Willie Mays dead at 93: San Francisco Giants announce death of one of baseball's all-time greats

San Francisco Giants have announced the death of Willie Mays at age 93. 

In a statement on X on Tuesday, the Giants said: 'It is with great sadness that we announce that San Francisco Giants Legend and Hall of Famer Willie Mays passed away peacefully this afternoon at the age of 93. There will never be another Willie Mays.' 

A cause of death was not given. One of the greatest to ever play the game, Mays hit 660 home runs, scored 2,068 runs and notched 3,293 hits while winning one World Series with the Giants (1954). He was a 24-time All-Star and earned National League MVP titles in 1954 and 1965. 

The center fielder was baseball's oldest living Hall of Famer. His signature basket catch and his dashes around the bases with his cap flying off personified the joy of the game. His lightning sprint and over-the-shoulder grab of an apparent extra base hit in the 1954 World Series remains the most celebrated defensive play in baseball history.

Mays had said in a statement just on Monday that he was not going to attend Thursday's game between the Giants and St. Louis Cardinals that will honor him and the Negro Leagues at Rickwood Field, Alabama.

Mays played 21 seasons with the Giants and rounded out his legendary career with the New York Mets in 1972 and 1973. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1979,  his first year of eligibility.

The former Giants great started his career with the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues, who he started playing for at age 16, before joining the Giants in 1951 in an iconic Major League career that lasted more than two decades.

'I'm not able to get to Birmingham this year but will follow the game back here in the Bay Area,' Mays said in the statement. 'My heart will be with all of you who are honoring the Negro League ballplayers, who should always be remembered, including all my teammates on the Black Barons.

'I wanted to thank Major League Baseball, the Giants, the Cardinals and all the fans who'll be at Rickwood or watching the game. It'll be a special day, and I hope the kids will enjoy it and be inspired by it.' 

The game will now inevitable take on an even more significant meaning with the news of his death. 

Michael Mays, Willie's son, said: 'My father passed away peacefully and among loved ones. 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 announcement of his death came while his Giants team were playing the Cubs in Chicago. The Cubs announced the news to the fans in attendance at Wrigley Field and hosted a moment of silence. 

To many, Mays is considered the best player to ever play baseball. In 2020, he was ranked the greatest by The Athletic, while The Sporting News ranked him second to Babe Ruth.

'I can't believe that Babe Ruth was a better player than Willie Mays,' all-time pitching great Sandy Koufax once said. 'Ruth is to baseball what Arnold Palmer is to golf. 

'He got the game moving. But I can't believe he could run as well as Mays, and I can't believe he was any better an outfielder.' 

In 2015, Mays was honored by President Obama with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. 

'When I played ball, I tried to make sure everybody enjoyed what I was doing,' Mays told NPR in 2010. 'I made the clubhouse guy fit me a cap that when I ran, the wind gets up in the bottom and it flies right off. People love that kind of stuff.'