SAN FRANCISCO — The personal collection of Willie Mays, a list of items including his 1954 World Series ring and his two MVP Awards, will be auctioned Sept. 27 at the King Street Warehouse event space near Oracle Park in San Francisco.
All proceeds from the auction will go to “delivering education, training, and health services for youth” through Mays’ Say Hey! Foundation, which Mays founded in 2000.
An online offering for hundreds of additional items will take place on Sept. 28. The first public display of the items will be at the National Sports Collectors Convention in Chicago between July 30 and Aug. 3.
“Willie said that he would not have become ‘Willie Mays’ without caring adults in his life who helped him get the education, skills, healthy diet, and inspiration that he needed,” wrote Jeff Bleich, Mays’ friend and chair of the foundation, in a press release. “Growing up poor and assigned to a segregated school that did not even have a baseball team, Willie knew he wouldn’t have achieved all that he did without his father Willie (“Cat”) Mays, Sr., his Aunties, his teacher Mrs. Rice, players from the industrial leagues, and other people who looked out for him.
Willie Mays’ 1954 World Series ring is among the late Giants star’s personal collection that will be sold to benefit the Say Hey! Foundation. The action is Sept. 27. Photo courtesy of Hunt Auctions.
“Willie never forgot them. He preserved his most treasured awards so that one day he could pay it forward. He wanted to share these items with his fans so that together they could raise as much as possible to support other kids starting out in life the way he had. His one instruction to Dave Hunt at Hunt Auctions was ‘make this the best auction ever to help those kids.”
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In addition to Mays’ World Series ring and his two MVP Awards, the list of items that will be up for auction include his Presidential Medal of Freedom, his 1963 All-Star Game MVP Award and multiple Gold Glove Awards.
Mays, considered by many to be the greatest baseball player of all time, died on June 18, 2024 at the age of 93.
Additional information can be found on Hunt Auctions’ website.
Willie Mays’ 1963 Gold Glove award is among the late Giants star’s personal collection that will be sold to benefit the Say Hey! Foundation. The action is Sept. 27. Photo courtesy of Hunt Auctions.
Willie Mays’ glove from 1955 is among the late Giants star’s personal collection that will be sold to benefit the Say Hey! Foundation. The action is Sept. 27. Photo courtesy of Hunt Auctions.