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Former MLB star-turned analyst Alex Rodriguez shared a photo on Instagram to pay his respects to the late great Willie Mays. A-Rod posted a photo of him with the baseball icon whilst in a Team USA jersey. He also stated that he will take steps in honouring Mays this week.
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"Willie Mays will forever be the MVP, both on and off the field. He was a guiding light for everyone who came after him. I’ll never forget the moment we met and I was able to shake the hand of a true legend. I’m looking forward to honoring his legacy this week and paying tribute to a man who shaped the game we all love." - Alex Rodriguez, via Instagram
The iconic Willie Mays passed away Tuesday at the old age of 93. He spent all but his last year in the MLB playing for the then-New York and now-San Francisco Giants. He was a 24-time All-Star, two-time MVP, a World Series champion, and was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 1979. He finished his career with 660 MLB home runs, good for sixth all-time.
Mays started his professional baseball career with the Chattanooga Choo-Choos, a minor league team in the Negro Leagues. He then transferred to the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League.
Ahead of the MLB's Rickwood Field game on Thursday between the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals, Mays had disclosed that he won't be present at the event and would stay and rest in California. This was of course before the news of his death on Tuesday. The game at Rickwood Field is a tribute game in remembrance of the Negro Leagues.
The field is the oldest professional baseball park in the country and was the home ground of the Birmingham Black Barons, Mays' former team.
Alex Rodriguez passed Willie Mays in the home run chart
On May 1, 2015, Alex Rodriguez climbed up a step further in baseball history as he smashed his 660th home run, tying the great Willie Mays.
The home run in the top of the eighth inning proved to be the go-ahead run as the Yankees snatched a close 3-2 victory against their archrival Red Sox.
Rodriguez hit 36 more home runs to finish with 696 and place fifth in the all-time home runs list, just a position above Willie Mays.
