To appreciate Willie Mays, the oldest living Hall of Famer at age 90, is to remember him at 20. When he joined the New York Giants in 1951, the game had never seen an athlete like him -- breathtakingly graceful, the greatest combination of power, speed and defense ever to wear a major league uniform. And 70 years later, to many, he remains precisely that.
"You'd sit on the bench and watch Willie Mays," Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson said. "It was so exciting just to watch him. People did that with Jim Brown. They did that with the acrobatics and greatness of [Michael] Jordan.