the play, they were expecting a
home run out of me.
But why, I mean, why are they
poor Mays would do his best to
win them over in the 58 season.
He set career high Mars for hits
and average but to many in the
Bay Area, he was still New York
superstar and mays' everyday
excellence was lost on fans
expecting legendary moments.
I just went on and played my
game.
I I kept my mouth closed.
I never did say anything about
anything but you know, that's
just the way it was, you know,
in those days, you know, on
April 30th, 1961 Mays delivered
his first iconic San francisco
moment, a home run in the game
four home runs as well, maybe
eight or nine guys have did that
, but I'm so happy that I could
be a member of a club like that.
And it's not even funny.
And Then the next year, Willie
Mays led San Francisco to the
pennant hitting a game winning
home run on the last day of the
regular season to move the
Giants into a first place tie
with the Dodgers.
He followed that with a dominant
performance in a three game
tiebreaker series to send his
club to the World Series.
That one more fun to me than
hitting four home runs.
I would sit in my locker and
just laugh when we did win the,
in L A, we came back home and I
would say just about all the
people in San Francisco at the,
the Giants would eventually fall
in heartbreaking fashion to the
Yankees losing game seven on the
game's final play.
But for Mays and San francisco,
the tide had turned and the love
affair would be lasting mays'.
Popularity on both coasts helped
him transcend sports.
The say, hey, kid was a media
darling and a regular sight on
popular TV shows of the era fans
couldn't get enough of Willie
Mays.
And throughout the mid to late
sixties, he continued to play
brilliantly winning another MVP
award in 1965 and passing
milestone after milestone on his
way towards baseball
immortality.
Willie Mays has done it again.
He has brought the baseball
world to a standstill for a
while.
It even looked like it would be
May not aaron who would pass
Babe Ruth's all time home run
record.
It's gone in for home run number
599 of May's career.
But all those years of all out
play had begun to take their
toll and soon even taking the
field at times became difficult
as you become slower.
Then in May of 1972 with the
Giants rebuilding, they shipped
their aging superstar back to
the city where it all began
trading Willie Mays to the Mets
baseball fans in the eastern
metropolis will tell you this
Mays played sparingly in his two
seasons in Queens but did get
another shot at the fall classic
as the Mets would make the World
Series in 1973 that is by the
Mets ultimately lost to the A's
in seven games.
And that series would be the
last time Willie Mays would ever
play on a major league baseball
field at 42 years old.
The say, hey kid would walk away
from the game.
He loved.
The game of baseball has been
great to me.
Something that I never feel that
I would ever quit baseball.
But as you know, it always come
a time for someone to get out
and I look at the kids over here
the way they are playing and the
way they are fighting for
themselves, tells me one thing,
will he say goodbye to America?
Thank you very much.
And in 1979 Willie Mays was
inducted into Cooperstown.
The say, hey kid was a first
ballot hall of famer and one of
the most iconic players the game
has ever seen the Giants say,
hey, over his 23 year career,
Willie Mays won rookie of the
year honors two MVP awards and
amassed 3293 hits.
He hit 660 home runs to go along
with his 24 all star selections
and 12 gold glove awards.
But in a sport that cherishes