CHICAGO — His jersey hung in the San Francisco Giants dugout. His memory was present in everyone’s minds.
The Giants honored Willie Mays by wearing No. 24 patches on their chest for Wednesday afternoon’s series finale against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Players from both teams stood in the warning track before the national anthem and observed a minute of silence, as players did in all major league stadiums.
The news of Mays’ death at age 93 on Tuesday was too sudden for anyone in uniform to comprehend. It took a night’s rest to understand the magnitude of what was lost: the biggest star and ambassador of one of baseball’s most decorated franchises, a man who merged the eras of the New York Giants and of San Francisco, a historic figure in the complex and ongoing social life of America. and racial reckoning that was both part of his era and also transcended it, and an icon whose ebullient play and boundless talent created some of baseball’s most enduring images while the sport was at its peak. her popularity.
The Giants will always miss Willie Mays.
GO FURTHER
Giants React to Willie Mays’ Death: ‘The Things He Did, We’ll Never See Again’
This was a team that needed a spark in a 6-5 loss to the Cubs on Wednesday afternoon. They made a series of defensive mistakes playing a bullpen game in which they couldn’t afford to give up outs. The Giants showed more boldness in the bottom of the inning when Jorge Soler’s grand slam erased almost all of a five-run deficit, and they got the winning run on the bases in the ninth after getting two walks with one out. But they couldn’t complete the comeback as Heliot Ramos and Patrick Bailey were knocked out.
Jorge Soler’s grand slam makes it a one-point game in the 8th! pic.twitter.com/ZFwXAh0exK
– Talking Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 19, 2024
Willie Mays may be the ultimate embodiment of the Giants, but their current roster is not the perfect embodiment of him. They are not dynamic enough. They are not consistent enough. They didn’t play with enough intelligence or attention to detail. They are last in the major leagues in stolen bases for the second straight season.
“I think we’re still creating our identity as an offense,” said outfielder Austin Slater, their longest-tenured player.
The good news is that the National League is full of teams like them: underachievers and water runners. The other good news is that there is still a large part of the season to play.
We continue Thursday when the Giants will honor Mays by playing in his hometown.
Club officials spent most of the year planning this trip to Birmingham, Alabama, and the historic game at Rickwood Field against the St. Louis Cardinals that will serve as a tribute to the Negro Leagues. The Giants were selected to play in the game because they are Willie Mays’ franchise and it was at 115-year-old Rickwood, the nation’s oldest professional baseball stadium, that 17-year-old Mays began his baseball career. professional baseball. with the Black Barons of Birmingham.
Even though the Giants and Major League Baseball had known for some time that Mays would be too frail to travel to Alabama, much of the event was designed as a celebration of his life and legacy.
“Now he’s going to carry more weight,” Slater said. “There’s going to be more heaviness in what we’re going to celebrate. It becomes more of a memory. The celebration is not missed, but these moments are going to be heavier.
Growing up in segregated Westfield, Alabama, as the son of an iron foundry worker and a semi-pro baseball star, Mays considered playing at Rickwood Field for the Black Barons to be the pinnacle of that what he could accomplish in baseball. Mays was a few weeks shy of his 16th birthday in 1947 when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier and debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Mays still achieved his dream of playing at Rickwood Field. But due to Robinson’s sacrifice, Mays did not play long for the Black Barons. Mays was the National League Rookie of the Year in 1951 when he debuted with the New York Giants, beginning a quarter-century major league career that came to be considered by many as unrivaled in terms of overall impact and talent.
It was hard enough for the current Giants players and coaches to deal with the passing of Mays and everything he meant to their franchise, to baseball, and to the country as they attempted to play the remainder of their playoff series. Wrigley Field. It will be even more overwhelming to take the field in his honor and in his hometown.
“I don’t think we can figure that out right now,” Melvin said. “With his passing, it goes to another level. It will be a special and memorable day. I know it will be for me in my baseball career.
“You read all the articles and what everyone has to say about him and you understand what he means to our country, even if you don’t know baseball.”
The Giants announced they will open the gates to their waterfront baseball stadium in San Francisco — the one located at 24 Willie Mays Plaza — on Thursday to fans who want to honor Mays and pay homage to the legacy of the Negro Leagues . The match will be televised on the scoreboard. There will be a No. 24 sculpture at center field for fans to view and a book of condolences that fans will be encouraged to sign. Doors will be open from noon to 8 p.m. PDT. First pitch at Rickwood Field is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. PDT.
In honor of Willie pic.twitter.com/WuCEjhVyVV
– SFGiants (@SFGiants) June 19, 2024
The Giants and Major League Baseball officials were discussing additional plans to honor Mays before the game, including the possibility of all players wearing No. 24. Melvin said he fully supported the idea. Giants right-hander Sean Hjelle, who wears number 64, said he would be happy to trade his 6 for a 2 to show his respect and appreciation for the franchise legend.
It’s a deep disappointment that Giants first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. won’t be able to play in the game as he goes through the final stages of his rehab progression for a hamstring strain. The Giants appealed to Major League Baseball to allow Wade to be activated for one day — the Giants and Cardinals each receive a 27th player on Thursday because of the additional travel involved — but the league declined the request, saying the rules are rules and that Wade could not be backdated if he were to be listed for a day and placed back on the IL.
Last year, on May 6, when Mays visited the Giants clubhouse on his 92nd birthday, he requested a one-on-one with just one player. He sent clubhouse manager emeritus Mike Murphy to look for Wade. When Murphy found Wade in the trainer’s room, the outfielder jumped off the table and doubled over to Murphy’s office.
“I can’t have Willie waiting for me,” Wade said last year. “It was a very special moment that we were able to share with him, see him smile and talk about baseball and life in general. And for him to know who I am, it’s crazy.
“This time I thought about going in with a firm grip,” Wade continued. “If you don’t shake his hand forcefully, he’ll let you know. It’s, “Hey, are you sick or something?” It’s really cool to see how he still watches our matches. … He asked me, “Do you play every day?” I said, “Well, not yet, Willie. Here, they have a sort of platoon system. He said being right-handed or left-handed didn’t matter to him. Keep everything simple.
“I love hearing him talk about hitting. And knowing that he’s paying attention definitely gives you the motivation to play the game the right way.
If Mays’ spirit endures, so does his motivation. And the Giants will never be more pumped to play in Mays’ honor than when they step onto Rickwood Field.
Right-hander Keaton Winn will face Cardinals right-hander Andre Pallante. Then, after a planned day off Friday to protect against rain in Birmingham, it will be Jordan Hicks and Logan Webb on the Giants’ mound this weekend at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
When the Giants return home to face the Cubs again on Monday in San Francisco, they will once again scramble to fill the back end of a rotation that hasn’t worked with five healthy starters all season. It won’t be easy to navigate the remainder of their first-half schedule and stay afloat while awaiting the return of Blake Snell, Robbie Ray, Alex Cobb, Tristan Beck and Kyle Harrison. Then again, as Melvin recalled Wednesday, Mays played more games in windy and inhospitable Candlestick Park than any other venue. And he never complained about how difficult it was.
“I know we’re going to figure it out and start playing complete baseball,” Slater said, after the Giants lost two of three to a Cubs team that hadn’t won a three-game series since the 10 -May 12. “We played a lot of incomplete games. Parts of our game have been really good and a third part is falling apart. But there’s still plenty of season left to find out, and I’m sure we will.
(Photo of Bob Melvin with Willie Mays’ jersey behind him in the Giants dugout: Kamil Krzaczynski / USA Today)