McCutchen, Jackson star-struck by first meeting with Mays
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. » Andrew McCutchen has played in five All- Star games and won an MVP Award. Austin Jackson started in center field in the 2012 World Series and recently signed with his sixth major league team.
Around the game of baseball, there’s not much the new Giants’ outfielders haven’t seen.
Until Thursday, when they met Willie Mays.
“He’s ( Mays) a legend, man, he was well before my time but I knew all about him,” McCutchen said. “That really shows you how great of a player he was, but you know a guy who, his numbers are staggering, and for him to be right here and see him in person, it’s something that’s really cool.”
With Cactus League play set to begin today, the Giants finished their workout at Scottsdale Stadium and retreated to the clubhouse. As players began to file in from batting practice, Mays sat at a table near the front corner of the clubhouse, which split the distance between Mc Cut chen and Jackson’s locker.
Both players made a beeline for Mays, introducing themselves for the first time.
Jackson made one of the greatest catches of the baseball season last summer, flipping over the right-center-field wall at Fenway Park to rob Hanley Ramirez of a home run. On Thursday, he met Mays, who authored a play that’s far more memorable: “The Catch.”
“( Meeting Mays) gives you chills, goosebumps,” Jackson said. “Not only getting to see The Catch many, many times on TV, you just know what he did for the game of baseball, and it’s just unreal to really be in the same presence with a legend. It’s surreal, it’s surreal.”
McCutchen and Jackson weren’t the only players juiced tomeet a legend. New Giants third baseman Evan Longoria sat next to Mays and shared his 2017 home run total— 20— with a man who hit 660 in his career.
Longoria has slugged at least 20 home runs in each of the past five seasons. That’s an impressive feat, but Mays did it 15 consecutive years from 1954-68.
First-year pitching coach Curt Young also checked in to speak with Mays, andwas later joined by his old teammate, Giants bench coach Hensley Meulens. The duo played together for the New York Yankees in 1992, fewer than 20 seasons after Mays finished his career with the Mets. Mays, 86, would have been 60 in 1992, but he probably still had the strength to hit one out of the park then, too.
On opening day, the Giants plan to field a lineup with eight players, including starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner, who have been named All- Stars at least once during their careers. Those players have combined to make 23 All-Star teams. When the Giants gathered after their workout Thursday, they encountered a man who knows a thing or two about being an AllStar. Mays earned the nod 24 times.
Mays appears in Scottsdale during spring training on an annual basis, and each time he visits, there’s always another professional athlete sitting in awe. The players of this generation never had the chance to watch Mays play, but they know exactly who he is and what he still means. Based on the interactions in the clubhouse, they couldn’t wait to “Say Hey.”
“My grandparents would have stories and talk about him, and they were his generation, you know,” McCutchen said. “He’s lived a couple generations, and he’s still here and still altogether, still with it, so it’s humbling for sure.”
• Hunter Pence will play left field and McCutchen will start in right, giving the Giants corner outfielders with a combined 20 seasons of experience.
“I go with where they’re at and how they feel, and they both were anxious to get out there,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “They’ll get a little action, notmuch. Then they’ll be off the next day.”
Ty Blach will start on the mound against the Milwaukee Brewers, and prospects Andrew Suarez, Tyler Cyr and D.J. Snelten are among the pitchers who will appear out of the bullpen.
• Chris Stratton will pitch Saturday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Bumgarner will throw Sunday against the Chicago Cubs. The Giants want Bumgarner to start Sunday so he can follow a schedule that will allow him the proper rest to start on opening day at Dodger Stadium.
• Brandon Belt is the only starting position player who will travel to Glendale for Saturday’s game. Non-roster invitee Gregor Blanco is expected to start in the outfield.
• Jeff Samardzija has yet to face hitters this spring, but he will throw live batting practice Friday during the Giants’ morning workout.