Greatness is something that you usually can’t measure. You just see it and know it. Willie Mays personified that.
Mays had 660 home runs, 3,293 hits, and some of the most spectacular fielding ever seen. Over his 22 years playing, Mays won Rookie of the Year, two Most Valuable Players, 12 Gold Gloves, a batting title and the 1954 World Series.
Looking at Baseball-Reference WAR, he ranks fifth all-time with 156.2. Only his godson Barry Bonds (162.8 bWAR) and Babe Ruth (182.6 bWAR) accumulated more as position players.
Mays started his career in the Negro Leagues with the Birmingham Black Barons (and ironically, his death was announced to the crowd at the Black Barons’ Rickwood Field as White Sox Double-A affiliate Birmingham hosted the Montgomery Biscuits there).