San Francisco Giants officially Announce Celebration of Life for Willie Mays.
The biggest legend in the history of the San Francisco Giants is being honored, and the team is urging fans to celebrate his life.
The San Francisco Giants have declared that on July 8, they will hold a memorial service at Oracle Park in honor of Willie Mays.
The Giants have that day off before starting their last homestand before the All-Star break on July 9 against Toronto.
June 18 marked Mays’s 93rd birthday. He was the oldest living Baseball Hall of Fame member at the time.
The public celebration is free of charge, and Oracle Park gates will open at 3 p.m. Pacific Time. The commemoration of life will begin at 4 p.m. and go for around 2 hours.
Giants great and Hall-of-Famer Willie Mays was known for his extraordinary talent, sharp intellect, remarkable showmanship, and limitless joy. The Giants and Mays’ family will remember him for that. “Willie Mays, the ‘Say Hey Kid,’ is open to all fans and friends for a public celebration of his life.”
The Giants advise fans to walk, cycle, or use public transportation to get to Oracle Park. It is advised by the Giants that drivers use SpotHero to make their parking payments in advance.
Attendees can access Oracle Park through the Willie Mays Plaza gates on 3rd and King St.; registration is not required.
It’s unclear if former Giants, staff members, coaches, or players from the franchise will take part in the festivities.
Since Mays’s demise, Major League Baseball and San Francisco have already honored him in a number of ways. The Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals played at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, a few days after he passed away, in honor of the Negro Leagues’ history. In 1948, Mays was a player at that field for the Birmingham Black Barons.
For the remainder of the season, the Giants will also wear a No. 24 patch on their jerseys, and as soon as they got back home, every player donned No. 24 jerseys in a home game.
Mays began his Major League career in 1952 after signing a contract with the Giants while they were still in New York. Before being moved to the New York Mets in 1972, where he ended his career in 1973, he played for the Giants for the great portion of his career.
Mays was a.302 career hitter with 3,293 hits and 660 home runs. He was also a 24-time All-Star, two-time National League MVP, NL Rookie of the Year, and a 12-time Gold Glove winner. Both the Giants and the Mets have retired his number 24, and he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1979.
