FILE – New York Giants’ Willie Mays poses for a photo during baseball spring training in 1972. Mays, the electrifying “Say Hey Kid” whose singular combination of talent, drive and exuberance made him one of baseball’s greatest and most beloved players, has died. He was 93. Mays’ family and the San Francisco Giants jointly announced Tuesday night, June 18, 2024, he had “passed away peacefully” Tuesday afternoon surrounded by loved ones. (AP Photo, File)Read More
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FILE – Baseball great Willie Mays smiles prior to a game between the New York Mets and the San Francisco Giants in San Francisco, Aug. 19, 2016. Mays, the electrifying “Say Hey Kid” whose singular combination of talent, drive and exuberance made him one of baseball’s greatest and most beloved players, has died. He was 93. Mays’ family and the San Francisco Giants jointly announced Tuesday night, June 18, 2024, he had “passed away peacefully” Tuesday afternoon surrounded by loved ones. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)Read More
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FILE – New York Giants center fielder Willie Mays leaps high to snare a ball near the outfield fence at the Giants’ Phoenix spring training base, Feb. 29, 1956. Mays, the electrifying “Say Hey Kid” whose singular combination of talent, drive and exuberance made him one of baseball’s greatest and most beloved players, has died. He was 93. Mays’ family and the San Francisco Giants jointly announced Tuesday night, June 18, 2024, he had “passed away peacefully” Tuesday afternoon surrounded by loved ones. (AP Photo, File)Read More
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FILE – San Francisco Giants center fielder Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants is shown in 1966. Mays, the electrifying “Say Hey Kid” whose singular combination of talent, drive and exuberance made him one of baseball’s greatest and most beloved players, has died. He was 93. Mays’ family and the San Francisco Giants jointly announced Tuesday night, June 18, 2024, he had “passed away peacefully” Tuesday afternoon surrounded by loved ones. (AP Photo, File)Read More
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FILE – New York Giants center fielder Willie Mays signs autographs at an exhibition baseball game in Oakland, Calif., in March 1952. Mays, the electrifying “Say Hey Kid” whose singular combination of talent, drive and exuberance made him one of baseball’s greatest and most beloved players, has died. He was 93. Mays’ family and the San Francisco Giants jointly announced Tuesday night, June 18, 2024, he had “passed away peacefully” Tuesday afternoon surrounded by loved ones. (AP Photo/File)Read More
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FILE – San Francisco Giants outfielder Willie Mays displays the four baseballs in the clubhouse representing the four homers which he hit against the Milwaukee Braves, April 30, 1961, in Milwaukee. Mays, the electrifying “Say Hey Kid” whose singular combination of talent, drive and exuberance made him one of baseball’s greatest and most beloved players, has died. He was 93. Mays’ family and the San Francisco Giants jointly announced Tuesday night, June 18, 2024, he had “passed away peacefully” Tuesday afternoon surrounded by loved ones. (AP Photo, File)Read More
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FILE – New York Giants outfielder Willie Mays poses at the Polo Grounds in New York, June 9, 1951. Mays, the electrifying “Say Hey Kid” whose singular combination of talent, drive and exuberance made him one of baseball’s greatest and most beloved players, has died. He was 93. Mays’ family and the San Francisco Giants jointly announced Tuesday night, June 18, 2024, he had “passed away peacefully” Tuesday afternoon surrounded by loved ones. (AP Photo)Read More
Willie Mays, the electrifying “Say Hey Kid” whose exceptional combination of talent, drive, and exuberance made him one of baseball’s greatest and most beloved players, has passed away at the age of 93. Mays’ family and the San Francisco Giants jointly announced on Tuesday night that he had died earlier in the afternoon.
“My father has passed away peacefully and surrounded by loved ones,” said his son Michael Mays in a statement released by the club. “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.”
As baseball’s oldest living Hall of Famer, the center fielder was known for his signature basket catch and his swift dashes around the bases with his cap flying off, which personified the joy of the game. His over-the-shoulder catch of a long drive in the 1954 World Series remains baseball’s most celebrated defensive feat.