Willie Mays died Tuesday, just days before he was to be honored at the MLB Rickwood Field game in Birmingham.
On Thursday, MLB will pay tribute to the Negro Leagues when the Giants and Cardinals play a regular-season game in Rickwood, Alabama (the historic home of the Birmingham Black Barons), marking the first time MLB has played a game in the state.
Mays’ connection to Rickwood — he grew up nearby dreaming of playing there years before he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame — was one of the reasons the league chose the site for Thursday’s historic game.
Mays began his professional career at age 17 with the Barons of the Negro Leagues, then signed with the New York Giants in 1950, beginning a 22-season MLB career.
The day before his death, Mays, who was 93, announced he would not attend the game in Birmingham.
“I’m looking forward to going to Rickwood Field this week and joining you all and enjoying the field with my friends. Rickwood has been a part of my life since I was a kid. It was just around the corner from Fairfield. [the town where Mays went to high school]it felt as if it had always been there, it was like a church.
“The first big thing I set my mind to was to play at Rickwood Field. It wasn’t a dream. It was what I was going to do. I worked hard to become one of the Birmingham Black Barons and I was going to play at Rickwood Field. That’s where I got started. My first job. I’ll never forget it. Rickwood Field was where I played my first home game and playing there was IT. It was everything I ever wanted.”
“I’d love to go up there, but I can’t get around as well as I used to, so I’ll just watch from home. But it’ll be nice to watch. I’m glad the Giants, Cardinals and MLB are doing this so everybody can watch professional baseball at Rickwood Field. It’ll be nice to remind people of all the great baseball that was played there and all the players. After all these years, it’s still here, and so am I. Why not?”
