Willie Mays, whose unmatched assortment of expertise made him the best heart fielder who ever lived, died Tuesday afternoon within the Bay Space. He was 93.
“My father has handed away peacefully and amongst family members,” Michael Mays mentioned in a press release launched by the San Francisco Giants. “I wish to thanks all from the underside of my damaged coronary heart for the unwavering love you’ve gotten proven him through the years. You may have been his life’s blood.”
The “Say Hey Child” left an indelible mark on the game, together with his title a continuing all through baseball’s hallowed document guide and his defensive prowess — epitomized by “The Catch” in Recreation 1 of the 1954 World Collection — second to none.
All informed, in a profession that spanned 20-plus years (1951-73) — most of them together with his beloved Giants — he made 24 All-Star groups, gained two Nationwide League MVP awards and had 12 Gold Gloves. He ranks sixth all time in residence runs (660), seventh in runs scored (2,068), twelfth in RBIs (1,909) and thirteenth in hits (3,293).
“At the moment now we have misplaced a real legend,” Giants chairman Greg Johnson mentioned in a press release. “Within the pantheon of baseball greats, Willie Mays’ mixture of great expertise, eager mind, showmanship, and boundless pleasure set him aside. A 24-time All-Star, the Say Hey Child is the final word Ceaselessly Large.
“He had a profound affect not solely on the sport of baseball, however on the material of America. He was an inspiration and a hero who can be ceaselessly remembered and deeply missed.”
Fellow Giants legend Barry Bonds, who’s Mays’ godson and sits simply 5 spots above him on the all-time residence run leaderboard, mentioned Mays “helped form me to be who I’m at this time” in a message shared on social media.
Mays’ dying comes two days earlier than the Giants are set to play the St. Louis Cardinals at Rickwood Discipline in Birmingham, Alabama, in a recreation honoring Mays and the Negro Leagues as an entire. It was introduced Monday that Mays wouldn’t be capable of attend.
Mays, who was born on Could 6, 1931, and grew up in Alabama, started his skilled profession at age 17 in 1948 with the Birmingham Black Barons, serving to the staff to the Negro League World Collection that season.
MLB has been working with town of Birmingham and Buddies of Rickwood nonprofit group to renovate the ten,800-seat ballpark, which at 114 years outdated is the oldest skilled ballpark in the US.
“Thursday’s recreation at historic Rickwood Discipline was designed to be a celebration of Willie Mays and his friends,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred mentioned in a press release. “With unhappiness in our hearts, it’ll now additionally function a nationwide remembrance of an American who will ceaselessly stay on the brief listing of essentially the most impactful people our nice recreation has ever identified.”
The Giants had been taking part in the Cubs in Chicago on Tuesday evening; the Wrigley Discipline crowd of 36,292 stood in a salute to Mays throughout a second of silence when his dying was introduced on the left-field video board within the sixth inning.
Giants supervisor Bob Melvin mentioned he realized of Mays’ dying proper earlier than the beginning of the sport. Then most of his gamers grew to become conscious as soon as the competition began.
“It is heavy hearts for not solely the Bay Space and New York the place he began, however the baseball world,” Melvin mentioned. “This is without doubt one of the true icons of the sport.”
The 62-year-old Melvin, from Palo Alto, California, mentioned he grew up watching Mays play at Candlestick Park.
“I cherished baseball due to Willie Mays,” Melvin mentioned. “It meant that a lot.”
Melvin mentioned the Giants would’ve cherished if he might’ve watched the matchup Thursday at Rickwood Discipline.
“If attainable, it provides extra to going there,” he mentioned.
Giants starter Logan Webb mentioned he came upon about Mays’ dying in the course of the Cubs’ announcement, as he was taking the mound to pitch the sixth inning.
“It was laborious at first. I took my hat off and I used to be wanting on the scoreboard and simply desirous about him,” Webb mentioned. “I sort of appeared on the umpire and I used to be like, ‘I believe you must cease the clock.’ I wanted to take a second to consider it and be prideful for the jersey I used to be sporting, the hat I used to be sporting, understanding Willie did the identical.”
Webb mentioned the staff will play Thursday’s recreation in Mays’ honor. Proper fielder Mike Yastrzemski additionally mirrored on his interactions with Mays, recalling how the Corridor of Famer insisted he needs to be taking part in heart subject when he was first known as up.
“He mentioned he could not see a lot of the sport however he might see that,” Yastrzemski mentioned. “It was fairly cool.”
Mays excelled in baseball, soccer and basketball as a excessive schooler. However his love of baseball trumped all sports activities. Since he was nonetheless at school whereas taking part in for the Black Barons, he performed with the membership solely on the weekends; he traveled with Birmingham when college was out.
The New York Giants caught wind of Mays and bought his contract from Birmingham in 1950. Mays had no bother acclimating, batting .353 in 81 video games with Trenton that season. In 1951, Mays broke out with the Triple-A Minneapolis Millers; he batted .477 in 35 video games earlier than the Giants recalled him in Could.
There’ll by no means be one other fairly like Willie Mays 🧡 pic.twitter.com/I95JW1buJF
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) June 19, 2024
At age 20, Mays was the tenth Black participant in main league historical past. After going hitless in his first three video games, Mays’ first profession hit with the Giants was a house run off Corridor of Famer Warren Spahn within the first inning of the Giants’ 4-1 loss to the Braves on Could 28, 1951. Mays was additionally on deck when the Giants’ Bobby Thomson hit his NL-pennant-winning residence run in opposition to the Dodgers on Oct. 3, 1951, famously often known as “The Shot Heard ‘Around the World.”
The Korean Battle interrupted Mays’ profession in 1952. He performed in 34 video games for the Giants (batting .236) earlier than he was drafted by the U.S. Military. Mays was assigned to Fort Eustis in Virginia, and he stored his expertise sharp by taking part in video games recurrently. Mays additionally missed the complete 1953 season due to navy service; he didn’t return to the Giants till the spring of 1954.
However the layoff from skilled baseball didn’t have an effect on him. Mays gained the primary of his two profession NL MVP awards that season, main the league in batting at .345 and hitting 41 residence runs to go together with 110 RBIs. Mays gained his different NL MVP in 1965.
“I fell in love with baseball due to Willie, plain and easy,” Giants president and chief government officer Larry Baer mentioned. “My childhood was outlined by going to Candlestick with my dad, watching Willie patrol heart subject with grace and the final word athleticism. Over the previous 30 years, working with Willie, and seeing firsthand his zest for all times and unbridled ardour for giving to younger gamers and children, has been one of many joys of my life.”
Throughout Recreation 1 of the 1954 World Collection in opposition to Cleveland on the Polo Grounds, Mays made one of the crucial well-known performs in baseball historical past. With the rating tied at 2 and two runners on base, Cleveland’s Vic Wertz hit a 2-1 pitch to deep heart within the high of the eighth inning. Mays sprinted towards the wall together with his again away from Wertz. He made a basket catch whereas on the run, pivoted and fired the ball into the infield. Mays’ catch and fast relay throw prevented each runners from scoring; the Giants gained the sport 5-2 in 10 innings.
At the moment, the play is solely often known as “The Catch.”
“It wasn’t no fortunate catch,” Mays famous years later.
On Could 11, 1972, Mays was traded from the Giants to the New York Mets for pitcher Charlie Williams and $50,000. After the 1973 season — when Mays helped the Mets win the NL pennant — Mays retired. In 1979, he was elected to the Baseball Corridor of Fame.
In a press release from the MLB Gamers Affiliation, government director Tony Clark mentioned Mays “performed the sport with an earnestness, a pleasure and a perpetual smile that resonated with followers in every single place.”
“He can be remembered for his integrity, his dedication to excellence and a stage of greatness that spanned generations,” Clark mentioned.
In his 22-year profession, Mays led the NL in residence runs 4 instances, and when he retired, his 660 residence runs ranked third in large league historical past; he now ranks sixth behind Bonds, Hank Aaron, Ruth, Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols. He additionally completed his profession with 3,283 hits (twelfth all time) and 1,903 RBIs (twelfth all time).
“His unimaginable achievements and statistics don’t start to explain the awe that got here with watching Willie Mays dominate the sport in each manner conceivable,” Manfred mentioned in his assertion. “We are going to always remember this true Large on and off the sphere. On behalf of Main League Baseball, I lengthen my deepest condolences to Willie’s household, his associates throughout our recreation, Giants followers in every single place, and his numerous admirers internationally.”
Excluding 1951, when he wore No. 14, Mays wore No. 24 his whole profession. Mays’ legacy nonetheless resonates in San Francisco. The Giants’ ballpark is situated at 24 Willie Mays Plaza, full with a statue of Mays. The town of San Francisco additionally celebrates each Could 24 as Willie Mays Day.
ESPN’s Jesse Rogers and The Related Press contributed to this report.