Baseball great — and Atherton resident — Willie Mays passes away at age 93

As my extended family approached Seals Stadium in 1958, my Uncle Bill declared: “We’re here to see Willie Mays.”

That was the first of many Reid family baseball outings that continued once Candlestick Park was built. Uncles Bill and Stuart taught me about the game by telling me about the players, not the plays. And along with stories about Mays, there was the excitement of watching him play, whether he was batting or fielding.

That gift — thanks to my years growing up in Menlo Park — brought tears to my eyes when it was announced that the Giants legend and Hall of Fame passed away yesterday afternoon at the age of 93.

“My father has passed away peacefully and among loved ones,” said Michael Mays. “I want to thank you all from the bottom of my broken heart for the unwavering love you have shown him over the years. You have been his life’s blood.”

Tomorrow Mays will be honored at a game between the Giants and St. Louis Cardinals that will be played at Rickwood Field in his hometown of Birmingham, AL, a celebration he planned to watch on TV. As a teenager, Mays played at Rickwood, which was the home of the Negro League’s Birmingham Black Barons.

Oracle Field will open at noon tomorrow (June 20) with images of Mays’ greatest moments showing on the scoreboard followed by screening of the Rickwood Field game at 4:15 pm. Admission is free; capacity limits apply.

For four decades Mays lived on Mount Vernon Lane in Atherton, and while famous and recognizable wherever he went, he also felt like just another local, dispensing candy to trick or treaters and making appearances connected with Homer Field Willie Mays Ballpark in Holbrook Palmer Park.

In February, San Francisco Mayor London Green declared 2/4/24 as Willie Mays day.

Read the obituary released by Major League Baseball.

Top photo is of Mays at Seals Stadium; my family would be in the stands not the boxes!

Second photo of Mays statue at 24 Willie Mays Plaza outside the ballpark.

Bottom photo snapped in downtown Menlo Park in 2012 by Linda Hubbard (c) 2012