We are for the most part not blessed to live in the era of giants. The greatest of all times in their fields — Michelangelo in sculpture, Shakespeare in drama, Homer (or Dante) in poetry, Raphael in painting, Beethoven in music — all lived hundreds (and in some cases thousands) of years ago. Long gone are the days of the preeminent political leaders such as Washington, Lincoln, and Churchill as well. But professional sports is a domain that is still new enough to have allowed some of us to glimpse its legends in our lifetimes. One of these truly transcendent greats, Willie Mays, took his leave from us on June 18 at the age of 93.

A Giant on the field, and a giant of his sport, Willie Mays was considered by many to have been the greatest baseball player to have ever lived. Ted Williams may have been a better pure hitter, Babe Ruth may have had more power, Rickey Henderson may have been a better base runner, Ozzie Smith may have been a better defender, and Roberto Clemente may have had a better arm. But no one combined all of these five essential baseball skills into a more complete and exquisite mixture than Mays, making him the epitome of the five-tool player. For this reason, the past four generations of kids who grew up playing baseball in their backyards all knew that for as cool as Ken Griffey Jr. or Reggie Jackson or even Mickey Mantle may have been, if there was one player you wanted to model your game after, it was Willie Mays.