Giants legend Willie Mays' personal collection to be auctioned off in S.F.
One of the greatest players in baseball history, Mays was a 24-time All-Star and stands alone as the only player in MLB history to retire with at least 3,000 hits, 300 home runs, 300 stolen bases and a .300 career batting average. Mays died just over a year ago at age 93.
Honoring Mays' wishes, all proceeds from the auction will be donated to the Say Hey! Foundation, which he founded in 2000. The foundation provides athletic training, education, health services and other support to underprivileged youth.
'For all of his extraordinary achievements, as a baseball player, Willie Mays wanted his enduring legacy to be helping children,' said Jeff Bleich, Mays' friend and chair of the Say Hey! Foundation. 'Willie believed that every child deserves the chance to make the most of their talents.'
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Among the most illustrious items from Mays' personal collection that will hit Hunt Auctions are his 1954 New York Giants championship ring, National League MVP awards from 1954 and 1965, his 1979 National Baseball Hall of Fame induction ring and his Presidential Medal of Freedom, which he was honored with in 2015 by President Barack Obama.
With exception to a few items that Mays re-acquired from the public market, almost every item in the auction will make its debut for public purchase. Bleich said that Mays had one piece of instruction to Hunt Auctions president David Hunt: 'Make this the best auction ever to help those kids.'
The auction will take place on Sept. 27 at the King Street Warehouse event space, which sits adjacent to Oracle Park.
Following the auction, hundreds of additional items from the collection will be sold exclusively online on Sept. 28. The National Sports Collectors Convention will feature the first public display of the collection in Chicago between July 30 and Aug. 3.
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