During their festivities for Old Timers’ Day at Citi Field today, the Mets made a big surprise announcement: The team has retired #24 for the legendary Willie Mays.
One of baseball’s inner-circle Hall of Fame players, Mays spent most of the 1972 season and all of the 1973 season as a Met. That marked a return to New York City, the city where his spectacular career began as a member of the New York Giants before they moved to San Francisco.
Before joining the Mets, Mays had been promised by then-owner Joan Payson.