Here are the morning’s top stories on Wednesday, June 19, 2024…
- Willie Mays, considered one of the greatest baseball players of all-time, has died at the age of 93. Mays spent the majority of his career with the San Francisco Giants. He batted .301, hit 660 home runs, totaled 3,293 hits, scored more than 2,000 runs and won 12 Gold Gloves during his career. He 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.
- Today is Juneteenth, the day that commemorates the emancipation of enslaved people in the U.S. at the end of the Civil War. In Humboldt County, the group Black Humboldt is ready to shift its Juneteenth focus to a broader celebration of the Black experience on California’s North Coast. That’s after four years of Juneteenth events aimed at educating the local community about the holiday.
Willie Mays Dies at 93
Willie Mays, the San Francisco Giants’ baseball legend known as the ‘Say Hey Kid,’ died on Tuesday, the team announced. He was 93.
Mays, regarded by many as the greatest all-around baseball player ever, may be remembered most for his magic playing center field, iconized most famously in the play known as ‘The Catch.’ Mays, playing in the 1954 World Series for the New York Giants, chased down a fly ball, and caught it over his shoulder with his back to the diamond.
Mays played 21 seasons with the Giants. In his career, Mays hit 660 home runs and stole 338 bases. And he will be long remembered for that one catch.
Multi-Day Juneteenth Event Celebrates Unity, Diversity in Humboldt County
This week, multiple events will be held at Black Humboldt’s fifth annual Juneteenth festival. Though the holiday has been celebrated in other parts of the country for many years, that wasn’t always the case for Humboldt County.