FILE – New York Mets’ Willie Mays poses on May 12, 1972 in New York. Mays, the electrifying “Say Hey Kid” whose singular combination of talent, drive and exuberance made him one of baseball’s greatest and most beloved players, has died. He was 93. Mays’ family and the San Francisco Giants jointly announced Tuesday night, June 18, 2024, he had “passed away peacefully” Tuesday afternoon surrounded by loved ones.(AP Photo/Harry Harris, File)
QUEENS, NY — Even with his reputation firmly cemented as one of the greatest the game has ever seen, Willie Mays, who passed away last week at the age of 93, was still susceptible to indignations.
And two just so happened to come from the New York Mets.
The first came in Game 7 of the 1973 World Series, the final game of his illustrious playing career that would one day wind up in Cooperstown.
Despite being 42 years old and batting just .211 across 66 games that season, Mays was considered an invaluable leader of a surprising Mets squad that surprisingly snatched the National League pennant. Yet after collecting a pair of hits and an RBI in seven at-bats in the World Series against the Oakland Athletics, he was relegated to the bench in Game 7 by manager Yogi Berra.
Down 5-2 with two outs in the top of the ninth and bringing the tying run to bat, Berra opted to stay with Wayne Garrett — a left-handed hitter who was 0-for-4 — rather than turn to the right-handed-hitting Mays after the Athletics lifted the great Rollie Fingers for a southpaw, Darold Knowles.
“If I was Yogi I would’ve had him swing,” Mays’ son, Michael Mays, said before throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at Citi Field ahead of the Subway Series finale between the Mets and Yankees. “At least walk out there, something. It’s Willie Mays. I can’t understand that part of history. I would say stranger things have happened but they haven’t.
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