In Birmingham, a Negro Leagues event becomes a Willie Mays celebration

Howard, a three-time all-star, had plenty of company when he stopped by Mays’s plaque for a picture. Former major league stars CC Sabathia, Adam Jones and Jimmy Rollins gathered to pay respect to Mays, who died Tuesday at 93.

“This is the reason why we’re here,” Sabathia said. “To celebrate Willie. To be able to come out here and put this celebration. … It feels right that we were already here.”

Major League Baseball planned to use this week — highlighted by Thursday’s Cardinals-Giants game at 114-year-old Rickwood — to spotlight Black baseball history and former Negro Leagues greats. Mays, born just five miles away from the ballpark, was originally expected to attend but sent word this week that he would not. Then came the news, delivered to Giants fans midgame by a bereft play-by-play announcer.

“It changed [Tuesday] night,” Sean Gibson, the great-grandson of former Negro Leagues slugger Josh Gibson, said Wednesday morning at the Birmingham Negro Southern League Museum. “We went from honoring Willie Mays to now celebrating Willie Mays. Being here in Birmingham where he started his career … I believe that his time in the Negro Leagues really helped him be a great major league baseball player.”

Mays’s legacy was on full display at the museum and his shadow loomed large over the day, whether as part of the exhibit honoring the 1948 Birmingham Black Barons, on a mural unveiled a few miles away or during a luncheon at the museum hosted by the Negro Leagues Family Alliance, a group of families of former players whose mission is to preserve the leagues’ history and legacy. Among those in attendance were the families of Buck Leonard and Rube Foster as well as Jackie Robinson’s granddaughter, Sonya Pankey Robinson.

Bria and Renee Scudder, family of Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe, were in attendance Wednesday, too. Radcliffe played catcher and pitcher for 16 seasons, including four for the Black Barons. Bria Scudder said their family still remembers a Negro Leagues event in Washington that Radcliffe attended before he died in 2005. Mays stopped Radcliffe that day and told him how much of an influence he was on him. That memory surfaced Wednesday with a mix of sadness and gratitude.

“I don’t think you can be prepared to hear something like [the news of Mays’s death],” Bria Scudder said. “It’s Willie Mays. It’s definitely a hard day for us and for everyone as we talk about it. Because, again, we weren’t expecting that to be a part of the conversation. But certainly [he is] deserving of so much praise and recognition for what he was able to continue to do for the game.”

In downtown Birmingham, Mays’s legacy was honored with the unveiling of a mural by artist Chuck Styles. Mays is depicted with a smile as he leans over with his hands on his knees. Under his name were pennants and career accomplishments. In small print next to his name:

“Birmingham’s Own ‘Say Hey’ Kid … Centerfielder & the game’s greatest all-around player of all time.”

Before his death, Mays asked Jeff Bleich and Dusty Baker, who wasn’t in attendance, to present the city of Birmingham with a clock on his behalf. Bleich, a former U.S. diplomat and longtime friend of Mays, read a statement that Mays had written in which he acknowledged his roots — and the fact that MLB finally now counts Negro Leagues stats in its official register:

“Birmingham, I wish I could be with you all today,” Bleich read. “This is where I’m from. I had my first pro hit here at Rickwood as a Baron in 1948. And now, this year, some 76 years later, it finally got counted in the record books. Some things take time, but I always think better late than never. Time changes things. Time heals wounds, and that is 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 remember all the other players who were lucky enough to play here at Rickwood Field in Birmingham. Remember, time is on your side.”

Bleich remarked that what a person puts on a wall says a lot about they value. On the wall of Mays’s home office, Bleich said, Mays had his diploma from Fairfield Industrial High School and the key to the city of Birmingham. And now, the city has its native son on one of its walls.

On Wednesday night, at the field where he blossomed into a star, Mays’s legacy was on display in the Black stars from generations that came after him. Howard and former all-stars Dexter Fowler and Justin Upton suited up for the “Say Heys.” In the other dugout, the “Hammerin’ Hanks” (honoring Hank Aaron) included Sabathia and Jones, who called Mays the “godfather of center fielders” and said he paved the way for players like him.

“Let’s celebrate his life,” Jones said. “I know it’s saddening because he won’t be around anymore, but let’s celebrate the greatness that he brought. Let’s have some fun. Let’s play the game with flair today.”