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Baseball icon Willie Mays has passed away, aged 93.
His family made the announcement of his passing on Wednesday.
Mays was one of the greatest players in the sport’s history and admired for his dazzling skills and athletics grace.
Mays’ family confirmed the baseball icon’s passing in a joint statement with his former team, the San Francisco Giants.
“My father has passed away peacefully and among loved ones,” son Michael Mays said in the statement.
Michael noted: “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.”
Giants chairman Greg Johnson said Mays, the first black player to captain a major league baseball club, had left a mark which extended far beyond his sport.
Johnson said: “Today, we have lost a true legend. In the pantheon of baseball greats, Willie Mays’ combination of tremendous talent, keen intellect, showmanship, and boundless joy set him apart.
“He had a profound influence not only on the game of baseball, but on the fabric of America. He was an inspiration and a hero who will be forever remembered and deeply missed.”
On the part of Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred, he said, “Generations of players and fans will salute the greatness and inspirations of Mays.
“His incredible achievements and statistics do not begin to describe the awe that came with watching Willie Mays dominate the game in every way imaginable.
“On behalf of Major League Baseball, I extend my deepest condolences to Willie’s family, his friends across our game, Giants fans everywhere, and his countless admirers across the world.”
Mays was born in Alabama in 1931, and first played baseball with the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League in 1948.
He was subsequently signed by the Giants, then based in New York, in 1950, making his debut in the 1951 season where he dazzled with 20 home runs and won the Rookie of the Year award.
Three years later he helped the Giants win the World Series, the franchise’s last baseball title before they relocated to San Francisco.
