Major League Baseball issues a statement on the death of “this true Giant on and off the field.”
Mays grew up near Rickwood Field and started his pro baseball career in 1948 playing at the Birmingham ballpark for the Birmingham Black Barons, a flagship franchise of Black baseball during the game’s segregated era and a member of the Negro American League at the time.
“Just as his career was ascending, Willie served his country in the U.S. Army in 1952 and 1953. As the 1954 NL MVP, he led the Giants to victory in the World Series, in which he made one of the most memorable plays ever with ‘The Catch’ in the deep center field of the Polo Grounds. All told, Willie was a two-time MVP, a 24-time All-Star, a 12-time Gold Glover, a selection as one of the game’s Greatest Living Players in 2015, and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom later that year.
@River-Birmingham Rickwood Field MLB 2024 @Contributor
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