WILLIE MAYS was one of the all-time baseball greats. And although he’s been gone a year — Mays died in June 2024 at age 93 — there are still many ways to remember him in the Bay Area.
Start with the huge bronze statue of Mays at Oracle Park, the San Francisco Giants’ home stadium. The statue sits in Willie Mays Plaza, surrounded by 24 palm trees in honor of his uniform number 24.
Or visit the town of Atherton, the wealthy Peninsula suburb where Mays lived for over 50 years. While not as imposing as the ballpark statue, the city’s newish library has a conference room named after the Hall of Famer.
Mays moved to Atherton in 1969 and was well known in the community for passing out baseballs at Halloween.
“There was a line outside his house on Halloween,” said Rick DeGolia, an Atherton city councilmember.
Mays was famous for both his hitting and fielding skills. He had over 3,000 hits, 660 home runs and 339 stolen bases by the time he retired in 1973 after 23 seasons. He also won 12 Gold Glove awards for his skills as a center fielder.
Playmaker and peacekeeper
DeGolia remembers Mays as a peacemaker, breaking up a famous 1965 fight between Dodger catcher John Roseboro and Giants pitcher Juan Marichal.
“I grew up a Dodgers fan, but I still loved Willie Mays,” DeGolia, 75, said.
DeGolia got the idea to name the conference room for Mays when the city was raising funds to build the town center complex that includes the library. The library opened in 2022.
DeGolia and his wife Karen donated $100,000 for the conference room. The councilman then asked Mays for permission to name it after him.
“He’d been such a longtime resident of Atherton and a great baseball player,” he said.
Mays donated the varied photos that are on its walls. Pictures show him with fans, holding a bat, and with former President Barack Obama. One photo shows him hugging his dog.
The conference room is dominated by a large table with a clear panel in its middle, filled with baseballs with the Giants’ San Francisco initials on them.
“There were 24 baseballs as that was Willie’s number,” DeGolia said.
Except there are only 23 balls in there, something this reporter noted (and counted repeatedly to be sure) on a recent visit.
“I don’t know what happened to the other ball,” DeGolia said.
The conference room is open to the public for use. One wall is all windows, and visitors can look inside the room when it’s occupied.
“Fans love it,” said Alan Zamora, a communication technology specialist at the library.
Life after baseball
A loop of videos about Mays play on a screen in the conference room.
On a recent visit, an NBC program from 1974 called “A New Ball Game for Willie Mays,” was airing. It was narrated by actor Jack Klugman. The actor is shown playing billiards with Mays at his Atherton home, and driving to Candlestick Park, where Mays played most of his career with the Giants. After he retired, he continued to work for the team as a special assistant.
Mays is also honored in Atherton with a Little League ballpark named after him at Holbrook-Palmer Park that was dedicated in 2015. A plaque at the ballpark discusses his legacy.
“From playing stickball with the kids in Harlem to visiting children in hospitals across the country, Willie has always been an inspiring role model, and his Halloween tradition of giving baseball souvenirs to the boys and girls of Atherton is the stuff of local legend,” the plaque reads.
The library is located at 2 Dinkelspiel Station Lane and is open seven days a week. Holbrook-Palmer Park is located at 150 Watkins Ave.
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