'Legacy like no other': Baseball all-time great Willie Mays dies aged 93

One of the greatest baseball players of all-time, Willie Mays, has died aged 93.

A 24-time All Star, known as the Say Hey Kid, Mays was the oldest living Hall of Famer.

In a statement to his former club, the San Francisco Giants, his family said he had "passed away peacefully and among loved ones".

Giants chairman Greg Johnson called Mays an "inspiration and a hero who will forever be remembered and deeply missed".

He added: "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."

Mays hit 660 home runs to rank sixth on the all-time list during his 22 Major League seasons, mostly with the Giants in New York and then San Francisco before finishing his career with the New York Mets.

He also won 12 Gold Gloves and his catch in the 1954 World Series against the Cleveland Indians is considered one of the greatest defensive plays in baseball history.

The Sporting News magazine ranked him second to Babe Ruth in its list of the 100 greatest baseball players of the 20th century.

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said Mays left "a legacy like no other".

He said: "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."

He was named National League rookie of the year in 1951 - after the Giants brought his contract from Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League in 1948 - and was the league’s MVP in 1954 and 1965 after spending two years in the Army.

Elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979, becoming only the ninth player to be voted in during his first year of eligibility, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by then president Barack Obama in 2015.

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