SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The Say Hey Kid is still as popular as ever.
The San Francisco Giants honored Willie Mays on his 80th birthday Friday night with a ceremony befitting a baseball legend, complete with a celebratory letter from President Barack Obama and a video tribute that included everyone from Commissioner Bud Selig to singer Tony Bennett.
A video that highlighted the Hall of Famer’s 22-year major league career was shown on the scoreboard before the opener of a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies. The first 20,000 fans to arrive also received a replica statue of the one that stands outside the waterfront ballpark in Willie Mays Plaza.
Mays told the crowd it was a “wonderful, wonderful feeling” to have so many people still cheer for him after all these years.
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