COLUMN: Mays passing rekindles memories of his legacy and rivals
Chandler Simpson and the Montgomery Biscuits honored Willie Mays and the history of the Negro Southern League in the Rickwood Classic on Tuesday. (Courtesy Montgomery Biscuits)
By GRAHAM DUNN
A game created to celebrate a somewhat forgotten part of the history of professional baseball took a decided detour on Tuesday.
The annual Rickwood Classic, which originated in 1996, was dedicated this year to the life and times of Willie Mays, who began his pro career at age 17 with the Birmingham Black Barons in 1948.
The Montgomery Biscuits - displaying honor of the Negro Southern League with Gray Sox uniforms - faced Birmingham in similar garb that represented the Black Barons, Mays’ first professional team at the revamped Rickwood Field.
The “Sox” won an important game in regards to the Southern League South Division standings with a 6-5 victory, but few were interested in celebrating.
The dye for the evening had been cast to honor the late Willie Mays.
An announcement of his passing was made in the stadium in between the later innings of the game and the crowd stood and honored Mays for several minutes. A few broke out a chant of “Willie” a practice that is all too familiar in today’s ballparks.
It was somewhat ironic and yet, with the jolting announcement, no one seemingly knew the proper procedure to acknowledge the news while celebrating the man that had excited crowds for many decades. A standing ovation was appropriate. So was the chant.
There will be more celebration on Thursday when St. Louis and San Francisco arrive in Birmingham for what has been deemed the “MLB at Rickwood” game by the league.
Already set to honor the career of Mays, who spent 24 years in the majors, mostly with the Giants franchise, it now will be a somewhat somber homage to his legacy.
Surely the tributes will rain down on Thursday but as a childhood fan of Henry Aaron, my memories will travel back to the battle between Mays and the “Hammer” in the race to catch Babe Ruth’s record of 714 home runs.
The comparisons between the two greats endured the three decades played in the league together. Mays had somewhat of a head start on the race, beginning his career in 1951 while Aaron’s began three years later.
Mays lost basically two seasons (1952-53) due to service in the military, but still managed 23 seasons as a pro, slugging 660 home runs. Many say he would have caught Ruth had his career not had the short pause.
Aaron’s career also lasted roughly 23 seasons, although his final time in 1976 only included 85 games with the Milwaukee Brewers. His 755 home runs is still, in my book, the all-time high since the number was not steeped in controversy due to steroids use by the current career home run leader, Barry Bonds.
The debate still rages on who was better but when asked about the rivalry, neither Aaron or Mays would bite. Aaron, who passed away in 2021, typically gave Mays credit for his exploits while Mays was a bit more tempered but as time went on, he was complementary of his rival.
Aaron was once asked if there was a rivalry. He stated that the two got along fine and “that is the furthest thing from the truth I can think of.”
Published reports attempted to divide the two as “ultra competitive” and that Mays was begrudging of the attention Aaron received in the late stages of the race for the home run title.
Competitve, yes. But proof says the rivalry was not over the top.
In later years, Aaron would state that Mays “was the best player going,” and complimented his unofficial rival whenever he had. the chance.
Legend has it that Mays would use Aaron’s bats when the two faced each other. Seems out of place for a rivalry… Would a superhero let a super villain borrow his cape?
While Mays played before New York City’s hyper-media culture, Aaron played in markets that were less immersed in that world. It was typical for New York columnists to pry into the thoughts Mays had about Aaron and typically would take comments out of context.
If there are any questions regarding the media-created duels, read about the race for 61 home runs between Mantle and Maris. By the time the 1961 season ended, the media had the two hating each other when nothing was further from the truth.
One fact does stand as of Tuesday evening, it gave old timers the end of the glory years of baseball. Mays was typically called the “greatest living player in MLB history.” With his passing, he has joined the heroes of the game and the legend now has a grand finish.