Five-tool center fielder whose Catch and joy defined baseball excellence for decades.
660
Home runs
Career
2
MVP
Widely cited
1
World Series
1954 Giants
1979
Hall of Fame
Cooperstown
San Francisco Giants
1951 to 1973
Biography
Willie Howard Mays Jr. starred for the New York and San Francisco Giants and closed with the Mets. A Hall of Famer (1979) and two-time MVP, he is widely placed among the greatest players ever.
Born1931-05-06, Westfield, Alabama
Died2024-06-18
NationalityUnited States
PositionCenter Fielder
Height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight180 lb (82 kg)
Career statistics
MLB career
Home runs660
World Series titles1
HOF class1979
Gold Gloves12widely cited
Career timeline
1951
Giants debut
Begins a New York legend.
1954
The Catch
World Series masterpiece in center field.
1979
Hall of Fame
Enshrined in Cooperstown.
2024
Passed away
Died June 18, 2024.
Achievements and awards
National Baseball Hall of Fame (1979)
World Series Champion (1954)
2x MVP (widely cited)
12x Gold Glove (widely cited)
Highlights
Video media. Opens on YouTube. Not a GameDNA ranking.
Mays made center field look like theater. The Say Hey spirit is still the sport's favorite compliment.
Images
Separate photo slider. Wikimedia Commons licenses shown on each slide.
1 / 4
Photo: Paul VanDerWerf from Brunswick, Maine, USA. License: CC BY 4.0. Source
Sources
Research record: .orchestrator/research/legends/willie-mays.md. Career totals are widely published league or Hall of Fame figures and should be read with competition and era labels. Image credits appear under the Images tab. Video links open third-party YouTube pages.
