Editing Willie Mays (section)

====NL Rookie of the Year====
[[File:1952 Bowman Willie Mays.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|alt=Painting on a baseball card of Mays in a white baseball uniform staring off to his left as he holds a baseball bat over his right shoulder|1952 [[Bowman (brand)|Bowman]] Willie Mays]]
Playing excellent defense, Mays was called up by the Giants on May 24, 1951.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hynd |first=Noel |url=https://archive.org/details/giantsofpologrou0000hynd |title=The Giants of the Polo Grounds: The Glorious Times of Baseball's New York Giants |publisher=[[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]] |year=1988 |isbn=0-385 23790-1 |page=358}}</ref> Initially, Mays was reluctant to accept the promotion because he did not believe he was ready to face major league pitchers. Stunned, Giants manager [[Leo Durocher]] called Mays directly and said, "Quit costing the ball club money with long-distance phone calls and join the team."<ref>[[#Barra|Barra]], pp. 145–146.</ref> It was also around this time that Mays was given his famous moniker: "The Say Hey Kid".{{efn|It is not known for certain how Mays became known as "The Say Hey Kid"; sportswriters Barney Kremenko and [[Jimmy Cannon]] have both been attributed as possible creators.<ref>{{cite news |last=Schwartz |first=Larry |url=https://www.espn.com/classic/s/000725williemaysadd.html |title=Willie had it all the way |website=[[ESPN]] |date=June 21, 2004 |archive-date=August 19, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170819102507/http://www.espn.com/classic/s/000725williemaysadd.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Mays at 75">{{cite news | title=Mays at 75: The Say-Hey Kid has lots of fond memories, few regrets | url=https://www.sfgate.com/sports/shea/article/MAYS-AT-75-The-Say-Hey-Kid-has-lots-of-fond-2498355.php | first=John | last=Shea | newspaper=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] | date=May 3, 2006 | archive-date=April 11, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120411141442/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2006%2F05%2F03%2FSPGV1IJEEB1.DTL | url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[[#Barra|Barra]], p. 114.</ref> For his part, Kremenko, who covered the 1951 Giants for the ''[[New York Journal-American]]'', definitely used the phrase as early as December 1951, as one of a series of guest columnists filling in for ''[[The Afro-American]]'s'' ailing [[Sam Lacy]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Kremenko, Barney |date=December 1, 1951 |url=https://www.mediafire.com/view/etkl7a2misdffa0 |title=From A to Z with Sam Lacy |newspaper=[[The Afro-American]] |quote=In no time at all, his 'say who' or 'say hey' or 'say what' queries to anyone addressing him made him the 'say hey kid'. |page=15 |access-date=November 9, 2021 |archive-date=June 19, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240619040406/https://www.mediafire.com/view/etkl7a2misdffa0 |url-status=live }}</ref> However, five months prior to that, manager [[Leo Durocher]] himself is cited as the nickname's source by longtime ''[[Amsterdam News]]'' sportswriter Jackie Reemes.<ref>{{cite web |author=Reemes, Jackie |date=June 30, 1951 |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/225806089 |title=Reams of Sports: Mays Challenges for Rookie Honors |newspaper=[[New York Amsterdam News]] |page=16 |id={{ProQuest|225806089}} |quote=The 'say-hey' kid, as Durocher has tagged Willie since his quaint expression has become so popular among Mays's teammates, was swinging the wagon-tongue at .467 pace when he was drafted by the Giants from their Minneapolis Lakers club in the American Association in May. |access-date=March 7, 2022 |archive-date=June 19, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240619040406/https://www.proquest.com/docview/225806089 |url-status=live }}</ref> The nickname led people to believe "Say hey!" was a common expression Mays used, when he actually used only "hey" with regularity in his everyday conversations.<ref>[[#Hirsch|Hirsch]], p. 111.</ref>}}

The Giants hoped Mays would help them defensively in center field, as well as offensively.<ref name="Koppett">{{cite book|last=Koppett|first=Leonard|title=A Thinking Man's Guide to Baseball|publisher=[[E. P. Dutton]] |url=https://archive.org/details/thinkingfansguid00kopp |pages=226–27|isbn=978-1199112378|year=1967}}</ref> The [[Polo Grounds]] featured an unusual horseshoe shape, with relatively short left field ({{convert|280|ft|disp=semicolon}}) and right field ({{convert|258|ft|disp=semicolon}}) lines but the deepest center field in baseball ({{convert|483|ft|disp=semicolon}}).<ref>[[#Hirsch|Hirsch]], pp. 101–102, 195.</ref> Mays appeared in his first major league game on May 25 against the [[Philadelphia Phillies]] at [[Shibe Park]], batting third.<ref>[[#Barra|Barra]], p. 153.</ref> He had no hits in his first 12 at bats in the major leagues, but in his 13th on May 28, he hit a home run off [[Warren Spahn]] over the left-field roof of the Polo Grounds.<ref>{{cite web |last=Schwartz |first=Larry |url=https://www.espn.com/sportscentury/features/00016223.html |title=Mays brought joy to baseball |website=[[ESPN]] |archive-date=April 25, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425222958/https://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016223.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Mays went hitless in his next 12 at bats, and Durocher dropped him to eighth in the batting order on June 2, suggesting that Mays stop trying to [[pull hitter|pull]] the ball and just make contact.<ref>[[#Barra|Barra]], pp. 154–155.</ref><ref>[[#Hirsch|Hirsch]], p. 104.</ref> Mays responded with four hits over his next two games on June 2 and 3. By the end of the month, he had pushed his batting average to over .300.<ref>{{cite web |title=Willie Mays 1951 Batting Game Logs |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=mayswi01&t=b&year=1951 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622091012/https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=mayswi01&t=b&year=1951 |archive-date=June 22, 2020 |access-date=June 19, 2020 |website=[[Baseball Reference]]}}</ref> He would bat close to .290 for the rest of the season. Although his .274 average, 68 RBIs, and 20 home runs (in 121 games) would rank among the lowest totals of his career, he still won the [[National League (baseball)|National League]] (NL) [[Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award|Rookie of the Year Award]].<ref name="reference">{{cite web |title=Willie Mays Career Statistics |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mayswi01.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090413190522/http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mayswi01.shtml |archive-date=April 13, 2009 |work=[[Baseball Reference]]}}</ref>

On August 11, the [[1951 New York Giants (MLB) season|Giants]] found themselves {{frac|13|1|2}} games back of the [[1951 Brooklyn Dodgers season|Dodgers]] in the NL [[pennant race]]; Brooklyn manager [[Charlie Dressen]] triumphantly predicted, "The Giants is dead."<ref>[[#Hirsch|Hirsch]], p. 123.</ref> However, the Giants went 40–18 in the season's final 58 games, winning their last seven of the year to finish the regular season tied with the Dodgers.<ref>[[#Hirsch|Hirsch]], pp. 127–128.</ref> During the pennant race, Mays's fielding and strong throwing arm were instrumental in several important Giants' victories. Mays was in the [[On-deck|on-deck circle]] on October 3 when [[Bobby Thomson]] hit [[Shot Heard 'Round the World (baseball)|a three-run homer]] to win the three-game [[1951 National League tie-breaker series|NL tie-breaker series]] 2–1.<ref>[[#Barra|Barra]], p. 170.</ref>

The Giants met the [[1951 New York Yankees season|New York Yankees]] in the [[1951 World Series]].<ref>[[#Schoor|Schoor]], pp. 226–229.</ref> In Game 1, Mays, [[Hank Thompson (baseball)|Hank Thompson]], and [[Monte Irvin]] composed the first all-black outfield in major league history. For the series, Mays hit poorly as the Giants lost the series in six games. In Game 5, he hit a consequential [[fly ball (baseball)|fly ball]], which DiMaggio and Yankee rookie [[Mickey Mantle]] pursued. DiMaggio called Mantle off at the last second; as he stopped, Mantle got his cleat stuck in an open drainpipe, suffering a knee injury that would affect him the rest of his career.<ref>[[#Barra|Barra]], pp. 173–174.</ref>