On this day in 1951, against a fellow future Hall of Famer Warren Spahn, Willie Mays came through with his first career hit and home run. Willie was 20 years old at the time and was called up by the Giants days prior but was 0 for 12 so far. The Giants hosted the Boston Braves, and Warren Spahn was on the mound. Mays was penciled in the third spot in the lineup, and the first inning, with two outs, Mays took Spahn over the left field fence with a solo home run, the first of what would be 660 career home runs, 3,283 Hits, and 1,903 runs batted in.

Mays would find his footing after that at-bat; he’d win the NL Rookie of the Year .274 with 20 home runs and 68 RBI. Spahn would also recover from that home run he gave up, winning 22 games and leading the majors in Strikeouts with a 2.98 ERA that year. One thing is for sure, it’s rare that two legends collide and have a historic moment in sports, but it’s even rare when two small room legends do it.

References:

1. NEW YORK GIANTS ROOKIE WILLIE MAYS COLLECTS HIS FIRST MAJOR LEAGUE HIT – HOMERUN via ThisDayInBaseball: