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Happy Birthday To New Rochelle's Willie Mays

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. -- Happy birthday to former baseball center fielder and New Rochelle resident Willie Mays.

Willie Mays

Willie Mays

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Nicknamed "The Say Hey Kid," Mays turns 86 on Sunday and was born Willie Howard Mays Jr. on May 6, 1931.

Mays was born in Alabama and started playing pro ball in negro leagues when he was still in high school. 

He moved to New Rochelle in 1960. He and his wife raised their adopted son Michael there.

Mays played for the Giants in New York and San Francisco for most of his career and finished with the New York Mets. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979.

His name is on the New Rochelle Walk of Fame, which was installed in 2011 in Ruby Dee Park at Library Green.

Mays received the Freedom Medal of Honor from President Obama in 2015.

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