Willie Mays is the greatest baseball player of all time, as declared by every other great player in baseball history who saw him on the field. I never got the chance to see him in person, and I’d venture that a lot of you didn’t, either. He’s one of the few players from the past whose feats we can believe through the reverent tones of those telling us about them because they’re almost too incredible to be true, which makes them better than a tall tale.
He’s been a massive part of the Giants’ public outreach in this AT&T Park era and he’s been an extraordinary part of the culture and excitement that’s built up around the team this century.