Getting your player ready...
Willie Mays was back Friday where his big-league career began, bringing along the San Francisco Giants’ World Series trophy to a grade-school auditorium full of kids on the site of the old Polo Grounds. The Hall of Famer was to give the “A” students a dozen baseballs along with three vintage 1951 Giants jerseys. Discovering he was one baseball short, Mays pulled out a $100 bill and handed it to Kendryck Taveras, a very surprised fifth-grader. “I’d rather have the $100,” the grinning 11-year-old said. But the greatest gift came when Mays reminded the kids that their parents — not athletes — were their heroes and they should extend their education for as long as possible.
