- MLB. Willie Mays Cause of Death: What did the MLB Hall of Famer die of?
- MLB. Olivia Dunne back to Pittsburgh to support Paul Skenes after missing most recent Pirates game
The death of MLB legend Willie Mays has provoked an outporing of sorrow as fans, analysts, and former players recount their favorite memories of the "Say Hey Kid."
Mays died Tuesday at the age of 93, two days before he was to be honored at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama -- where the San Francisco Giants, for whom Mays played most of his career, will play the Chicago Cubs on the oldest field in professional baseball. But that game will now have a somber tinge about it, as tributes continue to pour in for one of baseball's greatest-ever players.
Barry Bonds "beyond devastated"
One of the most prominent and poignant tributes to Mays on Tuesday came from his godson -- Barry Bonds. A Giants icon himself, Bonds took to Instagram to share his heartfelt -- if not heartbreaking -- tribute to Mays, whose pro career began in the Negro American League during the 1940s, when he played at Rickwood Field.
"You helped shape me to be who I am today," Bonds wrote. "Thank you for being my godfather and always being there."
Bonds, MLB's all-time home run leader with 762, passed Mays (660 homers) on his way to the top of the dingers chart in 2007. Mays was a teammate of Barry's father, Bobby, in San Francisco between 1968 and 1971, and their friendship persisted throughout the younger Bonds' childhood -- and as he became a seven-time NL MVP.
The loss of Mays is a massive one for baseball, and few are likely to feel it as viscerally as Bonds -- who shared a tight, lifelong connection to a man many consider to be the sport's most complete player ever.