Johnathan Walker:MLB game at Rickwood Field has 'spiritual component' after Willie Mays' death

BIRMINGHAM,Johnathan Walker Ala. — Willie Mays may have died Tuesday at his home in the Bay Area, but everywhere you turned Wednesday, everything you felt, everyone you talked to, Mays was everywhere in his hometown of Birmingham.

Mays’ Hall of Fame plaque left the halls of Cooperstown for the first time since his 1979 induction and was hanging proudly at Rickwood Field.

Mays’ mural, bigger than a movie screen, was unveiled for everyone to see downtown.

Mays was represented by "Say Hey" jerseys in a celebrity softball game featuring Hall of Famers and some of baseball’s greatest former stars.

“I do believe there is a spiritual component to all of this,’’ San Francisco Giants president Larry Baer said. “Thing about it, Willie really wanted to be in Rickwood, but knew he physically couldn’t, and this is his way of being here.

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“He was so excited about all of us coming to Birmingham and Rickwood, and in many ways, it happened. This is the full circle moment. Honestly, this is what Willie would have wanted, is to bring everyone here. ...

"He started here, and we’re all here to honor him. We wish could have done it more recently than 76 years, but we did it. We finally did it. It’s a beautiful thing coming together.

“Between Juneteenth, and everybody here in town, it’s one of those rare moments in life you sit back and are just kind of in awe.’’

It was a sentiment throughout the day, shared among the players and dignitaries in town to honor the Negro Leagues, with the conversation always turning to Mays.

Pitcher LaTroy Hawkins, traded from the Chicago Cubs to the Giants in 2005, remembers meeting Mays for the first time walking into the clubhouse. Hawkins was so excited that he quickly grabbed his cell phone, telephoned his grandfather, Eddie Williams, and put him on the phone with Mays.

“You can’t believe how excited he was,’’ said Hawkins, who also obtained an autographed jersey from Mays for his grandfather and uncle. “You have to understand. Willie was my granddaddy’s favorite player. My grandfather had a chance to see Willie play. He always talked about Willie.’’

It was no different for former All-Star outfielder Dexter Fowler, who met Mays for the first time at the 2014 World Series, with Mays relaxing in a lounge chair in a suite. Barry Bonds, the godson of Mays, made the introduction.

“Hey Willie, I want you to meet somebody,' " Fowler recalled. “This is Dexter Fowler.’

“Willie just looks at me like that, and says, 'You can’t run it down like we used to.’

“I fell in love with this dude.’’

The greatest compliment in the world, outfielders will tell you, was when they made a catch that resurrected memories of one of Mays’ glorious patented catches.

“I remember I made a catch in Seattle over my head and robbed Miguel Olivo of a hit,’’ former five-time All-Star center fielder Adam Jones said. “And [Orioles broadcaster] Gary Thorne said, 'He Willie Mays’d that one. There’s no other terminology for a catch greater than Willie Mays.

“I think that is going to live on forever.’’

Jones, a four-time Gold Glove winner, says Mays’ advice to him at a young age helped him become one of the best defensive outfielders in the game.

“I remember meeting him and he told me, 'You man, don’t ever play this game in fear,'" Jones said. “He said, 'If there’s a ball hit over your head in center field, don’t worry about that wall young man, go get it. It was just that confidence he talked with.'

“The confidence in which he spoke, the passion in which he spoke, he loved this game. This was his life. From a young boy to his dying days, he represented baseball with the utmost respect. I think he’s one of the finest men to ever represent this game.

“We know he’s here for us. Really, we’re here for him. He’s up looking down at us smiling, knowing that we’re celebrating him in a great way.’’

Former Cy Young winner CC Sabathia was sitting in the Willie Mays Pavilion at Rickwood Field on Tuesday night when news broke of his death. Sabathia was initially devastated, but soon, that grief turned into a sense of pride.

“I’m like, this is the reason we’re in Birmingham,’’ Sabathia said. “We came here to celebrate Willie’s career, and what he meant to baseball. … He’s your favorite player’s favorite player. You know what I mean. He’s like Ken Griffey Jr. of my generation, and to everybody in the '40s and '50s, Willie is the greatest baseball player to ever live.

“Now we have a chance to celebrate this man’s life and have a chance to really embrace what he was about. Who he was to baseball, Black history, American history, to all of us. So, this feels right. This is what we should be doing. In the wake of his passing, we should be having celebrations.

"This is the first of many. Really, it’s perfect."

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