Which Honor to Choose?

It would take a pretty good imagination just to dream up a scene of glory like that in San Francisco's Candlestick Park last week. As one, 30,000 fans leaped to their feet and screamed wildly as the ball disappeared into the right-field bleachers and the batter loped casually around the bases. One of the loudest cheers came from Stan Musial, vice president of the opposing St. Louis Cardinals. Not even Plate Umpire Chris Pelekoudas could stand aloof as the player rounded third and touched home; Pelekoudas reached out and warmly shook his hand. Willie Mays had just hit the 535th homer of his wonderful career to go ahead of Jimmy Foxx as the greatest righthanded home-run hitter in baseball history.

That leaves only one batting honor left for the most popular living player to snare--Babe Ruth's alltime record of 714 homers. Will Willie make it? He personally doesn't think so. "I'll never pass Ruth," he says. "Maybe some guy coming up, like Hank Aaron, who is three years younger and has a friendly fence in Atlanta now, will pass me."

At 35, Mays has been playing for 16 years, and he is beginning to act--or at least talk--like a man approaching middle age. He no longer gleefully plays stickball with the kids in the street; golf (9 handicap) is his leisure game. He speaks of his retirement day as if it were almost within reach, doesn't hesitate to mention that "I need my rest"--ten or twelve hours a night. He neither smokes nor drinks.

On the field he hardly ever steals a base any more. He has made four errors in centerfield so far this season--which for Willie is almost a disgrace. He no longer plays both ends of a doubleheader, and talks about being "too tired" to swing for the home run. But when he's in the groove, he seems as strong as ever, and his batting record speaks for itself: 31 home runs so far this season, including two more last week after the record breaker.

Conceivably, Willie could go on for six or seven years, averaging 30 or more homers a year to break Ruth's record. After his retirement there is another possibility. Mays is more than the Giants' captain; he is almost a god to his teammates, and the front office makes few moves without consulting him. If he ever wants to add another honor, as the major leagues' first Negro manager, it's a good bet that the job would be his.

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