Willie Mays

To the media and baseball fans alike, he was "the Say Hey Kid." Close friends knew him as "Buck." No matter what nickname Willie Mays went by, most remember him as the best all-around player to ever play the game of baseball.

Mays hailed from Westfield, Alabama, and learned how to play the game as a youngster by watching his father play in Industrial League games. By the time Mays was in high school in 1947, he had already begun to play professionally, first with the Chattanooga Choo-Choos then the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League. The New York Giants signed him to a contract in 1950, and on May 25, 1951, he played in his first major league game, thereby beginning a memorable Hall of Fame career.

Mays' first major league hit was a home run off Boston Braves left-hander Warren Spahn. The hit came after Mays had failed to register a hit in his first 12 major league at-bats, prompting Spahn to joke about that encounter on many occasions during the years that followed: "I'll never forgive myself. We might have gotten rid of Willie forever if I'd only struck him out." Mays finished the 1951 season with a .274 batting average, 68 RBIs, and 20 home runs, which, coupled with his athleticism, were enough to earn him Rookie of the Year honors.

That first season would be a teaser for Giants fans since Mays got drafted by the Army in 1952 and missed most of that season before missing the entire 1953 campaign. That lost time in the major leagues cost him almost 270 games. Ironically, while in the service Mays did little else beside play baseball for the U.S. Army.

He rejoined the Giants in 1954, establishing himself as one of the best players in the game. Not only did Mays lead the National League with a .345 batting average, he also hit 41 home runs to win his first Most Valuable Player award while also leading the Giants to the World Series, where they swept the Indians. During the Series, Mays made "the Catch," the name given to the over-the-shoulder grab he made on a drive hit by Cleveland's Vic Wertz in Game 1 (see No. 9, "The Catch").

In 1956 Mays became only the second player in major league history to hit more than 30 home runs and steal more than 30 bases in a season, with 36 home runs and 40 stolen bases. The Gold Glove award came into being in 1957, and Mays made the award his to keep, winning the award for the first 12 years after its inception.

Mays guided the Giants to the National League pennant in 1962 by leading the team in eight offensive categories, while also leading the majors in home runs (49) and total bases (382). A Mays home run broke up one of the more memorable pitching duels in major league history on July 2, 1963. Juan Marichal was pitching for the Giants and Spahn for the Braves, when Mays homered in the bottom of the 16th off Spahn for a 1–0 Giants win. That home run helped Mays earn the distinction as being the only player in major league history to hit a home run in every inning from the first through 16th.

After hitting 52 home runs in 1965, Mays won a second MVP award. He appeared in 24 All-Star Games during his career. Baseball immortal Ted Williams once said, "They invented the All-Star Game for Willie Mays." Mays finished his career with 660 home runs, which ranked third in major league history when he retired after the 1973 season, having spent his final two years in the major leagues with the New York Mets.

Mays went into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979. During the induction ceremony, he was asked whom he considered the best player he saw during his career, to which he answered, "I don't mean to be bashful, but I was."

The Say Hey Kid was just being honest.

Christy Mathewson

Talk about a lopsided trade, even Frank Robinson for Milt Pappas doesn't hold a candle to this one: the Giants traded right-hander Amos Rusie to the Cincinnati Reds for, gulp, Christy Mathewson. No doubt that trade, which took place on December 15, 1900, ranks as the best trade in Giants history and perhaps one of the top five trades in major league history. Though he would later be inducted into the Hall of Fame, Rusie got injured in 1901 and pitched in just three games for the Reds in what would be his final season (the beginning of an unfortunate pattern for the Reds). Mathewson, meanwhile, went on to win 373 games in 17 seasons, with 372 of those wins coming while wearing a Giants uniform.

Mathewson hailed from...