Among the milestones in the Hall of Fame career of Willie Mays was hitting his 600th career home run at San Diego Stadium.
On Sept. 22, 1969, Mays — who died Tuesday at age 93 — joined Babe Ruth as the only other player in baseball history to reach the mark. Mays came off the bench as a pinch-hitter for George Foster with one out in the seventh inning and belted a two-run homer 420 feet to left-center off Padres rookie right-hander Mike Corkins to deliver a 4-2 Giants win. The crowd of just 4,779 recognized the feat with a warm ovation.
“Rawlings had a trophy they were going to give him (when Mays reached the milestone),” remembered longtime Giants equipment manager Mike Murphy in the new book “24: Life Stories and Lessons from the Say Hey Kid.” “Willie was supposed to get a rest that day, so the trophy was packed up. I’m playing cards in the clubhouse, and then Willie comes up and hits a home run.
“We had to unpack the trophy and rush down to the field. Luckily, he slowed down a little bit around the bases, and by the time he got to home plate, I had the trophy for him.”
When Mays retired following the 1973 season, his 660 home runs were second all-time to Ruth’s 714. He now ranks sixth, behind Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755), Ruth, Albert Pujols (703) and Alex Rodriguez (696).
