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Playing excellent defense, Mays was called up by the Giants on May 24, 1951.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hynd|first=Noel|year=1988|title=The Giants of the Polo Grounds: The Glorious Times of Baseball's New York Giants|publisher=Doubleday |page=358|isbn=0-385 23790-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/giantsofpologrou0000hynd}}</ref> Initially, Mays was reluctant to accept the promotion because he did not believe he was ready to face major league pitchers. Stunned, Giants manager [[Leo Durocher]] called Mays directly and said, "Quit costing the ball club money with long-distance phone calls and join the team."<ref>[[#Barra|Barra]], pp. 145–146.</ref> It was also around this time that Mays was given his famous moniker: "The Say Hey Kid".{{efn|It is not known for certain how Mays became known as "The Say Hey Kid"; sportswriters Barney Kremenko and [[Jimmy Cannon]] have both been attributed as possible creators.<ref>{{cite news |last=Schwartz |first=Larry |url=https://www.espn.com/classic/s/000725williemaysadd.html |title=Willie had it all the way |website=[[ESPN]] |date=June 21, 2004 |archive-date=August 19, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170819102507/http://www.espn.com/classic/s/000725williemaysadd.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Mays at 75">{{cite news | title=Mays at 75: The Say-Hey Kid has lots of fond memories, few regrets | url=https://www.sfgate.com/sports/shea/article/MAYS-AT-75-The-Say-Hey-Kid-has-lots-of-fond-2498355.php | first=John | last=Shea | newspaper=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] | date=May 3, 2006 | archive-date=April 11, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120411141442/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2006%2F05%2F03%2FSPGV1IJEEB1.DTL | url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[[#Barra|Barra]], p. 114.</ref> For his part, Kremenko, who covered the 1951 Giants for the ''[[New York Journal-American]]'', definitely used the phrase as early as December 1951, as one of a series of guest columnists filling in for ''[[The Afro-American]]'s'' ailing [[Sam Lacy]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Kremenko, Barney |date=December 1, 1951 |url=https://www.mediafire.com/view/etkl7a2misdffa0 |title=From A to Z with Sam Lacy |newspaper=[[The Afro-American]] |quote=In no time at all, his 'say who' or 'say hey' or 'say what' queries to anyone addressing him made him the 'say hey kid'. |page=15 |access-date=November 9, 2021 |archive-date=June 19, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240619040406/https://www.mediafire.com/view/etkl7a2misdffa0 |url-status=live }}</ref> However, five months prior to that, manager [[Leo Durocher]] himself is cited as the nickname's source by longtime ''[[Amsterdam News]]'' sportswriter Jackie Reemes.<ref>{{cite web |author=Reemes, Jackie |date=June 30, 1951 |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/225806089 |title=Reams of Sports: Mays Challenges for Rookie Honors |newspaper=[[New York Amsterdam News]] |page=16 |id={{ProQuest|225806089}} |quote=The 'say-hey' kid, as Durocher has tagged Willie since his quaint expression has become so popular among Mays's teammates, was swinging the wagon-tongue at .467 pace when he was drafted by the Giants from their Minneapolis Lakers club in the American Association in May. |access-date=March 7, 2022 |archive-date=June 19, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240619040406/https://www.proquest.com/docview/225806089 |url-status=live }}</ref> The nickname led people to believe "Say hey!" was a common expression Mays used, when he actually used only "hey" with regularity in his everyday conversations.<ref>[[#Hirsch|Hirsch]], p. 111.</ref>}}
The Giants hoped Mays would help them defensively in center field, as well as offensively.<ref name="Koppett">{{cite book|last=Koppett|first=Leonard|title=A Thinking Man's Guide to Baseball|publisher=[[E. P. Dutton]] |url=https://archive.org/details/thinkingfansguid00kopp |pages=226–27|isbn=978-1199112378|year=1967}}</ref> The [[Polo Grounds]] featured an unusual horseshoe shape, with relatively short left field ({{convert|280|ft|disp=semicolon}}) and right field ({{convert|258|ft|disp=semicolon}}) lines but the deepest center field in baseball ({{convert|483|ft|disp=semicolon}}).<ref>[[#Hirsch|Hirsch]], pp. 101–102, 195.</ref> Mays appeared in his first major league game on May 25 against the [[Philadelphia Phillies]] at [[Shibe Park]], batting third.<ref>[[#Barra|Barra]], p. 153.</ref> He had no hits in his first 12 at bats in the major leagues, but in his 13th on May 28, he hit a home run off [[Warren Spahn]] over the left-field roof of the Polo Grounds.<ref>{{cite web |last=Schwartz |first=Larry |url=https://www.espn.com/sportscentury/features/00016223.html |title=Mays brought joy to baseball |website=[[ESPN]] |archive-date=April 25, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425222958/https://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016223.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Mays went hitless in his next 12 at bats, and Durocher dropped him to eighth in the batting order on June 2, suggesting that Mays stop trying to [[pull hitter|pull]] the ball and just make contact.<ref>[[#Barra|Barra]], pp. 154–155.</ref><ref>[[#Hirsch|Hirsch]], p. 104.</ref> Mays responded with four hits over his next two games on June 2 and 3. By the end of the month, he had pushed his batting average to over .300.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=mayswi01&t=b&year=1951|title=Willie Mays 1951 Batting Gamelogs|website=Baseball-Reference.com|access-date=June 19, 2020|archive-date=June 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622091012/https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=mayswi01&t=b&year=1951|url-status=live}}</ref> He
On August 11, the [[1951 New York Giants (MLB) season|Giants]] found themselves {{frac|13|1|2}} games back of the [[1951 Brooklyn Dodgers season|Dodgers]] in the NL [[pennant race]]; Brooklyn manager [[Charlie Dressen]] triumphantly predicted, "The Giants is dead."<ref>[[#Hirsch|Hirsch]], p. 123.</ref> However, the Giants went 40–18 in the season's final 58 games, winning their last seven of the year to finish the regular season tied with the Dodgers.<ref>[[#Hirsch|Hirsch]], pp. 127–128.</ref> During the pennant race, Mays's fielding and strong throwing arm were instrumental in several important Giants' victories. Mays was in the [[On-deck|on-deck circle]] on October 3 when [[Bobby Thomson]] hit [[Shot Heard 'Round the World (baseball)|a three-run homer]] to win the three-game [[1951 National League tie-breaker series|NL tie-breaker series]] 2–1.<ref>[[#Barra|Barra]], p. 170.</ref>
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