REPOST

Willie Mays, considered one of the best to ever play the game of baseball, was born on May 6, 1931 in Westfield, Alabama. A relatively unknown fact is that his father played briefly for the amateur San Francisco Seals^[1]. Mays was recruited by the New York Giants in 1950 after his graduation from high school. His most famous play, while in New York, was an over-the-shoulder catch of a fly ball in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series. 

When the team moved to San Francisco, Mays went with them. A huge Parade was held in San Francisco on May 20, 1958: people waited impatiently for a glimpse of the renowned player that they could now claim as their own. Mays and his wife Marguerite began looking for a house and found one they liked in Sherwood Forest, an exclusive neighborhood resting on the western base of Mount Davidson^[2]. Despite being able to pay cash the seller, afraid of backlash from his neighbors, turned the offer down. Marguerite was quoted as saying: “Down in Alabama where we come from you know your place, and that’s something, at least. Up here it’s all a lot of camouflage. They grin in your face, then deceive you.” It took pressure from the NAACP, Mayor George Christopher and the San Francisco Counsel for Civic Unity for the seller to finally change his mind. The Mayses got their house, but not without incident: a bottle containing a racial hate note was chucked through a window. The Mays’ house buying story motivated the local office of the NAACP to lobby for an ordinance outlawing racial discrimination in the sale or rental of private dwellings. The ordinance was eventually passed. 

On April 30, 1961 Mays became the 9th player in MLB history to hit 4 home runs in one game as the Giants beat the Braves in Milwaukee. He played for the Giants^[3] until May 11, 1972 when he was traded to the New York Mets. He played one last season before retiring. He would eventually return to the Giants as Special Assistant to the President and General Manager. Mays is the oldest living player to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. There is a statue of him in a plaza also named after him at the corner of King and 3^rd. The bronze statue was designed by William Behrends and sits at the main entrance to Oracle Park.

^[1] San Francisco Seals: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=4562

^[2] Mount Davidson: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=3242

^[3] Visit them at www.mlb.com