The Giants announced that Willie Mays, who...

The Giants announced that Willie Mays, who played for the team in New York and San Francisco for 20 years before being traded to the New York Mets in 1972, will rejoin the Giants as a full-time special assistant to General Manager Al Rosen.

Mays was ordered by former Commissioner Bowie Kuhn to sever all connections with baseball in 1979 because of his job with an Atlantic City, N.J., hotel casino. Mays and former New York Yankee Mickey Mantle, who also worked in a public relations job for another casino, were returned to baseball’s good graces a year ago by Commissioner Peter Ueberroth.

Mays, 54, will be with the Giants at their Scottsdale, Ariz., training camp this spring wearing his familiar No. 24. He will serve the Giants in a similar capacity as he did the Mets after he retired as a player following the 1973 season.

Mays, a Hall of Fame member, will not travel with the Giants but will be with them during spring training and work with their farm clubs. He also will continue his public relations work with Bally Enterprises.