June 20, 2024, 08:26 pm ET
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — As Ajay Stone walked through historic Rickwood Field and looked at the tributes displayed for Willie Mays and other Negro Leagues players, he held a cherished memento under his arm.
It was a 2004 photo of Mays holding Stone’s then-10-month-old daughter, Haley, who was wearing San Francisco Giants gear. In Mays’ hand was a piece of chocolate chip cookie, which she was handing to Haley to eat.
“Willie gave him that cookie,” Stone recalled. “He didn’t have any teeth. But we took the cookie and kept it in his stroller for a year and a half. The great Willie Mays gave it to him, so it was special to us.”
Stone and his wife, Christina, traveled from Charlotte, North Carolina, to be in Birmingham, Alabama, on Thursday for a moment they considered just as special.
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Hours passed before Rickwood Field hosted its first Major League Baseball game, with the St. Louis Cardinals beating the Giants, 6-5. The game, which MLB called “A Tribute to the Negro Leagues,” was intended to honor the legacy of Mays and other black baseball greats who left a lasting mark on the sport.
MLB planned a week of activities around Mays and the Negro Leagues, including a dedication ceremony Wednesday for a Willie Mays mural in downtown Birmingham. Those tributes took on more significant meaning Tuesday afternoon when Mays died at age 93. As news of his death spread through Birmingham, celebrations of his life increased.
You could hear the celebration at Rickwood Field on Thursday before you even arrived: the rapid beat of a drum echoing from inside the stadium, excited murmurs from fans jumping to the music and frequent bursts of laughter.
Inside, there were reminders of history everywhere.
There were photographs and artifacts of baseball Hall of Famers who played in the 114-year-old ballpark, including Jackie Robinson, Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige. The original clubhouse of the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues, where Mays started as a professional in 1948, was open. Out front was a memorial to Mays, with dolls, a signed glove and his Black Barons and San Francisco Giants jerseys on display.
Outside, fans lined up to hold a baseball bat used by Mays in 1959. They took photos sitting inside an original 1947 bus that was typically used during tours by Negro Leagues teams. They danced to live music and ate food at concession stands with menu boards designed to reflect the look of the 1940s.
Eddie Torres and his son Junior wore matching Giants jerseys while taking photos inside the stadium. They are lifelong Giants fans who came all the way from California to watch the game.
“I didn’t even get to see Willie Mays play, but as a Giants fan, you knew what he meant to baseball,” Torres said. “My son, he’s only 11. Willie Mays had such an effect on the game that even he knew who Willie Mays was.”
Musical artist Jon Batiste strummed a guitar while dancing on a wooden stage near home plate, just before the first pitch. Fans rose to their feet as former Negro League players were helped onto the field for a pregame ceremony.
Shouts of “Willie! Willie!” He burst out after a brief moment of silence.
For Michael Jackson, sitting in the stands at Rickwood Field reminded him of the past.
Jackson, 71, played baseball in the 1970s and 1980s with the East Thomas Eagles of the Birmingham Industrial League, which was a semi-professional league made up of iron and steel workers that was an integral form of entertainment in Birmingham in the 20th century.
Jackson’s baseball journey took him to Rickwood Field many times. After all these years, he was excited that he was still standing.
“It’s nice to see them rebuild this whole thing,” he said, “instead of tearing it down. We played in the same ballpark they named after Willie Mays in Fairfield (Alabama). And then I had my moments here playing in this ballpark. It’s all very exciting.”
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