Nation recalls the great Willie Mays

Willie Mays gave a message to his longtime friend Dusty Baker just a day before he died.
Mays, who died Tuesday afternoon at 93 years old, knew that he wouldn’t be able to make the trip to Birmingham, Ala., for a week of festivities honoring the contributions that he and other Negro Leaguers have made to baseball. But he wanted Baker to share a message to the city he long called home.
“Birmingham, I wish I could be with you all today,” said Mays’ good friend and adviser Jeff Bleich, reading the statement at a ceremony Wednesday honoring Mays’ life and career. “This is where I’m from. I had my first pro hit here at Rickwood as a Black Baron. And now this year, some 76 years later, that hit finally got counted in the record books. I guess some things take time. But I always think better late than never.” Mays also sent an antique clock with his picture on it to the city of Birmingham.
“Time changes things,” Mays continued in his note. “Time heals wounds. And that’s a good thing. I had some of the best times of my life in Birmingham. So I want you to have this clock to remember those times with me, and to remember all the other players who were lucky enough to play here together.”
The ceremony took place in downtown Birmingham just miles from Rickwood Field, where Mays’ unforgettable career began. Bleich joined Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin and San Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer in giving speeches in Mays’ honor, standing in front of a grand mural display of the former Giants center fielder.
It’s an enchanting depiction of the electrifying “Say Hey Kid,” showing Mays beaming with his hands resting on his knees, his bevy of athletic accomplishments painted around him.
The artwork was created by artist Chuck Styles, who said he wanted to capture Mays’ humanity.
“I knew I wanted to showcase him in a way that everybody knew him for,” Styles said, “and that was his smile.”
Other tributes to Mays, born in Westfield, Ala., near Birmingham, poured in all over the country on Wednesday, including from President Joe Biden.
“Like so many others in my neighborhood and around the country, when I played Little League, I wanted to play center field because of Willie Mays,” Biden said in a statement. “It was a rite of passage to practice his basket catches, daring steals, and command at the plate — only to be told by coaches to cut it out because no one can do what Willie Mays could do.”
Barry Bonds and Ken Griffey Jr. were among the baseball legends to offer reflection and condolences on social media this week in response to Mays’ death.
“I am beyond devastated and overcome with emotion, ” Bonds said of Mays. “I have no words to describe what you mean to me. You helped 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.”
Mays was a teammate of Bonds’ father, Bobby Bonds, from 1968 to 1972. He was also on hand to watch Bonds hit his 756th career home run, setting a new mark in MLB history in August 2007.
Griffey, who wore the same number (24) as Mays, wrote on Instagram that he was “heartbroken and devastated” and called Mays the “godfather of all centerfields.”
Griffey also appeared on MLB Network and said his “heart is on the floor.”
“I was supposed to see him a couple of weeks ago,” Griffey said. “I got a call saying, ‘hey, the doctor wanted him to rest.’ To hear the news is devastating.”
Griffey met Mays when he was a child, while watching his father, Ken Griffey Sr., play for the Cincinnati Reds. He said Mays later started mentoring him when he was a 17-year-old budding baseball star.
Baker–and a childhood friend of Bobby Bonds during their youth in Riverside–told USA Today that “something told me” to visit Mays.
“My dad used to always tell me that if you’re thinking of someone, don’t put it off. You don’t know if you’ll ever see them again. Well, I went to see him, and thank God I did,” Baker said.
Former President Barack Obama also commented on social media about the news of Mays’ death:
“Willie Mays wasn’t just a singular athlete, blessed with an unmatched combination of grace, skill and power,” Obama wrote. “He was also a wonderfully warm and generous person–and an inspiration to an entire generation. I’m lucky to have spent time with him over the years, and Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to his family.”
Mays, who began his professional career with the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues in 1948, had been baseball’s oldest living Hall of Famer and was considered the sport’s greatest living player.
He died just days prior to last night’s game between the Giants and St. Louis Cardinals at Rockwood Field in Birmingham.
“It’s actually even heavier today,” said Giants manager Bob Melvin, wearing a Mays T-shirt. “When you read all the articles and you read what everybody has to say about him, it kind of comes full circle in what he’s meant to our country. Even if you don’t know baseball, you know who Willie Mays is.”
The Giants wore patches with Mays’ No. 24 on their chest for Wednesday’s game against the Chicago Cubs.
Cardinals assistant coach Willie McGee said he had several conversations with Mays when he played for the Giants from 1991-94.
“Willie was the best, man, the greatest I have ever seen,” McGee said. “He had all six tools. His aggressiveness, his baserunning. That is what separated him, for me, his aggressiveness and his instincts from other five-tool guys.”
When asked if Mays ever gave him any advice, McGee chuckled.
“All the time — but I don’t remember none of it,” he said.
Some of the most sincere words Wednesday came from those who grew up in Alabama.
Jameis Winston, a backup quarterback with the Cleveland Browns who was born in Bessemer, Ala., smiled graciously as he looked out at Rickwood Field. Winston was in town along with many other notable figures to celebrate Mays and the Negro Leagues in a celebrity softball game at the ballpark.
“He was an amazing man,” Winston said. “He had a tremendous legacy, a tremendous career playing baseball. I’m so happy that I’m allowed to be on the diamond, united with all my brothers.”
Next to Winston, comedian and actor Roy Wood Jr. spoke thoughtfully and earnestly. Wood, who grew up playing high school baseball at Rickwood Field, was doing a broadcast at the ballpark Tuesday night when news of Mays’ death was announced.
“The dichotomy of live television is trying to remain human but also being a professional,” Wood said. “And it was saddening. … There was a 90-second round of applause for Willie Mays, and you looked up in the crowd and you saw people crying but you saw them hugging and smiling.”
Tags: Willie Mays, Barry Bonds, Dusty Baker, Ken Griffey Jr., Joe Biden, Barack Obama