Baseball legend Willie Mays dead at 93

SAN FRANCISCO: Baseball icon Willie Mays, one of the greatest players in the sport's history and beloved for his for dazzling skill and athletic grace, died on Tuesday (Jun 18) aged 93, his family announced.

Mays' family confirmed the baseball icon's passing in a joint statement with his former team the San Francisco Giants.

"My father has passed away peacefully and among loved ones," son Michael Mays said in the statement.

"I want to thank you all from the bottom of my broken heart for the unwavering love you have shown him over the years. You have been his life's blood."

Giants chairman Greg Johnson said Mays, the first black player to captain a Major League Baseball (MLB) club, had left a mark which extended far beyond his sport.

"Today we have lost a true legend," Johnson said. "In the pantheon of baseball greats, Willie Mays' combination of tremendous talent, keen intellect, showmanship and boundless joy set him apart.

"He had a profound influence not only on the game of baseball, but on the fabric of America. He was an inspiration and a hero who will be forever remembered and deeply missed."

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred saluted centre-fielder Mays as a star who inspired "generations of players and fans".

"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," Manfred said.

"On behalf of Major League Baseball, I extend my deepest condolences to Willie's family, his friends across our game, Giants fans everywhere, and his countless admirers across the world."

Mays, affectionately known as the "Say Hey Kid", was born in Alabama in 1931, and first played baseball with the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League in