Willie Mays receiving Presidential Medal of Freedom today

WASHINGTON, D.C. (KTVU) -- Giants legend and baseball hall of famer, Willie Mays, will receive the nation's highest civilian award today from President Obama.

Mays is among 17 people will be honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. 

Other recipients today will include Barbra Streisand, Steven Spielberg, Stephen Sondheim, Gloria & Emilio Estefan, James Taylor, Itzhak Perlman, NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, and former EPA chief, William Ruckelshaus.

Posthumous recipients include former New York Yankees catcher, Yogi Berra, Rep. Shirley Chisholm, native American tribal advocate, Billy Frank Jr., and civil rights advocate, Minoru Yasui.

When it was first announced that Mays would be recognized, the 84-year-old said that he was overwhelmed, and could not believe that he would receive such an honor.