San Francisco Giants have announced the death of Willie Mays at age 93.
In a statement on X on Tuesday, the Giants said: ‘It is with great sadness that we announce that San Francisco Giants Legend and Hall of Famer Willie Mays passed away peacefully this afternoon at the age of 93. There will never be another Willie Mays.’
A cause of death was not given. One of the greatest to ever play the game, Mays hit 660 home runs, scored 2,068 runs and notched 3,293 hits while winning one World Series with the Giants (1954). He was a 24-time All-Star and earned National League MVP titles in 1954 and 1965.
The center fielder was baseball’s oldest living Hall of Famer. His signature basket catch and his dashes around the bases with his cap flying off personified the joy of the game. His lightning sprint and over-the-shoulder grab of an apparent extra base hit in the 1954 World Series remains the most celebrated defensive play in baseball history.
Mays had said in a statement just on Monday that he was not going to attend Thursday’s game between the Giants and St. Louis Cardinals that will honor him and the Negro Leagues at Rickwood Field, Alabama.
Willi Mays, one of baseball’s all-time greats, has passed away at the age of 93
The San Francisco Giants legend is considered by many as the best baseball player ever
Mays will be remembered for ‘The Catch’ in the 1954 World Series, which the Giants won –
It is with great sadness that we announce that San Francisco Giants Legend and Hall of Famer Willie Mays passed away peacefully this afternoon at the age of 93. pic.twitter.com/Qk4NySCFZQ
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) June 19, 2024
Mays played 21 seasons with the Giants and rounded out his legendary career with the New York Mets in 1972 and 1973. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1979, his first year of eligibility.
The former Giants great started his career with the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues, who he started playing for at age 16, before joining the Giants in 1951 in an iconic Major League career that lasted more than two decades.
‘I’m not able to get to Birmingham this year but will follow the game back here in the Bay Area,’ Mays said in the statement. ‘My heart will be with all of you who are honoring the Negro League ballplayers, who should always be remembered, including all my teammates on the Black Barons.
‘I wanted to thank Major League Baseball, the Giants, the Cardinals and all the fans who’ll be at Rickwood or watching the game. It’ll be a special day, and I hope the kids will enjoy it and be inspired by it.’
The game will now inevitable take on an even more significant meaning with the news of his death.
Michael Mays, Willie’s son, said: ‘My father passed away peacefully and among loved ones. I want to thank you all from the bottom of my broken heart for the unwavering love you have shown him over the years. You have been his life’s blood.’
The announcement of his death came while his Giants team were playing the Cubs in Chicago. The Cubs announced the news to the fans in attendance at Wrigley Field and hosted a moment of silence.
Mays was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama in 2015
Mays played 21 seasons with the Giants and rounded out his legendary career with the Mets
To many, Mays is considered the best player to ever play baseball. In 2020, he was ranked the greatest by The Athletic, while The Sporting News ranked him second to Babe Ruth.
‘I can’t believe that Babe Ruth was a better player than Willie Mays,’ all-time pitching great Sandy Koufax once said. ‘Ruth is to baseball what Arnold Palmer is to golf.
‘He got the game moving. But I can’t believe he could run as well as Mays, and I can’t believe he was any better an outfielder.’
In 2015, Mays was honored by President Obama with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
‘When I played ball, I tried to make sure everybody enjoyed what I was doing,’ Mays told NPR in 2010. ‘I made the clubhouse guy fit me a cap that when I ran, the wind gets up in the bottom and it flies right off. People love that kind of stuff.’
Sports writer Barney Kremenko has often been credited with nicknaming him ‘The Say Hey Kid,’ referring to Mays´ spirited way of greeting his teammate.
Mays missed most of the 1952 season and all of 1953 while serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, spending much of his service time playing for the Army baseball team.
He returned to the Giants in 1954 and won the first of his two Most Valuable Player awards as he paced the Giants to a four-game World Series sweep of the Cleveland Indians. In the first game of that series, Mays pulled off The Catch, which remains one of the most memorable plays in baseball history.
Mays was nicknamed ‘The Say Hey Kid’ due to his upbeat manner and positive spirit
After 23 years with the San Francisco Giants, Mays ended his career at the New York Mets
At New York’s Polo Grounds, the Indians’ Vic Wertz hit a shot to deep centerfield. Mays turned, sprinted toward the wall, made a graceful over-the-shoulder catch and then immediately whirled around and made a perfect throw that kept two Cleveland baserunners from advancing.
‘I was a guy, when I first came up, I believed I could catch any ball that stayed in the ballpark,’ Mays told an interviewer years later. ‘I guess I was kind of a cocky kid, knowing that if the ball went up, I could catch it.’
Mays’ godson was Barry Bonds, who wrote on Instagram Tuesday night: ‘I am beyond devastated and overcome with emotion. I have no words to describe what you mean to me – you helped shape me to be who I am today.
‘Thank you for being my Godfather and always being there. Give my dad a hug for me. Rest in peace Willie, I love you forever.’
