There are some topics too monumental for words. Subjects that our adjectives, sentences, and metaphors are not worthy of touching.
Willie Mays is one of those rare topics. A player, a person, and a presence who was simply too large, too magical, and too special to confine with words.
I’ve said a version of that sentence many times before. I’ve written a version of that sentence many times before. I’ve thought a version of that sentence many times before.
But this is the first time that the sentence has been said in the past tense. Because on Tuesday night, as the world went on as planned and the San Francisco Giants quietly played their 74th baseball game of the year, the team announced that Mays had died peacefully at the age of 93.