TIGER WOODS, WILLIE MAYS IN CALI HALL OF FAME: Athletes chosen for helping to shape the state.
(December 10, 2007)
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*Tiger Woods and Willie Mays were among the notables inducted Wednesday into the California Hall of Fame, which honors the leaders, inventors, sports figures and celebrities who have shaped California.

Woods said he was moved to be able to introduce Mays, who had been an idol of his late father.

"Jackie Robinson changed the face of baseball, but Willie Mays changed the way the game was played," Woods said Wednesday at the ceremony, held at the California Museum near the state Capitol, at the ceremony. "He was speed and power. Grace and strength. Guile and athleticism. Excitement and style and cool - all in one package."

Elizabeth Taylor and Rita Moreno were also inducted into the Hall, while Jackie Robinson and John Wayne were given posthumous entries. Robinson's widow, Rachel, accepted the award on the baseball pioneer's behalf.

The California Hall of Fame began last year with the induction of Ronald Reagan, Cesar Chavez, Walt Disney, Clint Eastwood, Billie Jean King and others.