me. Geoff: Finally tonight, we say goodbye to the "Say hey kid." Baseball great Willie mays died peacefully, surrounded by family, on Tuesday afternoon in the bay area, where he's forever remembered as a star of the San Francisco giants. He was 93 years old. We look back now on his legacy. >> Way, way back to center field and it is, oh! Geoff: His play was the stuff of legend. Announcer: Willie mays with a catch that must've been an optical illusion. Geoff: Known simply as "The catch" in game one of the 1954 world series, a championship mays would go on to win, the iconic and logic-defying play captured the magic of Willie mays' career. One that earned him the nickname the "Say hey kid." ♪♪ geoff: Appearing in a record 24 all-star games, he could do it all. With 12 gold gloves, the center fielder could catch. He could steal bases with blazing speed, sometimes losing his hat along the way. And, when it was his turn at bat, home run, after home run, after home run, 660 home runs rocketed past the fences , the sixth most all-time. >> I think the general consensus now is that Willie mays is the greatest so-called five tool player in baseball history hit for average, hit for power, run, field and throw. He could do all of those things at the highest possible level. Geoff: Mays was voted into the hall of fame in 1979 his first year of eligibility. But his beginnings were far more humble. Born in Westfield, Alabama, in 1931, mays was the son of a Negro league player, and he started his pro career in 1948 with the Negro league Birmingham black barons, at just 16 years old. In 1951, he made his major league debut with the New York giants, a year he captured national league rookie of the year. Beloved by fans for his dazzling play, his exuberant smile, and for giving to the game's next generation. Mays would even play stick ball with children in New York City streets. >> They'd knock on my window. I would go out, play stick ball for about an hour, two hours, and then, I'd buy everybody ice creams. Geoff: Less than a decade later, his play went coast-to-coast, when the New York giants became the San Francisco giants. Even though he was already a star and a world series champ, the welcome wasn't always warm. >> Every time I went to the plate, they were expecting a home run outta me. Why, why are they booing me? Geoff: But, it didn't take long for mays to win over another city and another fan base. >> Joe dimaggio, though he played for the Yankees, was from San Francisco, and San franciscans wanted their own players, so they had Willie mccovey and Orlando Cepeda. They felt like maybe Willie was a New York giant. But then over time, he won them all over. Because even those though those were hall of fame players, Willie was the best of all of them. Geoff: Taking the boys of the bay to a world series appearance in 1962, and an MVP season in 1965. In 1972, mays went back to where it all began New York City , to play for the mets. The aging superstar played less and less, but he helped elevate yet another team to the world series in 1973, a series they would lose. But, when he retired that same year, he looked back on a storied career, and knew he'd left nothing on the field. >> The game of baseball has been great to me. Geoff: Others after him, even outside the world of sport, acknowledged the path he paved. Mr. Obama: It's because of giants like Willie that someone like me could even think about running for president. Geoff: Former president Barack Obama honored mays with the 2015 presidential medal of freedom for his indelible mark on American sports and society. For some more perspective on the legacy of Willie mays, I'm joined by Howard Bryant, author and senior writer for ESPN. Howard, thank you for being with us. What made Willie mays the signature player of his day and ultimately the greatest all-around player of all time? Howard: The first thing about him is the electricity. I think it is an interesting contrast to baseball today where the game is essentially sold by math and science and numbers and launch angle and exit velocity and the two sticks. Willie mays was electricity. He was emotion. For people who talk about him with that sort of reference when they watched him play, he made you feel something. It was all about the projection of young kids wanting to be like him, the real idolizing of a hero who could do things on the baseball field that everyone wished they could do and then he also put up the huge numbers as well but when you think about Willie mays as a player, the thing that you think about most is into 600 60 home runs order the 3283 hits or any of those things. It is the movement. It is the catch P.A.D. Even in black-and-white, people turn their backs on things that are black-and-white these days but even then, you watch him run the bases, you watch him move and that is a ballplayer. That makes you want to go to the ballpark and it brings back all the memories. He was representative of the golden age of New York baseball in the 1950's in baseball in general. Geoff: Is that how he managed to capture the American imagination? Howard: It was two things. Charisma. We love stars especially as we are getting into the television age where it's not you are moving away from baseball and sports and media in general being a newspaper industry into a television industry and to watch him play just was pure joy. I think it was that and I also think it was something else which people do not talk about a whole lot when it comes to Willie mays and that was in contrast to Jackie Robinson, who was a smoldering player, who was constantly pushing boundaries, he was a black player who was there at the beginning, who did not force that on him so you were able to enjoy him. You were able to see integration in action without the heavy politics of it and that was an interesting balance for him but when you think about the joy that he brought to the game, it was an uncomplicated joy whereas Jackie Robinson was in a stream the complicated player because he was so much more political and I think that had a lot to do with it. Geoff: How did Willie mays view his role and his response ability? He did face some criticism including from Jackie Robinson for not using his position in American life to be more prominent in the civil rights movement? >> Not everyone will protest. Not everyone is a marcher. Not everyone is the one who is going to make those headlines. Willie still had to deal with things. He was a rookie in 1951 and during spring training when the New York giants used to train in Arizona, he was not allowed to stay with his teammates because Scottsdale was a San downtown. It did not allow blacks after sundown so he dealt with a lot of things. When the giants moved to San Francisco, he was not allowed to buy a house down the peninsula. There were all kinds of different things that he went through and he was absolutely hurt by Jackie's criticism. In Jackie Robinson's 1964 book, he criticizes him for not using that outsized celebrity to force people to take him as a whole, that if you are going to enjoy my talent and emulate me, you also have to allow me and want me to live next door to you. I cannot just carry that inside. Willie carried it inside and I think he was very conflicted by one that it wasn't his personality, but two, things that hurt him as well. Geoff: How did Willie mays elevate the game of baseball? Howard: It is an interesting contrast to where we are today. When anything about baseball, the very first thing that baseball met that people talk about with the sport, it's not just the fact that there's only 6.3% lack American participation in the game. The game lacks stars. Who is the greatest player in baseball today. There is no baseball layer at the equivalent of a Tom Brady or Lebron James or any of those great players in the other sports that people just look at and you say, yes, that is our game. Willie mays was a staple. When he said baseball, when you said Willie mays's name, everybody knew who you were talking about. He was on sitcoms. And he was the face of the sport for an entire generation or two. And that is what sports does for people and Willie mays was the guy who made you connect to the sport and that lasted until the very day he passed. Geoff: Howard Bryant, thank you so much for sharing your insights with us. I appreciate it. Howard: My pleasure.
