The Cardinals and San Francisco Giants will pay tribute to Willie Mays and all the other Negro Leagues greats Thursday when they play at Birmingham’s Rickwood Field.
The game was originally scheduled with the hope that Mays, who played for the Birmingham Black Barons before signing with the Giants, would be there to take a bow.
But he died Tuesday afternoon at the age of 93.
“Thursday's game at historic Rickwood Field was designed to be a celebration of Willie Mays and his peers,†MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “With sadness in our hearts, it will now also serve as a national remembrance of an American who will forever remain on the short list of the most impactful individuals our great game has ever known.â€
Baseball didn’t just lose one of its living legends, it lost arguably the best ballplayer of the modern era.
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“Isn’t it ironic that while the eyes of the entire baseball world is on Birmingham, Willie passes,’’ former big league player and manager Dusty Baker told USA Today.
“I’m at a loss for words,’’ Hall of Fame center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. said. “I’m devastated. Heartbroken. Numb. I’ve been lucky enough to know Willie since I was a little kid. And my appreciation only grew over time. From the stories, the videos and then meeting him.
“He was a true giant off and on the field. A person I looked up to and respected. A friend. And someone I could call when I needed to talk who always had time for me, and my best interests in mind. I considered him an uncle, and, to me, he’ll always be the Godfather of all center fielders.â€
Writing for , Tim Kurkjian summed up Mays’ standing in Our National Pastime:
One of the greatest players of all time, Frank Robinson, was asked once if Willie Mays was the best player he had ever seen. Robinson got that annoyed look on his face and rolled his eyes, insulted that the question was even asked. After a pause, he answered: “Of course he is. He's good as you want him to be. You can't exaggerate how great he was.â€
Willie Mays is the greatest center fielder ever, the greatest Giant ever and still is, 73 years after his debut, the greatest combination of power, speed and defense in the history of baseball.
“When he came to us in 1951,†former Giants manager Leo Durocher said, “I'd never seen anyone quite like him.â€
Major League Baseball had never seen anyone like him, and hasn't since. Mays was Ken Griffey Jr., only better, and he preceded Griffey by 40 years. Mays won the National League Most Valuable Player in 1954 and 1965 and finished second two other times. He finished in the top six 12 times. He made the All-Star team 20 years in a row. He is, by most measures, the second-best all-around player in history behind the incomprehensibly great Babe Ruth. To those who separate the game by the breaking of the color barrier in 1947, there has never been a better player than Mays.
Tributes to Mays poured in via social media, including these:
Barry Bonds: “I am beyond devastated and overcome with emotion. I have no words to describe what you mean to me - you helped shape me to be who I am today. Thank you for being my Godfather and always being there. Give my dad a hug for me. Rest in peace Willie, I love you forever.â€
Jimmy Rollins: “Willie Mays #24 was a legend amongst legends. I am blessed to have spent a few weeks around Willie and I can tell you this, baseball lived deep inside of his heart and he could trash talk with the best of them! Thank you Willie.â€
C.C. Sabathia: “RIP Willie Mays. You changed the game forever and inspired kids like me to chase our dream. Thank you for everything that you did on and off the field. Always in our hearts.â€
TALKIN’ BASEBALL
Here is what folks have been writing about Our National Pastime:
Carlos Callazo, Baseball America: “It’ll be fascinating to see how the Cardinals pick at the top of the draft. This will be just the third time in the last 30 years the organization has picked inside the top 10 picks. Each of the top high school hitters in the class have been linked to the Cardinals recently. (Bryce) Rainer has become a slight favorite to be the first prep hitter off the board, so he’s the pick in this scenario. I wouldn’t rule out Nick Kurtz, though, especially since Paul Goldschmidt is finally showing signs that age does in fact affect him. Kurtz’s blend of hitting ability, power and batting eye is solidly the best available offensive package on the board at this point. Despite what sounds like a relatively safe profile, the Cardinals might have their pick of relatively risky options when considering the track record of first-round first baseman, high schoolers with some hit questions and (Braden) Montgomery, who now has a minor injury but the worst pure contact skills of the top tier of college bats.â€
Jim Bowden, The Athletic: “The Cardinals seem committed to being buyers, not sellers at the trade deadline and their front office is focused on adding another veteran starter. Erick Fedde fits what they’re looking for as another pitcher to put behind Sonny Gray, Kyle Gibson, Miles Mikolas and Lance Lynn in the rotation. The 31-year-old signed a two-year, $15 million deal with the White Sox in the offseason after pitching in South Korea last year. He was drafted in the first round by the Nationals in 2014 but hadn’t lived up to expectations until this year, when he’s gone 5-1 with a 3.09 ERA in 15 starts with 83 strikeouts in 87 1/3 innings. The Cardinals are . . . currently good enough for the NL’s second wild-card spot. In return, the White Sox (could) acquire Cooper Hjerpe, a 23-year-old lefty who was recently promoted to Double A after posting a 3.35 ERA in 11 starts for High-A Peoria. A 2022 first-round pick, Hjerpe has 59 strikeouts and 24 walks in 40 1/3 innings overall this season. Gordon Graceffo was the Cardinals’ fifth-round pick in 2021 out of Villanova. He has logged a 4.11 ERA in 13 starts this season for Triple-A Memphis. Graceffo, 24, could go right into Fedde’s spot in the White Sox rotation and finish the rest of his development in the majors. The White Sox would control both pitching prospects for at least six more years while Fedde will be eligible for free agency after next season.â€
Andrew Mearns, Baseball Prospectus: “Craig Counsell knew that he was taking on a high-demand job the moment he agreed to jump from Milwaukee to Chicago as a managerial free agent. He was bouncing from the place where he grew up to a division rival, displacing a beloved figure from the 2016 champions, and taking on the most lucrative managerial contract in MLB history with a somewhat-middling team that hasn’t won a playoff game in seven years. Easy assignment, it was not. On May 5 in Milwaukee, Counsell’s new club beat the Brewers to tie them for first place in the NL Central, and they remained essentially tied for most of the next week. Then on May 13 and 14, the Cubbies got blanked in back-to-back games against the Braves, and the Brew Crew pulled firmly ahead. Rather than punching back, it was the beginning of a dreadful stretch for the Cubs, as they have gone an NL-worst 10-22 since the first of those shutouts . . . Every team has rough skids, and as signaled by the aforementioned shutouts, Counsell has had to watch some ugly at-bats. Indeed, their team OPS in the past month is in the low-.600s. But a truly brutal stretch has its share of what can most elegantly be described as “pull-out-your-entrails†losses, too, where you do get a lead or two and then watch in horror as everything blows up. That happened on Monday night in Chicago, in front of the home fans, who have seen too many of them over the many years of Cubs baseball.â€
Bob Nightengale, USA Today: “The World Series teams of a year ago should be bolstered by huge reinforcements at the trade deadline: The Rangers are expected to have starters Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer and Tyler Mahle back in July, along with third baseman Josh Jung. The D-backs are expecting starters Merrill Kelly and Eduardo Rodriguez back next month.Those five veteran starters have combined for just four games this season, all started by Kelly.â€
Jon Becker, FanGraphs: “While the Orioles and Yankees won’t have much overlap in terms of trade needs — and as such won’t be competing for many of the same players — they’re obviously competing to get better and build more complete rosters so they can outlast the other and make a deep October run. The thing is, considering there are only five teams right now that are out of the playoff picture — the White Sox, Marlins, Athletics, Rockies, and Angels — actual upgrades available on the trading block might be in short supply. That means the Yankees and Orioles will need to capitalize on whatever improvements they can make. This environment could set the stage for New York and Baltimore to be among the most active teams over the next month and a half.â€
MEGAPHONE
“I haven’t had a sleepless night since I took this job. The record isn’t anything what I hoped, and we’re not playing like I expect. But we’ve got such a young team. There are nights when we’ve got everyone on the field making the minimum salary. But you know what? It’s coming. I know it coming. We’ll get it done here, and it’s going to be a beautiful damn thing when we’re on top.’’
Angels manager Ron Washington, to USA Today, on managing his horrible team.