The last time the Giants won the World Series was in 1954. The team was led by the greatest Giant of all-time, Willie Mays. So he knows how the current Giants are feeling following their World Series win on Monday night. And perhaps that’s part of the reason why watching them win it all made Mays so emotional.
This series of tweets Monday night come from John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle:
Willie Mays, greatest Giant of all, watched game from home and told the Chron he had to leave room after final out. Too emotional.
Mays: “Oh, man, I don’t get overly excited about baseball, but looking at these kids and how excited they were, I had some tears in my eyes.”
Why Willie Mays had to leave room after game: "I had to get out of here for a minute because I’m not used to getting emotional like this.”
Mays wasn’t the only Giant great overcome with joy watching his former team win the World Series. Barry Bonds, who is beloved in San Fran despite how the rest of baseball may feel about him, issued this statement to SportsCenter:
There is no city that deserves this championship more and I congratulate Bill Neukom, the entire ownership group, Bochy and most of all the guys on the team that fought hard to bring the trophy home to the city of San Francisco. I grew up watching my dad and godfather as Giants, lived out my dream playing in the same uniform in front of the best fans in the world and I just witnessed the Giants winning the World Series. I am ecstatic for the team, the city and all the fans – you truly deserve it.
All of these quotes come courtesy of SB Nation Bay Area, which also has Comcast SportsNet’s post-game interview with Barry Bonds, in which his excitement for the Giants is pretty clear.