Saturday BP: 661

Hello and happy Saturday.

The number 660 has lived in baseball lore for decades, ever since San Francisco Giants legend and arguable greatest player of all time Willie Mays retired in 1973. Even though it wasn’t the career home run record, 660 was always a baseball number.

It’s such a clean number, and one associated with a man who had no equal on the field. It stuck.

And now, with Mays’ 90th birthday approaching, that number might tick up to 661.

In case you missed the news, MLB recently announced that many of the Negro Leagues will finally be granted Major League status. Which means a few players are going to have their stats changed.

Not all the box scores exist for those games, so not all of the stats can be adjusted. But one Mays home run from 1948 — three years before he joined MLB — has been found.

Nothing is finalized yet, as a lot of bookkeeping needs to happen.

But it looks like Willie Mays just might end his career being credited with 661 home runs.

Old, random MCC article for you to read

The Only Robb Nen Baseball Card You Need (Very Much Approved by Robb Nen) (Fanpost: Jan. 18, 2018 — emergencydonut)

Giants links

• Grant Brisbee on how the Giants could dominate the offseason if they return to their recent spending habits (The Athletic, subscription required)
• Bruce Jenkins on his colleague, outgoing Giants beat reporter Hank Schulman (SF Chronicle)
• Jay Jaffe looks at Barry Bonds’ Hall of Fame case (Fangraphs)
• Alex Pavlovic on how Farhan Zaidi sees untapped potential in Chadwick Tromp (NBC Sports Bay Area)
• Joe Posnanski is counting down the best players not in the Hall of Fame: No. 25 is a pair of Giants managers: Dusty Baker and Felipe Alou (The Athletic, subscription required)
• Mark W. Sanchez on the Giants Nos. 7, 8, and 9 pitchers (KNBR)
• Alex Pavlovic on how the Diamondbacks manager detailed the frustrating 2020 season for Madison Bumgarner (NBC Sports Bay Area)
• Jessica Kleinschmidt on how Gabe Kapler and the Giants easily talked Jason Vosler into joining the team (NBC Sports Bay Area)

How many days until Opening Day?

There are 103 days until Opening Day.

Have a great Saturday and weekend, friends.