Is Baseball Player Willie Mays Still Alive?
Willie Mays is one of the most iconic baseball players of all time. Many people are curious if he is still alive. The answer is yes! Willie Mays is still alive and well. He is currently 86 years old.
Introduction
Willie Mays, nicknamed “The Say Hey Kid,” is a retired American baseball player who spent the majority of his 22-season Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the New York/San Francisco Giants, before finishing with the New York Mets. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979, his first year of eligibility.
Early Life and Career
Born in Westfield, Alabama, on May 6, 1931, Willie Mays was one of 12 children. His father, Cat Mays, worked in the cotton fields and his mother, Annie Satterwhite Mays, was a domestic worker. With limited formal education themselves, the couple instilled the importance of learning in their children.
Mays began playing baseball at an early age and by the time he was eight years old, he was already good enough to play on a local semi-professional team. When he was 16, he was selected to play for the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League. After a few months with the team, he was promoted to their Class-AAA affiliate in Memphis, Tennessee.
In 1950, at the age of 19, Mays was drafted by the New York Giants. He played for their Class-A affiliate in Trenton, New Jersey before being called up to the majors late in the season. In 1951, he won Rookie of the Year after batting .274 with 20 home runs and 68 RBIs.
Later Career
Mays’ later career was marked by declining batting averages and power numbers. In 1973, he batted only .236 with 10 home runs and had his lowest RBI total in over a decade with only 54. Mays struggled again in 1974, batting .211 with six home runs and 45 RBIs. At the end of the 1974 season, Mays agreed to return to the Giants as a player-coach for the 1975 season. In his new role, Mays continued to play occasionally but saw most of his action as a pinch hitter. Despite his limited playing time, he still managed to hit 20 home runs and drive in 59 runs while batting .271 for the season.
In May 1976, Mays was hospitalized after suffering a mild stroke; it forced him to miss over 30 games while recuperating. He returned to the Giants lineup in late June but was not able to recapture his old form and batted only .215 for the rest of the season. After struggling again at the start of the 1977 season, Mays was released by the Giants in early May; he signed with the New York Mets shortly thereafter. He played sparingly for the Mets during the remainder of the 1977 season and was used primarily as a pinch hitter; he retired from baseball shortly after the end of the season.
Retirement
Willie Mays officially retired from playing baseball in 1973, but he continued to stay involved in the game through coaching and special appearances. He became a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979.
As of 2020, Willie Mays is still alive and resides in Atherton, California. He celebrated his 89th birthday on May 6th of this year.
Personal Life
Mays married consecutive women who were both named Marilyn. He first wed Marilyn Heard in 1956; the couple had two children before divorcing in 1971. Three months after the divorce, on February 7, 1972, Mays married his second wife, Marilyn Lee Jordan (the former Miss Black San Francisco), with whom he had four children. By this marriage he also acquired stepchildren: Marcia, Michael, and Marty Jordan. In total, Mays has 10 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Following their respective deaths in 2013, Willie and Marilyn had their ashes spread together at AT&T Park.
Death
On February 22, 1979, Mays announced his retirement from baseball.In his 22-season career, he had 3,283 hits, 660 home runs, and 1,903 RBIs in 3,283 games. He was the NL MVP in 1954 and 1965. He appeared on 24 All-Star rosters and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1979.
Mays died at the age of 80 on March 23, 2021.
