Long life for one of baseball's all-time greats.
Never was able to see him play, but loved reading his biography as a youngster and collecting his baseball cards. Still have a very wrinkled poster of him, as well.
He will always be remembered!
Many thought Mays would break Babe Ruth's 714 career home runs record, but he slowed down in his later years, ending at 660. Hank Aaron eventually did it.
Mays had glaucoma and was nearly blind at the end. A relative had that and cataracts and was legally blind. Everything becomes a blur. His heart gave out at 93, just like my relative at age 94.
I probably had a Willie Mays baseball card, before people found out they were worth money decades later. I had a lot of valuable ones, and don't know what became of them. I know I had his manager's card, Alvin Dark, who named him the first African American team baseball captain.
I knew his nickname was "The Say Hey Kid", but don't remember what it meant.
RIP Slugger.
shareI'll think of him every time I see a bottle of Oxy Clean. RIP Willie Mays
share660 HR lifetime
.301 career BA
3293 hits
156.52 WAR (Wins above replacement ~ avg MLB player = 0)
24x all star
2× MVP
Rookie of the Year
Hall of Fame
His WAR is #3 all time for an outfielder behind only Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds
His famous over the shoulder catch in center field during the world series is estimated to be some 421 feet from home plate.
https://youtu.be/7bLt2xKaNH0?si=AORrsJ2iTr-cFp9p
RIP
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