This story was excerpted from Maria Guardado’s Giants Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

SAN FRANCISCO -- During a recent interview in Houston, Giants manager Gabe Kapler was asked who would be on his Mount Rushmore of outfielders. Kapler could only name two that he felt “100 percent sure on”: Mike Trout and Willie Mays.

“Willie Mays is probably my No. 1,” Kapler said. “There’s a lot of other great options to fill that ballot out, but Willie is maybe the greatest player that ever lived.”

Mays’ legacy will be front of mind on Saturday, when baseball’s oldest living Hall of Famer celebrates his 92nd birthday. The Say Hey Kid doesn’t come out to the ballpark as often as he used to due to his limited mobility, but he remains a constant presence around Oracle Park.

The Giants paid homage to Mays by erecting a statue in front of the stadium, which is located at 24 Willie Mays Plaza and features 24 palm trees, as well as a 24-foot wall out in right field.

Kapler met Mays shortly after he was hired as the Giants’ manager in November 2019 and said he’s glad he still has video from their first interaction. While Mays’ legendary stats -- 660 home runs, 24 All-Star Game appearances, 12 Gold Gloves, two National League MVP Awards -- can make him seem almost larger than life, Kapler said he found the Giants icon to be relatively easy to talk to.

“It makes it feel like you’re closer to all of that performance and all of the stories that you hear in the books that you read as a kid and the baseball cards that you look at,” Kapler said. “Just having his presence makes you feel closer to a different era of baseball, and obviously, to a legend’s performance.

“It’s hard not to be intimidated by his career and his life and his legacy. But I did find him to be very approachable.”

The Giants will honor Mays on Saturday by hosting the incoming class and the first graduating class of Willie Mays Scholars, a program that creates more educational opportunities for Black youth in San Francisco. Each Willie Mays Scholar receives approximately $70,000 worth of academic, mentoring and financial support, including a $20,000 college scholarship.