Willie Mays, one of the greatest and most beloved baseball players in the history of the game, died recently at 93 years old.

Mays was born in 1931, in Westfield, Alabama. Mays was a gifted athlete as a child, playing catch with his dad, who was a player in the Negro Leagues. By high school, Mays was playing baseball for the Birmingham Black Barons, a team in the Negro Leagues.

After he graduated from high school, the Giants signed Mays. Mays was a center fielder who gained the nickname the Say Hey Kid. He started the 1951 season with a Triple-A team. After 35 games, he was batting .477 and the Giants manager was ready for Mays to join the team’s starting lineup. Mays was barely 20 years old at the time.  

While he initially struggled to adjust, Mays was named the league’s top rookie, batting .272 with 20 home runs.

Mays left baseball to serve in the Army between 1952 and 1954. When he returned to play in 1954, he made one of the most iconic plays, known simply as “The Catch,” during Game 1 of the 1954 World Series. The New York Giants won the championship that year in a 4-0 sweep.

Mays ultimately played 22 National League seasons. He played in the Negro Leagues as well as with the Giants in New York and San Francisco and in New York with the Mets. He hit 660 career home runs, had 3,293 hits, and managed a .301 career batting average. Mays is often said to be the most complete player to have ever played the game, and he was inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame in 1979. He spoke about his love of the game and why he wanted to continue playing.

“I mean, you had the lights out there and all you do is go out there, and you’re out there by yourself in center field,” he told the achievement academy. “And, I just felt that it was such a beautiful game that I just wanted to play it forever, you know.”