The decorated 3,000 hits club currently has 29 members of its MLB fraternity with Ichiro Suzuki knocking on the door to become player No. 30.
At 39 years old, Willie Mays stepped into the batter's box 46 years ago in a stadium that ceases to exist today against a team that isn't even around anymore. At the time, the same heralded club only had single digit members. Facing Mike Wegener of the Montreal Expos, Mays smacked a ball in between the third baseman and shortstop for a single to left field on an 0-2 count, marking hit 3,000th career hit on July 18, 1970 at Candlestick Park.
With his milestone, Mays, as the 10th player in the 3,000 hits club, became the first Giant to do so and still remains the only to accomplish the feat.
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SIGN UP HERE One batter later, Giants Hall of Fame first baseman Willie McCovey doubled Mays in to extend the Giants' lead as they went on to beat the Expos, 10-1.
Mays finished off his 22-year career with 3,283 hits. Between the New York Giants and the franchise's move to San Francisco, Mays recorded 3,187 hits as a Giant.
The final 96 hits capped off his career with the New York Mets.
Mays sits in 10th place on the all-time career hits list, 973 behind the leader, Pete Rose.
