Willie Mays's 3,000th Hit

On July 18, 1970, Willie Mays singled twice in three at-bats against the Montreal Expos, drove in a run, and San Francisco won 10–1. The first single was hit number 3,000.

Mays was thirty-nine, and it had been nineteen years since his rookie season with the New York Giants in 1951. He had two Most Valuable Player awards, twelve Gold Gloves in center field, and twenty All-Star seasons behind him, and he had crossed 600 home runs the previous season.

His 1948 season with the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League sits outside the 3,283 hits credited to him in the National League, though Major League Baseball's later recognition of the Negro Leagues added those to his record. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1979.