Mets retire Willie Mays’ No. 24 as Old-Timers’ Day returns

By CHARLES O’BRIEN
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — In a surprise salute at Citi Field, the Mets have retired Willie Mays’ No. 24 as part of festivities for the organization’s first Old-Timers’ Day since 1994. The Hall of Fame center fielder starred for the Giants in New York from 1951-57 and then in San Francisco from 1958-72 after the club moved to the West Coast. He returned to the Big Apple in a May 1972 trade and spent his final two seasons with the Mets, helping them reach the 1973 World Series. Mets charter owner Joan Whitney Payson told Mays he would be the last player in franchise history to wear No. 24. But Payson died not long after Mays’ retirement in 1973, and the Mets finally made good on her promise nearly 50 years later.