Willie Mays the fabulous San Francisco giant players is all set for workout at the Giant training camp at Casa Grande, Arizona March 2, 1964. Mays is one of the highest paid players in baseball, his contract is reported to be approximately $105,000. Willie shoved his glove toward the camera making it appear larger than normal. (AP Photo/RDS)
SAN FRANCISCO – Willie Mays was approaching the midway point of what would be an illustrious 23-year MLB career in 1962 when Steve Malcoun and his Little League team from Stockton got a chance to see him play live on a trip to Candlestick Park.
“He was just a phenomenon beyond his time,” said Malcoun, now 70, said of Mays on Friday at Oracle Park. “He could do anything. He had speed, he had strength, he could catch the ball, he could run faster than anybody. He was a total athlete.”
Mays, the oldest living member of the Baseball Hall of Fame and the greatest Giants player of all time, turns 92 today as San Francisco hosts the Milwaukee Brewers. No elaborate ceremony is planned, and it was unclear Friday as to whether Mays would attend the game, a group of singers will perform “Happy Birthday” in his honor, per a team spokesman.
Still, 49 years after his retirement, the Say Hey Kid’s feats on the baseball diamond are remembered with awe by those who got to see him play in person, particularly during his tenure in San Francisco where he cemented his status as one of the greatest players of all time.
Mays’s career included two National League MVP awards, 12 Gold Gloves, a Rookie of the Year award in 1951, a World Series title in 1954, two All-Star Game MVPs, and ultimately election to the Hall of Fame in 1979.
“Willie is maybe the greatest player that ever lived,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said.
Mays does not attend Giants games as frequently as he used to, particularly after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. But it’s clear he had an impact on some current members of the organization who did meet him.
Brandon Crawford, the longest-tenured Giants player, said it blew him away to learn that Mays knew who he was after the two first met.
“I probably didn’t talk to him the first couple of times he came (into the Giants clubhouse) just because I was a young guy and I figured, let the other guys talk to him,” Crawford said. “I thought it was just cool that he was there. Eventually, I worked up the courage to just at least introduce myself and talk to him and he already knew who I was, so I thought that was really cool.
“You kind of realize just how normal of a guy he is despite being one of the best baseball players of all time.”
Giants fan Michael Doyle, 68, of Carmel estimated that he saw Mays play at Candlestick in the late 1960s when his status as one of the game’s greatest players had already been established. In 1968, when Mays turned 37, he still had 79 RBIs with a .860 OPS in 498 at-bats over 148 games.
“At that time, he was just bigger than life. Just him being on the field was amazing,” Doyle said. “I’d say it was like watching Barry Bonds play. I mean, it was the same aura. It was amazing. Willie Mays was quite a player.”
Mike Pechner, 76, a former on-air meteorologist, notably at KCBS, said he can remember watching Mays when the Giants played at Seals Stadium in 1958 and 1959 after the organization moved to the Bay Area from New York.
Pechner said he used to deliver the Marin Independent-Journal as a kid and if a month went by without any complaints or missed deliveries, he would receive a free ticket to a Friday night game at Candlestick.
Mays was the main attraction on Giants teams of that era that also featured Willie McCovey, Orlando Cepeda, the Alou brothers and Juan Marichal.
“He is my idol. Yeah, no doubt about it, and I was old enough to realize what a great player he was,” said Pechner, who now works in guest services at the park. “My father took us to Candlestick Park, but I also went to a couple of games at Seals Stadium when the Giants first came here.
“Just to see (Mays’) flash, to see how he played the game. It’s not that I don’t think younger people can appreciate him, but I think the older you are, you appreciate him. I appreciate Barry Bonds just as much. If Willie Mays was the greatest player to play the game, which he could be, Barry Bonds would be second.”
Malcoun said he wasn’t able to get Mays’ autograph when he went to that Giants game in 1962. But about 10 years when he and some friends went to Arizona to see some games during spring training, he saw Mays at a restaurant and was able to shake his hand.
“If he was playing today, he’d be making $15-20 million a year,” Malcoun said. “I mean, he’d be at the top of the market.”
Pechner said he attended roughly five or six Giants games per month.
“I’m fortunate to have seen him,” Pechner said, “and I’m glad that he’s still alive.”
