Willie MaysOne of the greatest baseball players to ever set foot on a baseball diamond has died at the age of 93, Major League Baseball announced Tuesday night.
Mays had been living in an assisted living facility in the Palo Alto, California, area, according to the Giants.
“The Say Hey Kid” was a 24-time MLB All-Star, 12-time Gold Glove winner, Rookie of the Year and 2-time National League MVP, who patrolled the huge center field of the Polo Grounds for the New York Giants before the team moved to San Francisco at the end of the year. -50 years.
Mays was with the Giants organization from 1951-1952 and 1954-1974 (he served in the US Army and missed most of two seasons)… before joining the New York Mets to end 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 No. 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 was a two-time MVP, 24-time All-Star, 12-time Gold Glove Winner and winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom,” Major League Baseball wrote in X.
“Commemorating ‘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 years old.”
Of course, “The Catch” (from Game 1 of the 1954 World Series) is one of the most famous plays in American sports history… and it perfectly sums 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, was one of baseball’s most prominent ambassadors.
Perhaps the SF Giants put it best when they wrote… “There will never be another like Willie Mays.”
Rest in peace, Willie.