Tag: Willie Mays

Why the Mets wear a 24 patch on their uniforms in 2024, explained

Here’s your answer.

If you’re watching the New York Mets during their epic playoff run in 2024, you may have noticed a patch on the sleeves of their uniforms with a black circle and the number 24.

What’s the deal with that, you ask? You’ve come to the right place for an answer.

It’s a tribute to the legendary Willie Mays, who died back in June. Mays, as you know, played many years for the Giants organization, but in 1972 and 1973, he was a New York Met to finish out one of the all-time great MLB careers. And he wore No. 24 with the franchise.

So there’s your answer!

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5 awesome ways the MLB game at Rickwood Field honored the late Willie Mays

Thursday’s MLB game at Rickwood Field found great ways to honor the memory of Willie Mays.

While baseball was in the air during Thursday’s San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals game at historic Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, the late Willie Mays filled hearts and minds.

Mays died on Tuesday at the age of 93, just two days before his Giants played at Rickwood, where he started his baseball career in the Negro Leagues with the Birmingham Black Barons.

MLB and Fox Sports put together an excellent plan to make sure Mays’ memory was alive with all who attended Thursday’s game.

Here are five awesome ways that the night’s game recognized Mays and paid tribute to his trailblazing baseball career.

There was an awesome pre-game video that highlighted Mays’ life 

The on-field ceremony for Mays was very powerful 

Former MLB player Reggie Jackson talked about the first time he met Mays 

Mays’ former teammate Bill Greason talked about his time with Mays 

MLB legend Barry Bonds, May’s godson, was featured in a segment highlighting their relationship 

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Here’s why Rickwood Field is so important to Willie Mays’ legacy and baseball’s backstory

Rickwood Field is a truly special place in baseball.

Willie Mays’ death earlier this week shook up the baseball world, breaking the hearts of some of the game’s all-time titans.

A giant of the game in every sense of the word, Mays was arguably the greatest ball player ever, and his impact on the sport itself, while tremendous, extended well beyond the parameters of a bog-standard baseball diamond.

On Thursday, the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals will play a special regular-season game at the legendary Rickwood Field, the oldest baseball stadium in the United States. The evening and its planned celebrations will take on a little bit more of a somber note in the wake of Mays’ death.

Here’s why Rickwood Field was so important to Mays and the history of baseball.

Why Rickwood Field is so special

JOE MOCK [Via MerlinFTP Drop]
Having been open since 1910, no baseball stadium likely holds as much influence and gravitas as Rickwood Field. In the early parts of the 20th century, the Birmingham Barons of the Negro Leagues played on the field. They later changed their name to the Birmingham Black Barons and remained as such from 1924 to 1960.

Even when the Negro Leagues disbanded in 1948 after MLB integrated Black players, Rickwood Field remained an essential fixture in Birmingham and the greater baseball community. It is officially part of the National Register of Historic Places.

Some of the most famous Black players in baseball history have played at Rickwood Field during intermittent stints with the Black Barons. With Mays obviously included, the list notably also features:

  • Jackie Robinson
  • Satchel Paige
  • Josh Gibson
  • Ernie Banks
  • Hank Aaron

Needless to say, these are genuinely some of the biggest heavy-hitters baseball has ever seen.

Why is MLB having a game at Rickwood Field?

The answer is simple. Given the importance of the Negro Leagues to baseball’s history, growth, and the black mark of segregation, MLB has started embracing its imprint much more, most recently announcing plans to incorporate Negro Leagues statistics into the official MLB record books.

Before his death, Mays was set to be honored individually on Thursday night. The Alabama native played a season at Rickwood Field with the Black Barons when he was 17 years old before officially jumping to the MLB, where he spent the majority of his career with the Giants.

Shortly before his death, Mays issued a formal statement that he would unfortunately not be in attendance on Thursday:

“I wish I could come out to Rickwood Field this week to be with you all and enjoy that field with my friends. Rickwood’s been part of my life for all of my life. Since I was a kid. It was just ‘around the corner there’ from Fairfield [the town where Mays went to high school], and it felt like it had been there forever. Like a church. The first big thing I ever put my mind to was to play at Rickwood Field. It wasn’t a dream. It was something I was going to do. I was going to work hard to be one of the Birmingham Black Barons and play ball at Rickwood Field. That’s what I did. It was my start. My first job. You never forget that. Rickwood Field is where I played my first home game, and playing there was IT — everything I wanted.”

A pregame ceremony will pay tribute to the baseball icon in the wake of Mays’ death. The Giants and Cardinals will wear unique uniforms representative of Negro Leagues teams from San Francisco and St. Louis to commemorate the occasion.

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Barry Bonds offered a very moving tribute to the late Willie Mays, his godfather and mentor

Barry Bonds offered a wonderful tribute to the late Willie Mays, his godfather and mentor.

One MLB legend offered an incredibly moving tribute to another on Tuesday night.

All-time baseball player Willie Mays died on Tuesday at the age of 93, and fellow baseball titan Barry Bonds shared a very fond farewell to his godfather and mentor.

Mays played with Bonds’ father, Bobby Bonds, in San Francisco, and he became the younger Bonds’ godfather when the latter was born. As the younger Bonds also played for the Giants for most of his career, it set up an eternal link between Mays and the Bonds family.

After news of Mays’ death broke, Bonds took to social media to offer a very touching tribute to a towering figure for him professionally and personally.

“I am beyond devastated and overcome with emotion,” Bonds wrote on Instagram, adding a broken heart emoji. “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.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/C8YLsFMvPVi/

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Hear the Giants, Mets and ESPN broadcasters break the news of Willie Mays’ death on their respective games

The Giants, Mets and ESPN all broke into their respective game broadcasts to break the news of Willie Mays’ death.

The baseball world suffered a gigantic loss on Tuesday night with the death of MLB legend Willie Mays.

Mays died on Tuesday afternoon at the age of 93, and news broke of his death during multiple evening sporting events.

The two teams Mays played for in his historic MLB career, the San Francisco Giants and the New York Mets, broke into their nighttime broadcasts to share with viewers the very sad news that a franchise great had passed.

ESPN also broke into Tuesday night’s Stanley Cup Final Game 5 between the Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers to inform those viewers of Mays’ death.

You can hear how all three of those broadcasts shared the news below.

Feature image courtesy of ESPN. 

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Willie Mays dies: Tributes pour in for the baseball legend

Baseball legend Willie Mays died on Tuesday at the age of 93.

Baseball legend Willie Mays has died at the age of 93, the San Francisco Giants announced on Tuesday evening.

The “Say Hey Kid” and legendary center fielder is one of the best to ever play the game, starting his career with the Birmingham Black Barons in the Negro Leagues before making his MLB debut with the then-New York Giants in 1951.

Mays stayed with the Giants during their move to San Francisco and played for the organization from 1951 to 1972. He was a 24 MLB All-Star, earned 12 Gold Glove Awards and won a World Series with the Giants in 1954.

He played for the New York Mets during the last two years of his MLB career in 1972 and 1973.

Mays’ No. 24 jersey is retired by the Giants and Mets, and he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979. He made the MLB’s All-Century Team and its All-Time Team, cementing his status as an ironclad titan of baseball. In fact, the World Series’ MVP Award is named after Mays.

His death comes just two days before the Giants play the St. Louis Cardinals at the historic Rickwood Field in Birmingham, where Mays started his baseball career. Mays wasn’t slated to attend Thursday’s game. However, he issued a statement to explain his absence on Monday.

“I’m not able to get to Birmingham this year but will follow the game back here in the Bay Area. My heart will be with all of you who are honoring the Negro League ballplayers, who should always be remembered, including all my teammates on the Black Barons,” Mays shared in his statement. “I wanted to thank Major League Baseball, the Giants, the Cardinals and all the fans who’ll be at Rickwood or watching the game. It’ll be a special day, and I hope the kids will enjoy it and be inspired by it.”

League commissioner Rob Manfred honored Mays as one of the best to ever play the sport after news broke of his death.

“His incredible achievements and statistics do not begin to describe the awe that came with watching Willie Mays dominate the game in every way imaginable,” Manfred said in a statement. “We will never forget this true Giant on and off the field.”

Tributes immediately poured in for Mays, one of the unquestioned Mt. Rushmore figures in baseball history.

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