CHICAGO — Logan Webb was all by himself, alone on the diamond, when the classic photo of Willie Mays, posing in a home cream Giants uniform with his bat cocked in his hands, appeared on the scoreboards beyond the ivy-covered walls of Wrigley Field and an announcement came over the loudspeakers. Ladies and gentlemen, it is with great sadness that we announce that San Francisco Giants legend and Hall of Famer Willie Mays passed away peacefully this afternoon at the age of 93. Please join us in a moment of silence as we remember Willie Mays. “That was the first I heard of it,” Webb said, recounti ..read more

Willie Mays was a teenager when he was acknowledged as a baseball phenom, a designation he quickly outgrew as if it were a pair of hand-me-down spikes. He evolved into a first-rate ballplayer in his own right — a Negro League star, then a minor league superstar. But it was soon apparent no superlative could hold him. He was barely 20 years old when the Giants summoned him from their top farm team on May 25, 1951. The center fielder had caught their eye. But it was the possibility of the man that intrigued them most. So it is that Mays, who died on Tuesday at 93 years old, is remembered — not a ..read more

Willie Mays could run, hit, field and throw and did all of it with the flair of a master showman. The “Say Hey Kid” may have tormented opponents, but he played with a smile that retained its boyishness into old age. “I’m not sure what the hell ‘charisma’ is,’’ Cincinnati Reds first baseman Ted Kluszewski once said, “but I get the feeling it’s Willie Mays.” Mays, the incandescent Giants outfielder and a symbol of baseball’s golden age, died Tuesday. He was 93. With his exhilarating blend of power and speed, the Hall of Famer smashed 660 career home runs (sixth best all-time), tallied 3,283 hits ..read more

Amid triumph and tragedy, private moments of grief and public spectacles of joy, Mercury News and East Bay Times’ photojournalists captured the resilience of the human spirit across the Bay Area in 2022. The powerful and poignant images recorded our losses – from wildfires and shootings to COVID and abortion rights – and our gains, in sports arenas, playing fields and parades. There were deaths and funerals and festivals that documented the sorrow of the year and also the elation. The astonishing and the sublime also were captured – sometimes in the same frame. Such was the retirement of a 100 ..read more

Recently retired San Francisco Giants star Buster Posey has sold his 106-acre hunting ranch in Oroville for $3.9 million. The home sits with a view of the lake. (Photo: California Outdoor Properties)The living room of the house. (Photo: California Outdoor Properties) The sprawling property encompasses a lake and two creeks for fishing and hunting and includes a main house, a barn, a workshop and a caretaker’s house. A main bedroom in the house. (Photo: California Outdoor Properties) Posey, 35, grew up hunting and fishing in Georgia and bought the property in 2016 to pass on the tradition to hi ..read more

Recently retired San Francisco Giants star Buster Posey has listed his 106-acre hunting ranch in Oroville for $3.9 million, reports the Wall Street Journal. The sprawling property encompasses a lake and two creeks for fishing and hunting and includes a main house, a barn, a workshop and a caretaker’s house. Posey grew up hunting and fishing in his native Georgia and bought the property in 2016 to pass on the tradition to his four children, according to the report. Ducks, doves, quails, turkeys and bucks are game on the property, and bass and catfish can be caught when fishing. The 3,340-square ..read more

Frank Robinson, a trailblazer who forged his own path from the playgrounds of West Oakland to baseball immortality, died Thursday after a long battle with bone cancer. He was 83. The Hall of Fame outfielder had been in hospice care for the past few months and passed away in Los Angeles, almost 45 years after he made baseball history by becoming its first African-American manager with the Cleveland Indians. Robinson is mostly remembered in the Bay Area for managing the Giants from 1981-84, when he was the first African-American to manage in the National League. But the long-legged, quick-wriste ..read more

President Trump took offense to Giants manager Gabe Kapler and a handful of players taking a knee during the national anthem on Monday night, saying he’s seen enough. In a Tuesday morning tweet, the president again showed his contempt for athletes who kneel to protest racial injustice and police brutality while the anthem’s playing. “Looking forward to live sports, but any time I witness a player kneeling during the National Anthem, a sign of great disrespect for our Country and our Flag, the game is over for me!,” Trump tweeted. The president’s views were shared by others online who said they ..read more

Alongside several Giants players, Gabe Kapler took a knee during the national anthem Monday night in Oakland, making him the first manager in baseball to do so. “I wanted to use my platform to demonstrate my dissatisfaction with the way we’ve handled racism in our country. I wanted to demonstrate my dissatisfaction with our clear systemic racism in our country,” Kapler said of his decision. This is a big deal to many Americans. And for those who feel Kapler was kneeling on their behalf, that’s great. For others it’ll be a big deal because … well, we’ve been to this rodeo before, haven’t we? Pl ..read more

CLICK HERE if you’re having a problem viewing the photos on a mobile device. Competitive baseball at last. The Oakland A’s took on the San Francisco Giants Monday night for the first of two exhibition games at the Coliseum, losing 6-2. Here are some observations. Sean Manaea, slow but effective Manaea got stronger as his start progressed. The left-handed pitcher’s fastball velocity was a few ticks lower than its typical 90 mph average, hovering between 85 and 88 mph throughout. It’s early, so it may just be a matter of a few starts before Manaea can amp up the velocity to its sweet spot. Manag ..read more