Willie MaysOne of the greatest baseball players to ever step onto a baseball diamond has died at age 93, Major League Baseball announced Tuesday night.
Mays lived in a nursing home in the Palo Alto, Calif., area, according to the Giants.
“The Say Hey Kid” was a 24x MLB All-Star, 12x Gold Glove winner, Rookie of the Year and 2x NL MVP who patrolled the massive center field at the Polo Grounds for the New York Giants before the team moved to San Francisco in the late 50s.
Mays was in the Giants organization from 1951-1952 and 1954-1974 (served in the US Army and missed almost two seasons)… before joining the NY Mets to finish his career.
Willie retired at the end of the 1973 season… finishing with 660 home runs, 3,293 hits and a .302 batting average.
Mays was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1979 (his first time on the ballot) with nearly 95% of the vote. The Giants and Mets have retired his number 24 jersey.
“We are heartbroken to learn of the passing of Hall of Famer Willie Mays, one of the most exciting players in the history of our sport. Mays is a two-time MVP, 24-time All-Star, 12-time Gold Glove Award Winner and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom,” Major League Baseball wrote on X.
“In commemoration of ‘The Catch’ as perhaps the most famous play in Fall Classic history, the World Series MVP Award was named in his honor in 2017. Mays was 93.”
Of course, “The Catch” – from the first game of the 1954 World Series – is one of the most famous plays in American sports history… and it perfectly summed up Mays as a player. There was nothing he couldn’t do. He was the definition of a 5-tool player.
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Long after his unparalleled playing career, Mays, Barry Bonds‘godfather, served as one of the game of baseball’s most prominent ambassadors.
Perhaps the SF Giants said it best, writing… “There will never be another like Willie Mays.”
Rest in peace, Willie.