants trailing 42 in the top of the ninth inning of Game 3, Mays hit an RBI single, eventually scoring as the Giants took a 64 lead. Following the Korean War, the Congressional Armed Services Defenses Subcommittee investigated the military records of ten athletes who had been drafted into the service, and a Congressional report dated July 22 determined that the athletes were "pampered" or "coddled" while in uniform. Teams of star players would travel from city to city playing exhibition games for local fans. [198][199] Having considered retirement all year, Mays finally told the Mets officially on September9 that 1973 would be his last season. Moved to the leadoff slot the last day to increase his at-bats, Mays collected three hits in the game to finish with a career-high .347, but Philadelphia's Richie Ashburn batted .350. In the game against the Phillies, Mays reached second base on an error, stole third, and scored the winning run on a Hank Sauer single, all on plays close enough that he had to slide to make each one. "[240][241] Don Zimmer remarked, "In the National League in the 1950s, there were two opposing players who stood out over all the othersStan Musial and Willie Mays. [197], On August 17, 1973, Mays hit his final (660th) home run against the Reds' Don Gullett. With two outs in the bottom of the inning, Lee Walls hit a fly ball to center field, which Mays caught for the final out as the Giants advanced to the World Series against the Yankees. When Joe McDonald became the Mets' General Manager in 1975, he threatened to fire Mays for this. [H]e could have been an All-Star at any position. "[75] In his induction speech, Mays said, "What can I say? He stole 38 bases that year, making him the second 202020 club member (after Frank Schulte in 1911) to steal at least 20 bases. [193] Mays appeared in 88 games for the Mets in 1972, batting .250 in 244 at bats with eight home runs. Mays finished his career batting .302 with 660 home runs, the sixth-most of all time, and 1,903 runs batted in. Mays changed his batting stance and stood straighter at the plate, keeping his feet closer together. [145] Johnson kicked him in the head and nearly knocked him out. 1966 was the last of 10 seasons in which he had over 100 runs batted in (RBI). Mays led the NL with 51 home runs (HR) in 1955. A stunned Giants' manager Leo Durocher called Mays directly and said, "Quit costing the ball club money with long-distance phone calls and join the team. [181][182] Subsequently, Mays led the league in on-base percentage (.425) for only the second time, though his 123 strikeouts were a career-high. [253][229][254] "He was one of the best fielders of all time," Schoenfield writes, noting Mays has the eighth-most fielding runs saved (a sabermetric stat) of all-time. [276][277] He signed a lifetime contract with the team in 1993 and helped to muster public enthusiasm for building Pac Bell Park, which opened in 2000. [135] On July2, when Spahn and Juan Marichal each threw 15 scoreless innings, Mays hit a 16th-inning home run off Spahn, giving the Giants a 10 victory. Regarded as one of the greatest baseball players of all time, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979. Sportswriters have argued about whether the technique made him a better fielder or just made him more exciting to watch, but the basket catch did not prevent Mays from setting a record with 7,095 outfield putouts. [47][243] Third in home runs with 660 when he retired, he still ranks sixth as of June 2021. [77][78] The Giants won the game in the 10th inning on a three-run home run by Dusty Rhodes, with Mays scoring the winning run. [26], Mays's professional baseball career began in 1948 when he played briefly during the summer with the Chattanooga Choo-Choos, a Negro minor league team. He credited these adjustments with improving his batting average,[63] as he batted .450 with 25 RBI in his next 20 games. "I threw you the first one and now I've seen the five-hundredth," Spahn said. "[275][274], Mays was named special assistant to the president and general manager of the Giants in 1986. [234] Referring to the other 23 voters, the acerbic New York Daily News columnist Dick Young wrote, "If Jesus Christ were to show up with his old baseball glove, some guys wouldn't vote for him. [24] Mays played quarterback, fullback and punter for the football team. Initially, the stadium was expected to be conducive to home runs, but unpredictable winds affected Mays's power, and he hit only 12 at home in 1960. The catch prevented two Indians' runners from scoring, preserving a tie game. [123] Hal Wood mentioned the DiMaggio theory, as well as two other explanations: 1) the fans had heard so many wonderful things about Mays's play in New York that they expected him to be a better player than he actually was, and 2) Mays tended to keep to himself. [212] In the first All-Star Game of 1959, Mays hit a game-winning triple against Whitey Ford; Bob Stevens of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that "Harvey Kuenn gave it honest pursuit, but the only center fielder in baseball who could have caught it hit it. [134], Before the 1963 season, Mays signed a contract worth a record-setting $105,000 per season (equivalent to $929,364 in 2021). [47] His 2,992 games played are the ninth-highest total of any major leaguer as of June 2021. [A]nyone who played with him or against him would agree that he is the best. [290] He made multiple appearances as the mystery guest on the long-running game show What's My Line? "[175] In 139 games, Mays batted .291 with 94 runs scored, 28 home runs, and 83RBI. [247] He is baseball's all-time leader in outfield putouts (7,095), and he played 2,842 games as an outfielder, a total exceeded only by Cobb (2,934) and Barry Bonds (2,874). [47][177] In the NL Championship Series (NLCS) against the Pirates, Mays had a home run and three RBI in the first two games. [47], Horace Stoneham, the Giants' owner, made Mays the highest-paid player in baseball with a $75,000 contract for 1959. [237], Fellow players and coaches recognized his talent. [96] As he had in 1954, Mays vied for the NL batting title until the final game of the season. [128] On September30, Mays hit a game-winning home run in the Giants' final regularly scheduled game of the year, forcing the team into a tie for first place with the Los Angeles Dodgers. [175] He scheduled his off days that season to avoid facing strikeout pitchers such as Bob Gibson or Tom Seaver. After the home run, Spahn asked him, "Was it anything like the same feeling?" "I started thinking home run every time I got up," Mays explained the slump. [80] During the last game of the season, Durocher, who had supported Mays since his career had begun, told him he would not be returning as the Giants manager. [11][12] Annie Satterwhite, his mother, was a gifted high school basketball and track star. [267] Naturally, his approach had its critics. [220], The batting stance Mays employed showed the influence of one of his childhood favorites, DiMaggio. The Giants won 65 in 10 innings. [46] Although his .274 average, 68 RBI and 20 home runs (in 121 games) would rank among the lowest totals of his career, he still won the National League (NL) Rookie of the Year Award. Batting against Ralph Terry, he hit a ball into the right-field corner that might have been deep enough to score Alou, but Giants third base coach Whitey Lockman opted to hold Alou at third. [278] When the Giants dedicated a Wall of Fame to their greatest players in 2008, Mays became part of its inaugural class. I don't know what they put in there, and I never asked him a question about anything. [198] He made the announcement to the public on September20. "Was it the same feeling?" They played 20 games in Mexico in 1958, but Mays did not lead a team in 1959; Stoneham wanted him to rest because he was suffering from a broken finger. [13] His father raised him[14] and two girls, Sarah and Ernestine. Rigney stopped giving Mays as much direction, trusting his star player's ability and instinct. "[269], After Mays retired as a player, he remained in the New York Mets organization as their hitting instructor until the end of the 1979 season. [b] Sarah brought young Willie to an African Methodist Episcopal Church every Sunday. Barra refers to him as E. J. but notes that Mays refers to him as E. T. in two memoirs. [274] At a press conference with Mays and Mantle (reinstated from a similar suspension), Ueberroth said, "I am bringing back two players who are more a part of baseball than perhaps anyone else. [297] Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts mentioned Mays numerous times. [194], In 1973, Mays showed up a day late to spring training, then left in the middle of it without notifying manager Yogi Berra beforehand. [29] When Fairfield Industrial principal E. J. Oliver[c] threatened to suspend Mays for playing professional ball, Davis and Mays's father worked out an agreement. His speed and powerful arm in the outfield, assets throughout his career, were diminished in 1973, and he only made the All-Star team because of a special intervention by NL President Chub Feeney. [e][68] Mays became the first player in history to hit 30 home runs before the All-Star Game. [227] Naturally more of a pull hitter, Mays adjusted his style in 1954 to hit more to right and center field in a quest for a higher batting average at his manager's request, but the change was not permanent. [284][285], In September 2017, Major League Baseball renamed the World Series MVP Award the Willie Mays World Series MVP Award. [47] He stole 338 bases in his career. Robinson once accused him and some of his teammates of not doing enough for the civil rights movement. [152][153] He scored 118 runs, the 12th year in a row he had scored at least 100 runs in a season. Evading Foli's tag on the return throw to third, Mays scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly. [272], In October 1979, Mays took a job at the Bally's Park Place casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
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