On August 17th, 1973, 42-year old New York Mets outfielder Willie Mays hit the 660th and final home run of his career off Cincinnati Reds lefty Don Gullett at Shea Stadium. Mays was third on the all-time home run career list at that time behind Babe Ruth (714) and Hank Aaron (703). Mays would retire after the Mets fall to the Oakland A’s in the 1973 World Series.

Willie Mays made his Major League debut for the New York Giants in 1951. When the Giants left New York for San Francisco after the 1957 season, Mays went with them, playing in the Bay-Area from 1958-1972. But in 1972 he returned to New York as a Met. (Not a Yankee, thank God!)

I have written before here about Willie Mays and about the 1973 World Series that pitted my two boyhood teams against one another. The two teams were evenly matched throughout. But in the end, my Bay-Area team (the Oakland A’s) were able to take the final two home games against my Big-Apple team. Wille went 2 for 7 in the 1973 World Series and played in 3 games.

As a baseball fan, any time you have an opportunity to look at Willie May’s Baseball Reference page or just think about Willie Mays as a player you jump at the chance. He was, and will always remain, that great.

660 homers. 660 is one of those numbers I will remember all my life. Just like 755, and .406, and 24, 56, and 5, and….