The San Francisco Giants played their first home game Monday since the June 18 death of MLB legend Willie Mays. Mays has been eulogized and remembered at stadiums around the league since his death at age 93, and the Giants held nothing back at Oracle Park.
NBC Sports Bay Area Giants announcers Dave Flemming, Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper all spoke about Mays in a ceremony on the field before the game.
“All of us Giants fans, here in San Francisco, around the world, the ones who got to watch him play, the ones who got to cheer for him, the ones who got to call him our friend, how lucky are we. And man, are we going to miss him,” Flemming said.
“I never in my 40 years of knowing him, saw him mad,” Krukow said. “He never yelled or lost his temper, because every day I saw him, he was at the ballpark, and there was no place that he would rather be. He was our guy. We lost our champion, but he’ll always be with us forever.”
“So we’re going to miss everything about Willie Mays, everything he did on the field. And we’ll miss the Reverend Willie Mays,” Kuiper said. ”
“Yes we will,” Flemming agreed.
Dave Flemming, Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper remember Willie Mays in the Giants’ first home game since his passing.
“He was our guy. We lost our champion. But he’ll always be with us forever.”pic.twitter.com/3uTMbB8iEd
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 25, 2024
Krukow, who played seven seasons for the Giants during his lengthy MLB career, recently shared with KNBR how he met Mays early in his stint with the team.
‘Oh my God. I’m playing for the same team that Willie Mays played for and starred for,” Krukow recalled thinking.
Mays leaves behind a rich legacy, not just as one of the greatest players in MLB history, but as a friend to many and a gentleman on and off the field.
[San Francisco Giants]
About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.