Willie Mays turned 84 years old on Wednesday.
Over a career that spanned 22 years beginning in 1951, the “Say Hey Kid” amassed a .302 batting average and 3,283 hits, the fifth most of all time in the National League and 11th overall in baseball.
Mays smacked 600 home runs, third best in the league and tied for fourth best of all time.
According to Leo Durocher, who managed the Giants during Mays’ first four years with the club:
He could do the five things you have to do to be a superstar: hit, hit with power, run, throw, and field. And he had that other magic ingredient that turns a superstar into a super superstar. He lit up the room. He was a joy to be around.
As one who lives five blocks from the site of the former Polo Grounds, I feel a connection to Mays, who played the first six seasons of his professional career there before the Giants decamped to San Francisco.
On autumn days, one can imagine the crowd spilling out of the Polo Grounds in 1951, after Bobby Thomson’s walk-off home run to win the National League pennant. Or “The Catch,” Mays’ over-the-shoulder grab in deep center field in the first game of the 1954 World Series.
Mays, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1979, also logged:
1,903 runs batted in, fourth best in the league and 10th best of all time
2,062 runs, fourth best of all time in the league and seventh best of all time
1,323 extra base hits, fourth best of all time in the league and fifth best of all time
2,992 games, fourth best of all time in the league and ninth best of all time
10,881 at bats, fourth best of all time in the league and 12th overall in baseball
6,066 total bases, third best of all time in both the league and in baseball
12,493 plate appearances, sixth best of all time in the league and 12th best of all time
11 consecutive NL Rawlings Gold Glove seasons starting in 1958
Mays also holds the record for hitting home runs in the most different innings.
On July 15, 2009, Mays accompanied President Obama aboard Air Force One for a flight to St. Louis, where the president threw the first pitch for the All-Star game.
“I’m so proud,” Mays told the president, referring to Obama’s election. “I didn’t go to bed until maybe 7:15 that morning. I just want to thank you.”
“Let me tell you, you helped us get there,” the president replied. “If it hadn’t been for folks like you and Jackie [Robinson], I’m not sure I would get elected to the White House.”