Willie Mays Passes Away Aged 93, Tributes Pour In For MLB & Negro League Icon
Legendary Corridor of Famer, and Negro League icon Willie Mays, has handed away on the age of 93.
The baseball icon beloved by followers, thought-about one of many sports activities’ best gamers and the primary African American staff captain in MLB historical past, died peacefully on Tuesday afternoon (June 18).
“My father has handed away peacefully and amongst family members,” his son Michael Mays mentioned, per San Francisco Chronicle. “I need to thanks all from the underside of my damaged coronary heart for the unwavering love you may have proven him through the years. You may have been his life’s blood.”
The MLB mourned his passing with a tribute submit to the “24-time All-Star, 12-time Gold Glover, 2-time MVP, World Collection champion, Corridor of Famer.”
24-time All-Star, 12-time Gold Glover, 2-time MVP, World Collection champion, Corridor of Famer.
MLB Community mourns the passing of certainly one of our recreation’s most iconic figures, Willie Mays. pic.twitter.com/gQLCnbm2lN
— MLB Community (@MLBNetwork) June 19, 2024
The legendary slugger, nicknamed “The Say Hey Child,” for the keenness with which he greeted teammates, started his profession within the Negro Leagues. He performed with the Black Barons, serving to them attain the ultimate Negro Leagues World Collection in 1948.
“We known as [Satchel Paige] previous, that was the most important mistake we made.”
Negro League veteran Ferdinand Rutledge shares Rickwood Subject tales – together with dealing with Paige – as him and @roywoodjr watch the @BiscuitBaseball tackle the @BhamBarons on the historic park.
📺 MLB Community pic.twitter.com/uIm4aNkidW
— MLB Community (@MLBNetwork) June 18, 2024
Mays skilled a tradition shock after becoming a member of the Giants three years after Jackie Robinson broke the sports activities’ colour barrier. The pioneer spent 21 years with the Giants and is perpetually immortalized in a 9-foot-tall bronze statue in entrance of San Francisco’s Oracle Park at 24 Willie Mays Plaza.
The Giants Mourn Willie Mays
“At this time we’ve got misplaced a real legend,” Giants chairman Greg Johnson mentioned. “Within the pantheon of baseball greats, Willie Mays’ mixture of super expertise, eager mind, showmanship, and boundless pleasure set him aside. A 24-time All-Star, the Say Hey Child is the final word Eternally 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 might be perpetually remembered and deeply missed.”
Mays was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2015. “It’s due to giants like Willie that somebody like me may even take into consideration operating for president,” Obama mentioned on the ceremony.
Following his passing, Obama and others paid tribute to the pioneer.
Willie Mays wasn’t only a singular athlete, blessed with an unmatched mixture of grace, talent and energy. He was additionally a splendidly heat and beneficiant individual – and an inspiration to a whole technology. I’m fortunate to have frolicked with him through the years, and Michelle and I… pic.twitter.com/tpO3O9B9yc
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) June 19, 2024
Charles Barkley displays on the loss of life of Willie Mays: “We do not know what these guys have been by way of…To attempt to be nice at a sport, after which take care of all of the racial strife that these guys needed to take care of, that is what makes them heroes.” pic.twitter.com/IRBublMaJG
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) June 19, 2024
It’s with nice disappointment that we announce that San Francisco Giants Legend and Corridor of Famer Willie Mays handed away peacefully this afternoon on the age of 93. pic.twitter.com/Qk4NySCFZQ
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) June 19, 2024
