Willie Mays, San Francisco Giants legend and MLB all-time great, is dead

Willie Mays, San Francisco Giants legend and MLB all-time great, is dead

By John Shea,
National Baseball Writer
June 18, 2024

Willie Mays, the iconic and endearing “Say Hey Kid” who charmed countless fans with his brilliant athleticism and graceful style and was widely considered baseball’s greatest and most entertaining player, died Tuesday of heart failure. He was 93.

“My father has passed away peacefully and among loved ones,” Mays son, Michael Mays, said. “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.”

Mays, who was synonymous with baseball, the Giants and San Francisco, where his 9-foot bronze statue has greeted fans for more than two decades in front of Oracle Park at 24 Willie Mays Plaza, was looking forward to Major League Baseball’s tribute to the Negro Leagues Thursday at Birmingham’s Rickwood Field, where Mays starred as a teenager with the Birmingham Black Barons.

“Today we have lost a true legend," Giants chairman Greg Johnson said. “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.”

http://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/giants/article/willie-mays-dead-obituary-17815215.php