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One of the greatest and most influential baseball players ever has passed away. Willie Mays passed away at the age of 93 on Tuesday afternoon. Last week, the basketball world lost one of its greatest players in Jerry West. “My father has passed away peacefully and among loved ones,” Michael Mays said in a statement released by the San Francisco 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.” The “Say Hey Kid” left an indelible mark on the sport, with his name a constant throughout baseball’s hallowed record book and his defensive prowess — epitomized by “The Catch” in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series — second to none.

 

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All told, in a career that spanned 20-plus years (1951-73) — most of them with his beloved Giants — he made 24 All-Star teams, won two National League MVP awards and had 12 Gold Gloves. He ranks sixth all time in home runs (660), seventh in runs scored (2,068), 12th in RBIs (1,909) and 13th in hits (3,293). Fellow Giants legend Barry Bonds, who is Mays’ godson and sits just five spots above him on the all-time home run leaderboard, said Mays “helped shape me to be who I am today” in a message shared on social media. Mays’ death comes two days before the Giants are set to play the St. Louis Cardinals at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, in a game honoring Mays and the Negro Leagues as a whole. It was announced Monday that Mays would not be able to attend.

Mays, who was born on May 6, 1931, and grew up in Alabama, began his professional career at age 17 in 1948 with the Birmingham Black Barons, helping the team to the Negro League World Series that season. MLB has been working with the city of Birmingham and Friends of Rickwood nonprofit group to renovate the 10,800-seat ballpark, which at 114 years old is the oldest professional ballpark in the United States. “Thursday’s game at historic Rickwood Field was designed to be a celebration of Willie Mays and his peers,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “With sadness in our hearts, it will now also serve as a national remembrance of an American who will forever remain on the short list of the most impactful individuals our great game has ever known.”

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