Willie Mays - The Say Hey Kid

WILLIE MAYS – THE SAY HEY KID The legendary Willie Mays got his first career base hit when he homered off of future Hall of Fame pitcher Warren Spahn. The year was 1951, and Mays, along with another phenom named Mickey Mantle debuted for the Giants and Yankees, respectively. Willie Mays won the 1951 Rookie of the Year Award. Known as the “Say Hey Kid”, he played 22 memorable major league seasons, mostly with the New York and San Francisco Giants. In that time, he amassed 660 career home runs, currently 4th on the all-time list, and finished with a career batting average of .302. He won 2 Most Valuable Player Awards and appeared in 24 All-Star Games. Along with his hitting prowess, Mays was also admired for his defensive ability in centerfield. Mays won 12 Gold Glove Awards, holds the all-time record for outfield putouts with 7,095, and is fondly remembered for making one of the best catches in World Series history when he robbed Vic Wertz in the 1954 Fall Classic. In 1979 Willie Mays was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, and in 1999 he was named to Major League Baseball’s All-Century Team.