Remembering Mets History (1972) Willie Mays Returns To New York With A Game Winning HR

Sunday Mother's Day- May 14th 1972: It was a special day at Shea Stadium, on this Mother's Day, as the great Willie Mays made his triumphant return to New York.

 
The Say Hey Kid Comes Back to New York: There was a time when the SF Giants organization said they would never trade Willie Mays. But by 1972 times were financially bad in San Francisco. The Giant's club was losing money & team owner Horace Stoneman felt he couldn't afford to pay Willie Mays' the salary he was to receive.

The legendary, future Hall of Famer Mays had always been a favorite of Mets principal owner, Joan Payson since his New York Giants days. Mrs. Payson was on the New York Giants Board of Directors. Later, with the Mets she had pursued Mays but was never able to make a deal.

On May 11th, 1972, a deal was finalized sending Willie Mays to the Mets in exchange for pitcher, Charlie Williams & $50,000 in cash.

The Mets also offered Mays a coaching job with an additional salary for the rest of his life. Mrs. Payson finally got her man; Mays would finish out his career in the city where his great Hall of Fame career began.

Although he was in the twilight of his career, his presence & knowledge meant so much to the young players. The New York fans were thrilled to have the "Say Hey Kid" back in town.

In his first game back with the Mets, Mays was batting leadoff and playing at first base. It was a day filled with standing ovations for Willie, from the Shea crowd of 35,505. 

On this day Yogis Berra's Met's were sitting in first place (17-7) as they hosted Willie's old team, Charlie Fox's last place San Francisco Giants (9-19). The Mets sent veteran pitcher Ray Sadecki to the mound to face "Sudden" Sam McDowell.

Trivia: Sam McDowell had been a twenty-game winner in Cleveland two years earlier & had won 15 or more games four times in his career. From 1965-1971 he had led the AL in strike outs & walks five times each. 

The game began with Giants short stop Chris Speier flying out. After a Tito Fuentes double, Ray Sadecki retired Bobby Bonds & Dave Kingman.

In the bottom of the 1st, Willie Mays walked up to the plate to a huge standing ovation. He obliged by drawing a walk in his first Mets at bat, the first of two walks he would have on the day.

Sam McDowell would have early control issues walking, Bud Harrelson & Tommie Agee to load up the bases. Today's clean-up hitter was another new addition to the 1972 Mets, Rusty Staub. Staub a certified All Star, had come over in a trade from the Montreal Expos in the off season. 

Grand Slam HR: Rusty Staub gave the Mother's Day crowd, a big thrill, as he blasted a grand slam HR, putting the Mets up 4-0. A great start to the day. McDowell then bore down & struck out the next three Mets.

For New York, Ray Sadecki held the Giants scoreless on three hits into the 5th inning. Fran Healy started the inning with a walk.

Next, Bernie Williams tripled into right centerfield, scoring Healy. Giants' short stop Chris Speier then doubled to bring Williams in making it 2-0. Next, second baseman Tito Fuentes hit a two run HR tying up the game. Sadecki finished the inning giving way to Jim McAndrew in the tied game.

In the bottom of the 5th, Reliever Don Carithers came in to pitch for the Giants, with Willie Mays leading off the inning. 

In story book fashion, Willie gave the crowd their biggest thrill, hitting a HR over the Shea Stadium left field fence into the Giants bullpen, to put the Mets up 5-4. 

Trivia: It was Willie's 647th career HR, third on the all-time list at that point in history. Babe Ruth & Hank Aaron were the only ones in front of Willie on the all-time HR list. It was Mays' first of the year.

The Mets dugout jumped up in excitement & the wet Shea Stadium crowd went crazy. Welcome home Willie, it was quite a home coming!!

The HR ended up being the game winning run, as the Mets went on to win it 5-4. 

Jim McAndrew tossed four scoreless innings giving up three hits to earn the save. 

The Mets only had four hits in the game, but the HRs provided the power they needed.

The Mets were rolling along at this early point of the season, they would go on an eleven-game win streak, that gave them a six-game lead of first place by May 21st. 

But injuries to Rusty Staub, Bud Harrelson, Cleon Jones & Jerry Grote took their toll. Tommie Agee's chronic knee problems were ruining his career as well, he would retire at age 32 by 1974.

Also, that year the Mets had lost manager Gil Hodges to a fatal heart attack, just before the season began. It was something they could not recover from.

In 1972 they also traded away pitcher Nolan Ryan for third baseman Jim Fregosi in a deal that turned out to be a disaster. After leaving New York Nolan Ryan developed into one of the best pitchers in the AL. While Fregosi hit just .232. The Mets finished third that year at 83-73.