Baseball Hall of Famer Willie Mays Named Keynote Speaker at Champion Honors Event

INDIAN WELLS, CA. — Baseball Hall of Famer, Willie Mays, has been named the keynote speaker at the annual Champion Honors Luncheon scheduled to be held on Jan. 14, 2015 at the Hyatt Regency Resort and Spa in Indian Wells. The proceeds of the luncheon will benefit the Barbara Sinatra Center for Abused Children. Source: The Desert Sun.

Photo shows Willie Mays speaking about his career in a 2013 interview with Bob Costas.

“I am extremely honored to have been invited to appear at the luncheon, and to help out Barbara,” the Say Hey Kid said in a statement. “Barbara was way ahead of her time on such a sensitive need.”

According to John E. Thoresen, director and executive officer of the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center, Mays will have a conversation with radio personality Marty Lurie, which will highlight the luncheon, although “there will be a couple surprises… It’s more than just a lunch, it’s really quite an entertaining event,” Thoresen said.

Last year, the luncheon featured a talk by Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig and in 2013, Dodgers announcer Vin Scully gave a speech and answered questions from the audience.

“We wanted to continue at least one more year on the baseball theme that was so successful last year with the commissioner, and with a new commissioner coming on, Bud Selig wanted to play a little bit of a part,” Thoresen said. “I know he’s going to do a historical-perspective introduction video of (Mays’) career before Mays speaks.”

Watch Willie Mays speaking with Bob Costas about his career in a 2013 interview

Willie Mays, nicknamed The Say Hey Kid, spent the majority of his major league career with the New York and San Francisco Giants before finishing with the New York Mets. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979 in his first year of eligibility.

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