30 | ICKEY WOODS

Once there were two Bears…

RIP to one of the funniest guys in baseball.!!!⚾️

As the world pays tribute to the great Willie Mays with MLB at Rickwood Field tonight, I’m honored to have been asked to share 'The Making of a Giant,' a collaborative piece produced by @costacoscollect in partnership with Willie and artists John Costacos & @mikecampau. The artists detail the piece: “'The Making of a Giant' prominently features Rickwood Field, where in 1948 Mays began his pro baseball career at the age of 17 with the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League. The piece also highlights three historical documents that chronicle Willie’s early life and path to the majors: 1.Mays' high school diploma, with his assigned profession of CLEANING, DYEING, PRESSING. White students in segregated Alabama were allowed to decide on their own professions, but Black students were not. 2.The contract for $250 a month that Mays signed with the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League. 3.The letter from New York Giants owner Horace Stoneham to Black Barons owner Tom Hayes regarding their agreement to transfer Willie Mays’ contract to the Minneapolis Millers in exchange for $10,000. Additional items featured in the piece include: •One of Mays' report cards from high school; he was considered the best baseball player, point guard and quarterback in the state but received a B in gym class (he did get an A in sportsmanship). •A scouting report on Mays -- who is described as a "colored boy," as all Black players were before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947. The scout said Mays "has the best reflexes and coordination I've seen in a long time." It notes that if Mays were white, he would be considered "a franchise player." •The Western Union telegram that informed the Barons that Mays' contract had been purchased for $10,000 by the New York Giants organization and that he would be assigned to the Minneapolis Millers minor league team. •The floor is etched with Willie’s original autograph (used until the 70s) and covered with 660 baseballs, the number of home runs he hit in his major league career.”

For baseball fans of a certain era, all you had to do was say the name WILLIE MAYS, and it elicited unbridled joy! My heart is heavy with his death, but we owe it to him to celebrate his life with the same zest and zeal that he brought to the game! His spirit and legacy plays on!

President Bob Kendrick on the passing of Willie Mays:

Super Sky Point to the legendary Willie Mays, the greatest center fielder god ever put on this planet and the strongest remaining link to a time when major league baseball was played in Norman Rockwell’s America. The word “immortal” gets thrown around loosely. Not this time. #RIP

We are heartbroken to learn of the passing of Hall of Famer Willie Mays, one of the most exciting all-around players in the history of our sport. Mays was a two-time MVP, 24-time All-Star, 12-time Gold Glove Award winner, and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In commemoration of "The Catch" as perhaps the most famous play in the history of the Fall Classic, the World Series MVP Award was named in his honor in 2017. Mays was 93 years old.

Will the Thrill