Willie Mays dies: Tributes pour in for the baseball legend

Baseball legend Willie Mays died on Tuesday at the age of 93.

Baseball legend Willie Mays has died at the age of 93, the San Francisco Giants announced on Tuesday evening.

The “Say Hey Kid” and legendary center fielder is one of the best to ever play the game, starting his career with the Birmingham Black Barons in the Negro Leagues before making his MLB debut with the then-New York Giants in 1951.

Mays stayed with the Giants during their move to San Francisco and played for the organization from 1951 to 1972. He was a 24 MLB All-Star, earned 12 Gold Glove Awards and won a World Series with the Giants in 1954.

He played for the New York Mets during the last two years of his MLB career in 1972 and 1973.

Mays’ No. 24 jersey is retired by the Giants and Mets, and he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979. He made the MLB’s All-Century Team and its All-Time Team, cementing his status as an ironclad titan of baseball. In fact, the World Series’ MVP Award is named after Mays.

His death comes just two days before the Giants play the St. Louis Cardinals at the historic Rickwood Field in Birmingham, where Mays started his baseball career. Mays wasn’t slated to attend Thursday’s game. However, he issued a statement to explain his absence on Monday.

“I’m not able to get to Birmingham this year but will follow the game back here in the Bay Area. 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,” Mays shared in his statement. “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.”

League commissioner Rob Manfred honored Mays as one of the best to ever play the sport after news broke of his death.

“His incredible achievements and statistics do not begin to describe the awe that came with watching Willie Mays dominate the game in every way imaginable,” Manfred said in a statement. “We will never forget this true Giant on and off the field.”

Tributes immediately poured in for Mays, one of the unquestioned Mt. Rushmore figures in baseball history.

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