Willie Mays, the iconic Hall of Fame center fielder who is known as the greatest all-around baseball player of all time, died Tuesday, the San Francisco Giants announced. He was 93 years old.

At the time of his death, Mays was the oldest living Baseball Hall of Famer.

Just yesterday, Mays announced he wouldn’t be in attendance when the San Francisco Giants face the St. Louis Cardinals at Rickwood Field on Thursday in a game honoring him and the Negro Leagues.

“I’m not able to get to Birmingham this year but will follow the game back here in the Bay Area,” Mays said in a statement to the paper on Monday. “My heart will be with all of you who are honoring the Negro League ballplayers, who should always be remembered, including all my teammates on the Black Barons. I wanted to thank Major League Baseball, the Giants, the Cardinals and all the fans who’ll be at Rickwood or watching the game. It’ll be a special day, and I hope the kids will enjoy it and be inspired by it.”

Mays, nicknamed “The Say Hey Kid,” had a professional baseball career that spanned four decades, beginning with the Negro Leagues in the late 1940s and ending with the New York Mets in 1972. In between, he spent 21 years with the New York Giants, who would later move to San Francisco.

Mays was a true five-tool player, excelling at speed, throwing, fielding, hitting for average and hitting for power. He had a career triple-slash line of .301/.384/.557, was Rookie of the Year in 1951, twice was named the Most Valuable Player and finished in the top 10 for the MVP 10 other times.

During his 23-year Major League playing career, Mays was named Most Valuable Player twice, first as a New York Giant (1954) and then as a San Francisco Giant (1965). He holds the all-time record for putouts by an outfielder, with a career total of 7,095. He won 12 Gold Gloves in center field and appeared in 24 All-Star games. He led the league in home runs four times, stolen bases four times, slugging percentage five times, total bases three times and triples three times. He was third on the all-time home run list with 660 until 2003 when Barry Bonds, passed him.

Mays’ uniform number, 24, has been retired by the Giants, as he remains the franchise leader in games played (2,857), at-bats (10,477), runs (2,011), hits (3,187), doubles (504), home runs (646), total bases (5,907) and extra base hits (1,289). He was named team captain of the Giants prior to the 1961 season by manager Alvin Dark.

Mays was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979 in his first year of eligibility, and was named to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999. Mays was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015.

The Sporting News ranked him second only to Babe Ruth among the 100 greatest baseball players of the 20th century. ESPN listed him second as well, and eighth in their ranking of the top 50 athletes of the century.

(Photo by: Diamond Images/Getty Images)