The 'Say Hey Kid' now and then...
Willie Mays celebrated his 75th birthday this past May at AT&T Park (formerly Pac Bell Park) in San Francisco. The stadium is located at 24 Willie Mays Plaza near the larger-than-life statue of Mays that greets fans to the ballpark. The 9-foot statue is surrounded by 24 palm trees and the rightfield wall on the field is 24 feet high, all in tribute to the greatest player in Giants history and one of the greatest players in all of baseball. Mays is a special assistant to the Giants these days and takes pen in hand for the appearances he makes at memorabilia shows all over the country. Mays is the probably the biggest defender of Barry Bonds but that's what you do when you're the godfather of the most enigmatic of all sports figures...
September 25th has been a special day for Mays through the years. In 1965, Willie, still a Giant, would become at age 34, the oldest player to hit 50 home runs in a single season. Just 10 years earlier he set the record for being the youngest player to hit 50 home runs at the age of 24 (there's that number again). On the night of September 25th, 1973, a sold-out Shea Stadium held "Willie Mays Night". Willie didn't play that night but the Mets won it for him by edging Montreal 2-1. Just 3 days earlier on September 22nd in 1969, Mays became the second player, behind Babe Ruth to hit 600 home runs... At 75 Mays is back living in Atherton (CA) where he bought a home when the Giants moved from Manhattan to San Francisco after the 1957 baseball season. In 1999 he was ranked #2 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, making him the highest-ranking living player. Later that year, he was also elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team... Ten Timeline Memories...
"Happy Trails": 1980] Led Zeppelin drummer John "Bonzo" Bonham dies of alcohol consumption at 32...2003] George Plimpton dies of natual causes at 76... Released on this date: 1971] "Peace Train" - Cat Stevens...1979] "The Long Run" LP - The Eagles... "Live": 1997] The season premiere of "ER"... Premiered on this date: 1965] The half-hour Saturday morning cartoon, "The Beatles" on ABC-TV (the show runs until September of 1969)...1979] "Evita" opens on Broadway. It's the 3rd collaboration of Tim Rice and Andre Lloyd Weber... [To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]... Commentary... Jeremy Shockey slamming his coach Tom Coughlin after the Giants got whipped 42-30 by Seattle is getting us closer to posting an updated list of "Love-To-Hate" athletes or at least single out a "non-team" player of the week (or day) when action warrants. Jeremy goes to #1 on that list for this quote: "We got outplayed and outcoached. Write that down". And don't think for a second that he has the best interests of the Giants in mind. This guy is famous for his outrageous and hurtful remarks since he came into the league. Tick...tick...tick... "Happy Birthday...happy birthday"... Catherine Zeta-Jones (37), Will Smith (38), Heather Locklear (45), Mark Hamill (55), Cheryl Tiegs (59), Michael Douglas (62), Barbara Walters (75) and Phil Rizzuto (88)... Timeline Countdown: 8 days until major league playoffs, 26 days until the World Series and 97 days until 2007...
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