Flashback: Willie Mays becomes second player with 600 homers
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}American baseball player Willie Mays (#24, right) of the San Francisco Giants hits the ball that become his 600th career home run during a game against the San Diego Padres at the Jack Murphy Stadium (later Qualcomm Stadium), San Diego, California, September 22, 1969. Padres's catcher Chris Cannizzaro (#8) is at left. (Photo by Bruce Bennett Studios/Getty Images)
Willie Mays -- the "Say Hey Kid" -- was as special as they come at the plate and in the field during his career, and his accomplishments are nearly too numerous to list.
On Sept. 22, 1969, the San Francisco Giants' slugger became the second player to hit 600 career home runs -- joining Babe Ruth. The historic blast was a two-run shot off of the San Diego Padres' Mike Corkins in the seventh inning, and it proved to be the game winner.
Mays played through the 1973 season, finishing his 22-season major-league career with 660 homers (still fifth on the all-time list). The 1951 NL Rookie of the Year and two-time NL MVP (1954, 1965) was a 12-time Gold Glove winner, a four-time NL home run leader and the 1954 NL batting champion.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1979, getting 94.7 percent of the vote.