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today is juneteenth, a day commemorating the day enslaved african americans in galveston, texas, learned the civil war had ended and they were free. as the bay area marks the holiday, we'll explore how economic empowerment can be a tool to economic freedom. but first, celebrating the life and legacy of the say hey kid willie mays, you're watching getting answers. i'm kristen sze, thanks for joining us today. the baseball world and the many fans of the forever giant continue to share their condolences after the barrier breaking willie mays died at the age of 93 yesterday. mays, who has spent the majority of his career in a giants uniform, was a true giant on and off the field. he's considered the best all around baseball player of all time. the first player to hit 300 home runs and steal 300 bases. he also won a record 12 consecutive gold gloves. now fans have been

leaving flowers and messages at the willie mays statue outside oracle park. one fan who saw him play remembered his excitement when mays came up to bat. >> everybody would scream his name and the whole stadium would just go wild for willie mays. i mean, even when we were kids, it was willie mays, willie mays, i mean, he was the man. >> he was the man. and mays was set to travel to birmingham, alabama, for a league tribute game. tomorrow, abc7 news will have a team in alabama for the game, and we also just learned moments ago the giants will welcome everybody to oracle park to watch that game on the big scoreboard. gates will open at noon. admission is free this to honor the man whose impact extends beyond his amazing stats. joining us live now is another former giant color commentator and now a coach for the oakland ballers. jt snow jt, thanks for joining us today. i

really appreciate it. >> well, thanks for having me on, kristen. it's, a sad day yesterday, but uh- been following all the news yesterday and today, and i had a chance in my nine years here in san francisco to meet willie, talked to him in the clubhouse, and he was one of those guys that was just bigger than life. he, he was my favorite player. i think my dad's era and i grew up in a sports household. my dad playing in the nfl for 11 years. so i wasn't in awe of too many professional athletes. but, the first time i got to meet willie mays, i was in awe. a little nervous, asking for his autograph, but, just a sad day. so many memories come back. and the way he treated us as players, as teammates and part of the giants family was really remarkable, right? >> i mean, look, you are so lucky that you got to come into the giants organization. even though he had retired. but he remained a mentor to everybody. right, tell us about maybe a specific piece of advice or something you said to you and encounter something that really, really shaped you as a player,

as a human? >> well, in our clubhouse, mainly in the weight room, we always had, quotes and sayings from former players. and there was a couple up there from willie that stuck with me my whole career, and one of them was, practice like a pro and play like a kid. and he was the say, hey, kid. and he always played like a kid on the field, the other one that i always remember was that, he said i'd rather be good every day than great once in a while. so that kind of stuck with you as a player. and then he was always big on defense, and he always said that defense is the key to playing good baseball. and, i always remember that and talked to him a lot about defense, even though he was a center fielder and i was a first baseman. and, you know, when, when we were struggling as players. baseball is a hard game. he always made it simple. and he said, just keep your head up, stay aggressive, kid, and keep battling. you're going to be okay. >> you know, that's such great advice because that whole playing like a kid with that freedom, with that pure joy, i think is what made him so

electrifying as a player. don't you think? >> absolutely. and when you watch him play, he practiced what he preached. he played like a kid. he had fun, right? he smiled even the stories about how he would, always wear a hat that was a little smaller than his head. so when you ran the bases, he could flip the hat off. it would fly off. he could go back and get it and, just the way the joy he played with and i think in today's day and age, we get so serious about a lot of things. and we're quick to criticize and get down on players. but he was one of those guys that just played for the right reasons, and it's a good story for kids and even guys in my generation to follow, just like i said, practice like a pro and get your work in in practice. but when the game start for those three hours, play like a kid, have fun, smile on your face. take the good with the bad. >> i love that. and then whenever i think of him and when i see pictures and videos like this, he's always smiling. and i want to ask you if that really made an impact. jackie robinson, of course, is the first black

player who broke the color barrier. but mays came along only four years later, right when only i think five of the 16 major league teams had black players. so his excellence and maybe his pure charisma helped accelerate the desegregation of the sport. do you think? >> i think you're absolutely correct. and i think we all, associate, jackie robinson with breaking the color barrier. but as guys like willie mays and others behind him, that really paved the way, there was a lot of pressure on jackie, as we all know. but willie came through. and to think about him getting to play in new york for part of his career and then coming west to play in san francisco. so two huge cities and, the one thing i always remember about willie is he always wore a hat everywhere he went when he went to the white house, parades. and it always had the g on it. he would never wear an sf hat or a new york hat. it was always a hat right there. seeing the videos with the g on it, because he just considered himself a giant, not a san francisco giant, not a new york giant, but just a giant. and he wa a giant among

players. and like i said earlier, i got nervous asking him for his autograph the first time because he was larger than life. did you? >> and of course, well, i'm sure he was more than gracious. what did he say to you? and you know. >> yeah. he did. yeah. >> he said it away quickly. >> yeah. he said, of course i'll sign it. he said, who's this for? i said, no, it's for me. or sometimes i, i might get one for a family member or my son, but he always wanted to know who was for it. and he was in the clubhouse every day in spring training. he led to play cards with the guys, he was very competitive. and, he was t along with guys like willie mccovey and orlando cepeda and the home clubhouse, day in and day out. and you almost felt a little, intimidated when you walk by and playing in today's day and age because you're