May 25th, 1951: Giants rookie Willie Mays, who was hitting .477 with Minneapolis, goes 0-for-5 in his major-league debut against the Phils. He strikes out in his first at bat, against Bubba Church. New York wins, 8–5.

May 28th, 1951: After going 0-for-12, Willie Mays connects for his first major-league hit, a HR off Braves P Warren Spahn. The Giants lose the game 4–1.

June 22nd, 1951: Willie Mays, 20, hits a 10th-inning HR, the first of his 22 extra-innings HRs, off 42-year-old Dutch Leonard of the Cubs. It is a 3-run shot that gives the Giants a 9–6 win.

July 3rd, 1951: Giants rookie Willie Mays blasts a 13th inning solo homer off the Phillies Jocko Thompson to give New York a win. It is Willie's 2nd extra inning homer in two weeks: he'll hit another on July 7th, against the Braves George Estock.

July 28th, 1951: The Giants go 7–0 at Crosley Field this year by defeating the Reds, 3–1. Willie Mays has his third homer in six days and Larry Jansen wins to go 15–2 against the Rhinelanders.

July 29th, 1951: In game one at Cincinnati, Willie Mays steals the first of 338 bases. Then P Willie Ramsdell picks him off 2B. But the Giants win, 3–1, behind Sal Maglie. New York takes the nitecap as well, 6–4, as Irvin (2) and Mays both swipe bases.

August 1st, 1951: The Cubs’ Eddie Miksis lines a ball to Willie Mays in CF, which caroms off his head for a double, as the Cubs nip the Giants, 3–2. Cal McLish wins over Larry Jansen. The Giants come back in game two behind the shut out pitching of Al Corwin to top the Cubs, 2–0. Bob Kelly is the losing pitcher, while Al Corwin wins his first major-league game.

August 15th, 1951: Giants P Jim Hearn defeats the Dodgers 3–1 as Willie Mays makes a miraculous play in the eighth. With the score 1–1 and Billy Cox on third, Mays makes a running catch of a Carl Furillo drive in deep right CF and whirls counterclockwise to throw out the astonished Cox at home. Wes Westrum's 2-run homer off Ralph Branca in the eighth provides the two-run margin. Hearn allows just six hits, all singles, as the Giants move to 10 1/2 behind Brooklyn.

August 30th, 1951: The Giants move to an 8–1 lead after five inning over the Pirates behind two homers by Willie Mays. But George Spencer wilts in the heat and gives up homers to Frank Thomas—his first in the majors—and pinch hitter Gus Bell. After Pete Castiglione and Bill Rigney match homers, Ralph Kiner powers one in the ninth inning to give Pittsburgh a 10–9 victory. For Kiner, it is his 37th.

September 3rd, 1951: Willie Mays makes another rookie error. After an apparent inside-the-park HR, Phils 3B Tommy Brown appeals, and Mays is called out for failing to touch 3B. He is credited with a double.

October 2nd, 1951: The Dodgers bounce back as rookie Clem Labine evens the playoff with a 10-0 win, besting the Giants' Sheldon Jones. Home runs are smashed by Jackie Robinson, Gil Hodges, Andy Pafko, and Rube Walker. Willie Mays grounds into 3 DP.

May 29th, 1952: The Giants Willie Mays enters the army. Although Mays is hitting just .236, the Giants are 2 1/2 games in first place. They will lose 8 of their next 10 games.

June 3rd, 1954: Henry Thompson of the Giants hits three HRs and knocks in eight runs in a 13-8 win against the Cardinals. Willie Mays collects the other five RBI on two HRs.

July 28th, 1954: Giants OF Dusty Rhodes hits three consecutive HRs at the Polo Grounds to back Johnny Antonelli's 10-0 whipping of St. Louis. It is Antonelli's 10th consecutive win. Willie Mays smacks his 36th HR, a 447 foot clout to LF.

August 16th, 1954: In a throwing contest between Jimmy Piersall and Willie Mays before a Red Sox-Giants charity game in Boston, Piersall hurts his arm. He starts the game but leaves midway. He wakes up the following morning with a sore arm that stays with him a year, and he will never throw quite as well again.

September 14th, 1954: Willie Mays hits a 1st inning double and scores the only run in a 1-0 win over the Cards. It is Johnny Antonelli's 21st win of the year. Mays's hit is his 82nd extra-base hit, breaking Mel Ott's team record.

September 18th, 1954: The Giants' Don Mueller makes his 200th hit an inside-the-park HR, making him the first Giant to get 200 hits since Joe Moore in 1936. Willie Mays also has an inside-the park-HR, as the Giants beat the Phils 8-1.

September 26th, 1954: Going into the last day of the NL season, Don Mueller leads in hitting with .3426; Duke Snider is 2nd at .3425, followed by Willie Mays at .3422. The Giants win in 11 innings over the Phillies Robin Roberts, as Mays garners a single, double, and triple in 4 ABs. He finishes at .345 while Mueller slips to .341, the same as Snider.

» September 29th, 1954: In Game 1 of the WS, Willie Mays of the Giants makes one of the greatest catches in history when he races back to deep CF in the Polo Grounds to make an over-the-head catch of Indian Vic Wertz's 462-foot drive in the 8th with the score tied at 2-2. Wertz drove in the 2 runs in the first with a triple. In the 10th, Dusty Rhodes hits a pinch-hit, 3-run, 260-foot HR off Bob Lemon to give the Giants a 5-2 victory.

June 19th, 1955: The Giants bench Willie Mays for 2 days for a "rest."

June 27th, 1955

September 18th, 1955: In a 7-5 loss to Brooklyn, Willie Mays hits his 9th HR at Ebbets Field to tie Joe Adcock's mark.

September 20th, 1955: Giants slugger Willie Mays poles 2 HRs against the Pirates, giving him 50 for the year, making him only the 7th player in history to accomplish this. The Giants sweep the doubleheader, winning 11-1 and 14-8. Mays's HR in the 2nd game was his 7th in 6 consecutive games.

September 25th, 1955: Bobby Hofman underscores the tone of the season for the Giants as he lines into a season-ending triple play against the Phillies in a 3-1 loss. The Giants win the opener 5-2, as Willie Mays belts his 51st HR of the year.

April 17th, 1956: Despite 2 HRs by Dale Long, Pittsburgh loses to New York 4-3 when Willie Mays scores from 2B in the 8th inning on Daryl Spencer's groundout to 2B.

July 8th, 1956: The Giants connect for a team-record seven HRs in a 11-1 home win over the Pirates. Willie Mays, Daryl Spencer, and Wes Westrum each connect for 2. Hank Thompson, Westrum, and Spencer hit consecutive HRs in the fourth inning.

July 10th, 1956: In the All-Star Game, Ken Boyer of the Cardinals makes 3 sparkling plays at 3B and gets 3 hits as the NL defeats the AL 7-3. Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, and Stan Musial all homer. Mays's pinch-hit 2-run HR off of Whitey Ford is his 7th straight hit against the Yankee lefty.

August 15th, 1956: The Dodgers and Giants draw 26,385 for a night-game record at Jersey City. A Willie Mays HR is the only scoring as Johnny Antonelli shuts out the Dodgers 1-0.

June 28th, 1957: By stuffing the ballot box, Cincinnati fans elect 8 Redlegs as starters in the All-Star Game. Over protests from Reds fans, Commissioner Ford Frick names Stan Musial, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron to replace Reds Gus Bell, George Crowe, and Wally Post in the starting lineup. In the final vote tally, Musial is the only non-Redleg who would have started.

January 6th, 1958: Willie Mays's $65,000 contract is a record high for the Giants.

May 12th, 1958: Willie Mays hits the first grand slam in the history of the San Francisco Giants and adds another HR as Los Angeles loses 12-3.

May 13th, 1958: Willie Mays goes 5-for-5 against the Dodgers, as the Giants win 16-9. Mays has two HRs, two triples, and four RBI to compete with Daryl Spencer's two HRs, triple, double, and six RBI.

June 23rd, 1958: Carl Willey of the Braves pitches a 7-0 shutout against the Giants in his first major-league start. Willey gives up six hits, including Willie Mays's 1,000th career hit. Willey is relieved by Don McMahon who becomes the first pitcher to be driven to the mound, when a motor scooter with sidecar delivers him from the bullpen.

September 20th, 1958: The Giants Ruben Gomez gives up 3 hits, all to Bobby Gene Smith, as the Giants beat St. Louis 5-1. Willie Mays's 3 hits raises his average to .340, and he steals his 30th base.

November 25th, 1958: The BBWAA names Chicago Cubs slugger Ernie Banks the 1958 MVP. Willie Mays is the runner-up.

June 30th, 1959: The Giants Sam Jones throws a 2-0 one-hitter against the Dodgers, allowing only Jim Gilliam's controversial single in the eighth, a grounder SS Andre Rodgers has difficulty picking up. Willie Mays's 2-run HR against Don Drysdale accounts for all the scoring.

July 7th, 1959: The NL defeats the AL 5-4 in the All-Star Game at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Willie Mays knocks in Henry Aaron with the deciding run. Don Drysdale pitches perfect ball the first three innings.

September 15th, 1959: The Giants whip Warren Spahn and the Braves 13-6 behind Jack Sanford. Willie Mays has 4 hits and 5 RBI. The Giants are now 2 games in front with 8 to play.

September 26th, 1959: At St. Louis, Sam Jones pitches a 7-inning no-hitter, but NL President Warren Giles will rule it unofficial after rain wipes out the last 2 innings. But Jones gets credit for his 21st win 4-0 and Willie Mays and Willie McCovey HRs account for the runs.

June 24th, 1960: Willie Mays hits two HRs, singles, steals home, and makes 10 putouts to lead the Giants in a 5-3 win at Cincinnati. Mays has three RBI and three runs scored.

July 13th, 1960: Vern Law becomes the second Pirate to win a 1960 All-Star Game, working two scoreless innings. Stan Musial comes off the NL bench and hits his record sixth and last All-Star Game HR. Willie Mays, Ken Boyer, and Eddie Mathews also homer in the 6-0 NL win, the third shutout in All-Star Game history.

September 15th, 1960: Willie Mays ties the modern ML record with 3 triples in a game against the Phillies. His 3-bagger off Turk Farrell gives the Giants an 8-6 win in 11 innings. Mays also strokes a double and single.

February 9th, 1961: Willie Mays signs for $85,000, currently the biggest contract in ML baseball.

April 30th, 1961: Using Joey Amalfitano's bat, Willie Mays becomes the 9th player in ML history to enjoy a 4-HR game. His 8 RBI pace the Giants to a 14-4 win at Milwaukee's County Stadium.

June 29th, 1961: With three round-trippers at Philadelphia -- one a 10th-inning shot to win 8-7--Willie Mays becomes the fourth ML player with three or more HRs twice in one season. Manager Gene Mauch's efforts to conceal his starting pitcher and force Al Dark's hand has a Phillie lineup including hurlers Don Ferrarese (batting leadoff, playing CF), Jim Owens (3rd, RF), Chris Short (7th, C), and Ken Lehman (9th, P) against San Francisco. When Dark sends a lefty to the mound, Mauch replaces Ferrarese. Dark then replaces Billy O'Dell with Sam Jones. Mauch replaces Lehman with Dallas Green after 2 batters. All the maneuvering takes 3 hours and 20 minutes.

January 31st, 1962: Willie Mays signs the biggest contract in baseball, a reported $90,000 for 1962.

February 7th, 1962: Lawyer Melvin Belli obtains a writ laying claim to Willie Mays--among other assets--unless the Giants pay him the judgment awarded by a jury in January. Belli claims the club failed to file a motion for a new trial before the deadline.

September 12th, 1962: In the dugout in Cincinnati, Willie Mays collapses from nervous exhaustion. He is taken to the hospital and will miss 4 games. The Giants lose 4-1 and will lose their next 6 to take them apparently out of the race.

September 30th, 1962: Willie Mays's 47th HR, an 8th-inning blast off Dick Farrell (10-20), gives the Giants a critical 2-1 win. They then stay in the clubhouse to hear results of the Dodger game.

October 1st, 1962: San Francisco wins the first of the best-of-3 NL playoff as Billy Pierce takes his 12th straight at Candlestick Park, a three-hit, 8-0 victory. Willie Mays hits 2 HRs, giving him 49 in 1962, one more than AL leader Harmon Killebrew.

October 16th, 1962: New York scores the game's only run, as Tony Kubek grounds into a 5th-inning DP. In the 9th, with 2 outs and Matty Alou on 1B, Willie Mays rips a double to right off Ralph Terry, but great fielding by Roger Maris keeps Alou from scoring. Willie McCovey then hits a screaming liner toward right, but 2B Bobby Richardson gloves it, giving the Yankees a 1-0 win and a 2nd straight WS victory. Terry is named WS MVP.

June 6th, 1963: With the bases loaded and one out in the 12th, Cubs reliever Lindy McDaniel picks Willie Mays off 2B and strikes out Ed Bailey. McDaniel then hits a HR in the bottom of the 12th to win 3-2. Chicago moves into a 3-way, first-place tie with St. Louis and San Francisco, its first taste of the lead since May 1958.

July 2nd, 1963: At 12:31 a.m. in San Francisco, Willie Mays's round-tripper off Warren Spahn in the bottom of the 16th gives Juan Marichal a 1-0 win, the NL's longest win ended by a HR.

July 9th, 1963: Willie Mays is held to a single, but dominates a 5-3 NL win in the All-Star Game. He also walks, steals twice, scores twice, bats in a pair, and makes a great catch. It is Stan Musial's 24th All-Star appearance, a record.

August 27th, 1963: Willie Mays, Orlando Cepeda, and Felipe Alou hit consecutive round-trippers in the third inning of San Francisco's 7-2 win against St. Louis.

September 15th, 1963: The Alou brothers -- Felipe, Matty, and Jesus -- appear in the San Francisco OF for one inning of a 13-5 win against the Pirates. This necessitates the "benching" of Willie Mays, the starter in CF, to allow starter Felipe to move to CF and Matty (LF) and Jesus (RF) to play.

January 15th, 1964: Willie Mays, the highest-paid player in baseball, signs for $105,000.

July 13th, 1965: Willie Mays's HR, two walks, and two runs scored pace the NL to a 6-5 All-Star Game victory in Minnesota. Juan Marichal pitches three scoreless innings to earn game MVP.

August 22nd, 1965: San Francisco's Juan Marichal, batting against LA's Sandy Koufax, complains that C John Roseboro's return throws are too close. He then turns and attacks Roseboro with his bat. A 14-minute brawl ensues before Koufax, Willie Mays, and other peacemakers can restore order. Roseboro suffers a considerable cut on the head. Marichal is suspended eight playing days and levied a NL-record $1,750 fine.

August 29th, 1965: Willie Mays sets a NL record for HRs in one month with his 17th of August, 41st overall, as San Francisco beats the Mets 8-3.

September 13th, 1965: Willie Mays's 500th HR (off Don Nottebart) and Juan Marichal's 22nd victory beat Houston 5-1. The win is the Giants 11th straight and gives them a

September 22nd, 1965: Willie Mays hits his 50th HR, as the first-place Giants beat the Reds 7-5. Mays joins Ralph Kiner as the only players in NL history with multiple 50-HR seasons.

September 28th, 1965: The Giants lose to St. Louis 8-6, even though Willie Mays, in his 2,000th career game, hits his 51st HR of the year.

October 2nd, 1965: Willie Mays sets a Giants record with his 52nd HR, as Ron Herbel beats the Reds 3-2. Johnny Mize had hit 51 for the Jints in 1947.

November 10th, 1965: Willie Mays is named NL MVP, receiving 224 votes to 177 for Sandy Koufax.

May 4th, 1966: Willie Mays hits a NL record 512th HR -- topping another Giant, Mel Ott --and the Giants beat the Dodgers 6-1.

August 16th, 1966: Willie Mays hits his 534th HR, matching Jimmie Foxx's record for right-handed batters, as Gaylord Perry beats the Cardinals 3-1.

August 17th, 1966: Willie Mays takes second place on the all-time HR list with a fourth-inning blast off Ray Washburn. San Francisco is one-half game out of first place after beating the Cards 4-3.

July 9th, 1968: Appropriately, pitching dominates the All-Star Game. Willie Mays, playing in place of injured Pete Rose, tallies an unearned run in the first inning against AL starter Luis Tiant to complete the scoring for the day -- the first All-Star effort to end 1-0. Don Drysdale, Juan Marichal, Steve Carlton, Tom Seaver, Ron Reed, and Jerry Koosman hold the AL to three hits.

September 13th, 1969: Bobby Bonds becomes the 4th 30-homer, 30-steal player in ML history, but the Reds beat the Giants 6-4. His 32nd steal, on August 13th, erased Willie Mays's SF record of 31.

September 22nd, 1969: Willie Mays joins Babe Ruth in the 600-homer club with a blast off Mike Corkins, while batting for rookie George Foster. Bobby Bonds sets a ML record with his 176th strikeout, as San Francisco beats San Diego 4-2.

January 17th, 1970: The Sporting News names Willie Mays as Player of the Decade for the 1960s.

July 18th, 1970: During a 10-1 win over Montreal, the Giants Willie Mays singles off Mike Wegener. It is career hit number 3,000 for Mays.

March 1st, 1971: Willie Mays signs a 2-year contract with the Giants for $165,000 per year.

April 6th, 1971: Willie Mays, a month shy of his 40th birthday, homers in a 4-0 Opening Day Giants win over the Padres. Mays will go on to hit homers in each of the Giants first 4 games of the season, a ML record.

May 30th, 1971: Willie Mays hits his 638th career HR for the Giants, adding in the process his NL record 1,950th run scored. Stan Musial had been the record holder with 1,949 runs.

June 6th, 1971: Willie Mays strokes a 12th-inning HR off Joe Hoerner of the Phillies in the second game of a doubleheader, his 22nd -- and last -- career extra-inning belt, a major-league mark.

May 11th, 1972: The Giants trade future Hall of Famer Willie Mays to the Mets for minor league P Charlie Williams and cash.

May 14th, 1972: Willie Mays, making a triumphant return to New York with the Mets, hits a game-winning HR against his old teammates. The final score is 5-4.

June 10th, 1972: Hank Aaron hits his 14th career grand slam, tying Gil Hodges's NL record, as the Braves defeat the Phillies 15-3. It is career HR 649 for Aaron, enabling him to pass Willie Mays for second place on the all-time list.

July 24th, 1973: The NL wins the All-Star Game at Kansas City 7-1. A record 54 players are used, including Willie Mays, who strikes out in his final All-Star appearance, and Catfish Hunter, who sustains a fractured thumb that will sideline him for four weeks. The A's ace has a 15-3 record at the time.

August 17th, 1973: Willie Mays hits the 660th -- and last -- HR of his ML career off Don Gullett of Cincinnati.

September 25th, 1973: The Mets beat the Expos 2-1 on Willie Mays Night at Shea Stadium. "The 'Say Hey' Kid" had announced his retirement 5 days earlier.

May 30th, 1974: Sadaharu Oh becomes the first player in Japanese baseball to hit 600 HRs. Only Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and Willie Mays are ahead of Oh -- and he will surpass them all.

January 23rd, 1979: Willie Mays receives 409 of 432 votes in the BBWAA election to earn enshrinement in the Hall of Fame.

May 3rd, 1979: Bobby Bonds hits his 300th HR, against Moose Haas in a 6-1 loss to Milwaukee. He has 413 SBs at the time and becomes the second player, after Willie Mays, to have 300 SBs and 300 HRs.

August 5th, 1979: Willie Mays, Warren Giles, and Hack Wilson are inducted into the Hall of Fame.

September 17th, 1979: The Royals George Brett collects his 20th triple of the season in a 16-4 romp over the Angels. Brett becomes the 6th player ever, and the first since Willie Mays in 1957, to collect 20 doubles, 20 triples, and 20 HRs in the same season. He will finish with totals of 42, 20, and 23.

October 26th, 1982: Steve Carlton wins the NL Cy Young Award for the 4th time, a record unmatched by any pitcher. The Phils 37-year-old lefthander, who led the NL in wins (23), innings (2952Ž3), strikeouts (286), and shutouts (6), was a previous winner in 1972, 1977, and 1980. He joins Walter Johnson and Willie Mays as the only players to be voted MVP or Cy Young winner 10 or more years apart.

February 8th, 1983: One day after taking a job as director of sports promotions for Claridge Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, NJ, Mickey Mantle is ordered to sever his ties with ML baseball by Commissioner Kuhn. Mantle joins fellow Hall of Famer Willie Mays as players banned from baseball by Kuhn for involvement with legalized gambling.

March 18th, 1985: Commissioner Ueberroth reinstates Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle, who had been banned from association with organized baseball by Bowie Kuhn due to their employment by Atlantic City casinos.

May 7th, 1986: Thirty-six-year-old Phillies OF Garry Maddox, an 8-time Gold Glove winner, retires. Only Roberto Clemente and Willie Mays have won more Gold Gloves in the outfield.

August 20th, 1989: Howard Johnson hits his 30th home run of the season in the Mets' 5-4 loss to the Dodgers and joins Willie Mays and Bobby Bonds as the third player to achieve 30 HRs and 30 SBs in two different seasons. Ron Gant will become the fourth with back-to-back 30/30 seasons in 1990 & '91.

September 9th, 1992: Milwaukee OF Robin Yount gets the 3,000th hit of his career in his team’s 5-4 loss to the Indians. He also becomes only the 2nd player in history to record 200 HRs, 200 SBs and 100 triples, duplicating Willie Mays’ feat.

August 29th, 1993: KC’s George Brett steals a base in the Royals’ 5-4 win over the Red Sox, making him only the third player in history with 3,000 hits, 300 HRs, and 200 SBs. Willie Mays and Hank Aaron are the others to accomplish the feat.

June 11th, 1995: Cincinnati defeats Houston, 3-2, in 10 innings on Ron Gant’s HR. It is Gant’s 4th extra-inning homer of the season, tying him with Willie Mays for the NL record. Charlie Maxwell hit 5 for the Tigers in 1960.

September 6th, 1996: The O's Eddie Murray hits his 500th career HR, and his 21st of the year, off Felipe Lira of the Tigers in Detroit’s 5-4, 12-inning win. He becomes the 15th player to reach the magic number. He also becomes just the 3rd player with 500 HRs and 3,000 hits, joining Willie Mays and Hank Aaron.

September 16th, 1996: In their 5-2 loss to the Braves, Mets OF Lance Johnson hits his 20th triple. He's the first NLer to reach that plateau since Willie Mays in 1957.

April 4th, 1998: Cardinals 1B Mark McGwire homers in his 4th straight game to tie the NL mark set by Willie Mays in 1971 for HRs in consecutive games at the beginning of the season. The Cardinals defeat the Padres by an 8-6 score.

August 31st, 1998: Oakland OF Rickey Henderson scores the 2,000th run of his career in the Athletics’ 15-6 loss to Cleveland. He joins Ty Cobb, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Pete Rose, and Willie Mays as the only players to reach the milestone.

September 16th, 1998: Ken Griffey Jr. steals his 20th base of the season in a 4-1 victory over Oakland. He becomes just the third player in history to record at least 50 HRs and at least 20 stolen bases in the same season. Willie Mays and Brady Anderson are the others.

December 10th, 1999: Babe Ruth is voted Player of the Century by an Associated Press panel. Willie Mays comes in second