Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora first learned about Willie Mays through the stories he heard from baseball mentors Orlando Cepeda and Manny Mota.
It helped Cora understand the importance of Mays to the game he loved as the San Francisco Giants legend was considered the greatest all-around player in baseball history.
And Cora joined all those around MLB on Tuesday night mourning the death of Mays. He was 93 years old.
“One of the best,” Cora told reporters following Boston’s 4-3 road win over the Toronto Blue Jays, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “He lived a great life. We used to go there to AT&T Park and he was always around. He was a joy to watch, to talk to him. He’s a good friend of Cepeda and we were always able to talk about him and learn about him. He will be missed, but what a life, man. He was awesome.”
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Mays, known by his nickname as the “Say Hey Kid,” did it all over his 22 MLB seasons, which was spent with the Giants first in New York before they moved to San Francisco. Mays concluded his Hall of Famer career playing for the New York Mets before retiring after the 1973 season.
The outfielder was named an All-Star a staggering 24 times and was a 12-time Gold Glove Award winner — he recorded one of the most famous catches in baseball history, too. He also took home National League MVP honors twice.
Mays owned a .301 career batting average and also accumulated 660 home runs, which is sixth-most all-time, to go along with 1,909 RBIs and 339 stolen bases.
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Featured image via Neville E. Guard/USA TODAY Sports Images
