On June 20, Major League Baseball (MLB) honored the legendary Willie Mays and the legacy of the Negro Leagues at Birmingham, Alabama’s Rickwood Field.
Tony Marshall was among a diverse group of people lined up to have their pictures taken next to the National Baseball Hall of Fame plaque for Willie Howard Mays Jr. Over 8,300 people packed the nation’s oldest existing professional baseball stadium. The event came two days after baseball icon Mays’s death at the age of 93.
The bronze image of Mays was reportedly moved from Cooperstown, New York, for the first time and exhibited briefly at Rickwood Field. The nation’s largest mutual insurance company, New York Life, contributed to the event by sending employees and agents to volunteer at MLB’s Play BALL youth clinic. The insurer provided tickets and travel packages for HBCU students to attend the game and partnered with MLB to prominently feature period-appropriate signage in the outfield at the stadium.
Marshall, a Birmingham, Alabama, resident, told BLACK ENTERPRISE that Mays came to his elementary school when he was in the fifth grade. He said that time with Mays inspired him to play baseball most of his life.
Marshall said he came to honor what Mays stood for as well as the dedication to the Negro Leagues. He described Mays as an awesome baseball player, never a dull moment.
“Offense, defense, he had the swag and just a great game,” Marshall said proudly. “He loved the game and played it hard every play. That’s why I admired him so much.”
Regarded by many as baseball’s greatest and most complete player ever, Mays’ death evoked sorrowfulness at the ballpark, where he started his pro career as a teenager for the Birmingham Black Barons. The “Say Hey Kid” helped the team win the Negro League World Series in 1948.
At 20, the New York Giants acquired his contract from the Barons in 1950, making him the 10th Black player in MLB history. He spent most of his career with the Giants, playing for both New York and San Francisco.
Mays died one day before Juneteenth, which caused some uneasiness and a spiritual feeling during the game between the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants.
Still, the crowd was electric as they marveled at the event’s splendor. They watched scores of former Negro Leagues players in their 80s and 90s don vintage jerseys. They sang and grooved with loud-playing music, including Aretha Franklin’s “Respect’ and Cab Calloway’s “Minnie the Moocher.” Another breathtaking image: a huge display of Willie Mays’ No. 24 hung behind home plate.
Attendees included May’s son, Michael Mays, and all-time MLB home run leader Barry Bonds, Willie May’s godson. Others viewing the grandeur were retired Hall of Famers Albert Pujols, Ken Griffey Jr., and Reggie Jackson. Fans like Marshall still appeared awed by Mays’ accomplishments.
Mays is the lone
player in MLB history with at least 3,000 hits, a .300 average, 300 home runs, and 300 stolen bases. Mays eclipsed some of those levels handily, ending up with 3,283 hits, 660 homers and 338 steals. Called the greatest defensive center fielder ever, he won 12 Golden Gloves. He is renowned for “The Catch” and throwing, leading the Giants to an unexpected World Series win in 1954.Jackson, who played in the minor leagues for the Birmingham A’s in 1967, returned to honor the Negro Leagues and Willie Mays’ passing. He shared painful feelings about playing in the Deep South.
“Coming back here is not easy,” Jackson told Alex Rodriguez with Fox Sports. “The racism when I played here, the difficulty of going through different places where we traveled; fortunately, I had a manager and players on the team that helped me get through it. But I wouldn’t wish it on anybody.’’
In response, MLB provided this statement to BLACK ENTERPRISE
, “Reggie’s comments were a painful reminder of what Black players of that era had to endure.”According to this report, the June 20 game marked the first time a regular season American League/National League game was played at the 114-year-old Rickwood Field. It was the first time both leagues had a game with an all-Black umpiring crew.
Jackson’s comments came after MLB, in late May 2024, announced it would add the statistics of Negro Leagues players from 1920 to 1948 into its records.
Describing it as a “long overdue recognition,” Commissioner Rob Manfred ”bestowed Major League status upon seven professional Negro Leagues that operated between 1920 and 1948.” The action means that about 3,400 players of the Negro Leagues during that time are officially considered Major Leaguers. Their statistics and records are now part of Major League history.
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