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Willie Mays. (credit: UPI)

(born May 6, 1931, Westfield, Ala., U.S.) U.S. baseball player. Mays played for the Birmingham Black Barons in the National Negro League when he was only 16. The "Say Hey Kid" later played principally for the New York (later San Francisco) Giants in the major leagues (1951 – 72). A brilliant centre fielder and a powerful right-handed hitter, he ranks among the all-time top five in home runs (660), runs (2,062), and extra-base hits (1,323) and among the top 10 for runs batted in (1,903) and hits (3,283). Mays is considered one of the greatest all-around players in the history of the game.

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