Willie Mays, a baseball giant, dies at 93

Willie Mays, the greatest Giant of all and one of the greatest baseball players ever, died Tuesday at the age of 93.

The thoughts of many around baseball were on Mays this week, with Thursday's MLB at Rickwood Field game in Birmingham, Ala., between the Giants and Cardinals set to be a celebration of Mays' career -- which began with the Birmingham Black Barons -- and of the Negro Leagues in general.

"All of Major League Baseball is in mourning today as we are gathered at the very ballpark where a career and a legacy like no other began," Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. "Willie Mays took his all-around brilliance from the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League to the historic Giants franchise. From coast to coast in New York and San Francisco, Willie inspired generations of players and fans as the game grew and truly earned its place as our National Pastime.

Willie Mays, 1931-2024:

• Willie Mays, a baseball giant, dies at 93
• Loss of Mays leaves Giants heartbroken in Chicago
• 'My heart is on the floor': Baseball world reacts to Mays' passing
• Rickwood Field game takes on new meaning: Mays will 'be watching over'
• Timeline of the Say Hey Kid's legendary career
• Griffey grateful for time spent with Mays, 'the godfather of center fielders'
• Cutch remembers Mays: 'He was a pioneer for the game'
• 24 amazing Willie Mays stats
• Willie Mays' best moments
• Mays always knew he'd make The Catch
• Willie Mays learned the game in the Negro Leagues
• Mays, Clemente in same outfield? It happened
• The thing that stopped Aaron-Mays OF? $50
• Mays' pure joy for baseball made him the GOAT
• The day Mays nearly sat out but hit 4 HRs instead
• Mays' last dance in NY came with '73 Mets

"My father has passed away peacefully and among loved ones," Michael Mays said in a statement released by the Giants. "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."

Few ballplayers matched the multifaceted brilliance of Mays, who ranks sixth all time with 660 home runs and won 12 Gold Glove Awards for his defense in center field -- which he helped turn into the game's most glamorous position in the 1950s, when he, Mickey Mantle and Duke Snider all played for New York clubs. Mays became the first player to exceed 300 homers and 300 stolen bases in 1969, reflecting his ideal blend of power and speed.

“Today we have lost a true legend,” Giants chairman Greg Johnson said in a statement. “In the pantheon of baseball greats, Willie Mays’ combination of tremendous talent, keen intellect, showmanship, and boundless joy set him apart. A 24-time All-Star, the Say Hey Kid is the ultimate Forever Giant. He had a profound influence not only on the game of baseball, but on the fabric of America. He was an inspiration and a hero who will be forever remembered and deeply missed.”

“I fell in love with baseball because of Willie, plain and simple,” Giants president and chief executive officer Larry Baer said. “My childhood was defined by going to Candlestick with my dad, watching Willie patrol centerfield with grace and the ultimate athleticism. Over the past 30 years, working with Willie, and seeing firsthand his zest for life and unbridled passion for giving to young players and kids, has been one of the joys of my life.”

At the time of his death, Mays was the oldest living Hall of Famer, inheriting that title on Jan. 7, 2021, when Tommy Lasorda passed away. Shortstop Luis Aparicio, 90, now holds that distinction.

As prodigious a hitter as Mays was -- he surpassed 50 home runs 10 years apart, in 1955 and 1965, hit four home runs in a game at Milwaukee on April 30, 1961, and batted .301 lifetime -- his signature moment might have been the over-the-shoulder catch he made in the 1954 World Series opener at New York's Polo Grounds, robbing Cleveland's Vic Wertz of a potential game-winning hit.

"He did so many remarkable things, it actually became routine," said former first baseman Willie McCovey, Mays' San Francisco teammate and fellow Hall of Famer. "We were so spoiled. He'd make plays that people would yell and talk about for months. We saw those plays every day, so it was no big deal. Hitting four home runs in one game probably was the least of the spectacular things he did."

Mays performed with a singular flair that made him one of the game's most popular stars. He used a basket catch to snare fly balls, holding his glove around waist level. He ran the bases with equal parts abandon and acumen, prompting the great Ty Cobb to declare that Mays restored the art of baserunning to the game. Displaying a refreshing enthusiasm early in his career, he frequently greeted people with a high-pitched "Hey," leading New York sportswriters to dub him "The Say Hey Kid." A generation of Little Leaguers and even professionals from coast to coast ached to wear No. 24, hopeful of emulating the great Mays.

"I'm not sure I know just what the hell charisma is, but I get the feeling it's Willie Mays," Cincinnati Reds first baseman Ted Kluszewski said.

Many wondered whether Mays, the first player to hit 20 or more home runs for 17 consecutive seasons (1954-70), could have broken Babe Ruth's all-time home run mark of 714 before Henry Aaron (755) or Barry Bonds (762) topped it. Mays played 886 of his 2,992 career games at San Francisco's Candlestick Park, where gusts frequently impeded long drives to left field.

"I only wish that we could have seen him play in a ballpark that was more conducive to his hitting," said Hall of Famer Joe Torre, a New York native who played against Mays. "He played in two very tough ballparks, both Candlestick and the Polo Grounds, that were very, very difficult because he was a gap [hitter] and both those ballparks were very difficult in the gaps."

But the right-handed-hitting Mays refused to use it as an excuse and simply adjusted. "I had two different types of swings. One was, I pulled the ball on the road, and in San Francisco I hit more to right-center," he said in a 1999 interview. "You can't hit a home run off a ballpark. You hit it off a pitcher. Of course I lost a lot of home runs [at Candlestick], but I couldn't worry about that ... Winning was more important than hitting a home run to me."

Mays still holds lifetime Major League records for putouts by an outfielder (7,095), homers by a center fielder (640) and homers in extra innings (22) -- most notably a 16th-inning drive that ended a classic scoreless standoff between Warren Spahn and Juan Marichal on July 2, 1963, in San Francisco.

Thriving in All-Star Games enhanced Mays' image as the consummate ballplayer. He holds or shares All-Star records for appearances (24), at-bats (75), runs (20), hits (23), triples (three), extra-base hits (eight) and total bases (40). His feats moved Ted Williams, another of the game's greats, to proclaim, "They invented the All-Star Game for Willie Mays." Mays received another All-Star tribute when he was honored before the 2007 Midsummer Classic at San Francisco's AT&T Park.

Mays' 1979 Hall of Fame enshrinement was a mere formality. He received 409 of 432 votes cast -- 94.7 percent, one of the highest ever to that point. In a news conference held shortly after his election to Cooperstown, Mays was asked to name the greatest player he ever saw. Posed with this question on other occasions, Mays often responded by citing Joe DiMaggio. This time, without insouciance or braggadocio, he replied, "I thought I was."

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