And that he did. That was the voice of Willie Mays, who died Tuesday at 93. He was one of the greatest baseball players of all time.
During last night’s game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants at Rickwood Field, it was a special night of tributes.
“Please join us in a moment of silence as we remember the great Willie Mays.”
Willie “Say Hey Kid” Mays was one of the last living players of the Negro League that started in 1948 with the Birmingham Black Barons. The Titan, whose iconic basket catch in the 1954 World Series is etched in the annals of sports history, played 22 seasons, including stints with the San Francisco Giants, New York Mets, and Oakland Athletics.
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Willie Mays (24) of the San Francisco Giants connects for his 600th lifetime home run, Sept. 23, 1969, in San Diego, Calif. Willie Mays, the electrifying “Say Hey Kid” whose singular combination of talent, drive and exuberance made him one of baseball’s greatest and most beloved players, has died. He was 93. Mays’ family and the San Francisco Giants jointly announced Tuesday night, June 18, 2024, he had died earlier in the afternoon in the Bay Area. (AP Photo)Freckle-faced nine-year-old Terry Klindt of Lusk, Wyo., admiringly watches New York Giants’ Willie Mays tape a bat during a baseball spring training session in Phoenix, Ariz., Feb. 27, 1956. Willie Mays, the electrifying “Say Hey Kid” whose singular combination of talent, drive and exuberance made him one of baseball’s greatest and most beloved players, has died. He was 93. Mays’ family and the San Francisco Giants jointly announced Tuesday night, June 18, 2024, he had died earlier in the afternoon in the Bay Area.(AP Photo/Harold Filan, File)New York Giants center fielder Willie Mays leaps high to snare a ball near the outfield fence at the Giants’ Phoenix spring training base, Feb. 29, 1956. Mays, the electrifying “Say Hey Kid” whose singular combination of talent, drive and exuberance made him one of baseball’s greatest and most beloved players, has died. He was 93. Mays’ family and the San Francisco Giants jointly announced Tuesday night, June 18, 2024, he had “passed away peacefully” Tuesday afternoon surrounded by loved ones. (AP Photo, File)Members of the Chicago White Sox’s Youth Baseball League stand during a moment of silence for Willie Mays, who died Tuesday, before a baseball game between the White Sox and the Houston Astros on Wednesday, June 19, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
The Alabama native had 24 All-Star selections, a National League MVP award in 1965, and a World Series championship in 1954. He finished a career batting average of .302, 660 home runs, and in 1979 was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
