CELEBRATIONS HONOR WILLIE MAYS AND NEGROE LEAGUE PLAYERS AHEAD OF MLB GAME AT RICKWOOD FIELD

 BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — As Ajay Stone strolled around historic Rickwood Field and gazed at tributes displayed in honor of Willie Mays and other Negro Leaguers, he clutched a cherished memory under his arm.

It was a picture from 2004 of Mays holding Stone's then-10-month-old daughter Haley, who was wearing San Francisco Giants gear. In Mays' hand was a chunk of a chocolate chip cookie, which he was handing over for Haley to eat.

“Willie gave her that cookie. She had no teeth,” Stone remembered. "But we took the cookie and we kept it in her stroller for a year and a half. The great Willie Mays gave it to her, so it was special to us.”

Stone and his wife Christina traveled from Charlotte, North Carolina, to be in Birmingham, Alabama, on Thursday for a moment they deemed just as special.

It was hours before Rickwood Field hosted its first Major League Baseball game, as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Giants 6-5. The game, which MLB called “A Tribute to the Negro Leagues,” was meant to honor the legacy of Mays and other Black baseball greats who left an enduring mark on the sport.

MLB planned a week of activities around Mays and the Negro Leagues, including an unveiling ceremony on Wednesday of a Willie Mays mural in downtown Birmingham. Those tributes took on a more significant meaning Tuesday afternoon when Mays died at 93. As news of his death spread throughout Birmingham, celebrations of his life ramped up.

You could hear the celebration at Rickwood Field on Thursday even before arriving at the ballpark with the rapid thumping of a drum echoing from inside the ballpark, excited murmurs from fans skipping toward the music and frequent bursts of laughter.

Inside, there were reminders of history all around.

There were photos and artifacts of baseball Hall of Famers who played at the 114-year-old ballpark, including Jackie Robinson, Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige. The original clubhouse of the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues, where Mays got his pro start in 1948, was open. A memorial of Mays was at the front, with bobbleheads, a signed glove and his Black Barons and San Francisco Giants jerseys on display.

Outside, fans stood in line to hold a baseball bat used by Mays in 1959. They took photos sitting inside an original bus from 1947 that was typically used during barnstorming tours by Negro Leagues teams. They danced to live music and ate food from concession stands featuring menu boards designed to reflect the look and feel of the 1940s.

Eddie Torres and his son Junior wore matching Giants jerseys as they took pictures inside the ballpark. They're lifelong Giants fans who came from California for the game.

“I never even got to see Willie Mays play, but as a Giants fan, you knew what he meant to the game of baseball,” Torres said. “My son, he’s only 11. Willie Mays had such an effect on the game that even he knew who Willie Mays was."

Musical artist Jon Batiste strummed a guitar while dancing on a wooden stage near home plate just before the first pitch. Fans stood as former Negro Leaguers were helped to the field for a pregame ceremony.

Shouts of “Willie! Willie! broke out after a brief moment of silence.

For Michael Jackson, sitting in the stands at Rickwood Field reminded him of the past.

The 71-year-old Jackson played baseball in the 1970s and 80s with the East Thomas Eagles of the Birmingham Industrial League, which was a semi-professional league made up of iron and steel workers that was an integral form of entertainment in Birmingham in the 20th century.

Jackson’s baseball journey took him to Rickwood Field many times. After all these years, he was just excited that it’s still standing.

“It’s nice seeing them re-do all of this," he said, “instead of tearing it down. We played in the same ballpark they named after Willie Mays out in Fairfield (Alabama). And then I had my times out here playing at this ballpark. It's all very exciting.”

- ALANIS THAMES

BASEBALL LEGEND WILLIE MAYS, ALL-ROUND GREAT OF AMERICA'S PASTIME, DIES AT 93

Willie Mays, star outfielder for the San Francisco Giants, arrives on Feb. 4, 1962 at a San Francisco public playground equipped for a workout on his own. Mays, who recently signed a Giants contract for an estimated $90,000 largest in Giants history, said he wanted to limber up some as spring training is just around the corner. Robert Houston/Associated Press 1982

 

 Willie Mays, the Hall of Fame centerfielder whose all-around skills made him one of greatest baseball players of all time, died on Tuesday at the age of 93, Major League Baseball announced.

Mays, who brought an explosive exuberance to the game in his peak years, died of heart failure, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Mays played 23 seasons for the New York Giants, San Francisco Giants and New York Mets, from 1951 through 1973.

In his prime, he could do it all on the baseball field. Mays was the epitome of what came to be known as a "five-tool player" - meaning he was exceptional at hitting for average, hitting for power, fielding, throwing and baserunning.

But Mays' talent was only part of what made him a superstar. He also played with a verve and passion that were discernible even to spectators in the cheap seats. He was known for playing stickball with kids on the streets of Harlem, near the former Polo Grounds where he played.

In the real games, fans delighted when Mays would sprint with such speed and fury that he would run out from under his hat as he stole a base or chased down a flyball to deep centerfield.

His snag of a fly ball in the 1954 World Series, sprinting with his back toward home plate some 460 feet away, is known simply as The Catch.

"He could do everything and do it better than anyone else, (and) with a joyous grace," wrote New York Times sports columnist Arthur Daley.

Mays, known as "The Say Hey Kid" because of his standard greeting, was ranked second on The Sporting News' 1998 list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players - behind Babe Ruth and ahead of Ty Cobb.

Baseball-Reference.com ranks him fifth all time using the modern statistic Wins Above Replacement, which measures a player's overall value, behind Ruth, pitchers Walter Johnson and Cy Young, and his godson Barry Bonds.

Mays was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979, his first year of eligibility, won the Most Valuable Player award twice and was named to the all-star team 24 times, a record shared only with Hank Aaron and Stan Musial.

When he retired, Mays held third place on the all-time home run list with 660, behind Aaron at 755 and Ruth with 714. He was also the first ballplayer to hit 300 homers and steal 300 bases.

Willie Howard Mays Jr. was born in the gritty steel town of Westfield, Alabama, on May 6, 1931, during the segregation era and was inspired early to play ball by his father and an uncle, he said.

"My uncle would say every day, 'You're going to be a baseball player. You're going to be a baseball player, and we're gonna see to that,'" he said. "At 10, I was playing against 18-year-old guys. At 15, I was playing professional ball with the Birmingham Black Barons, so I really came very quickly in all sports."

Mays joined the New York Giants of the National League early in the 1951 season, four years after Jackie Robinson had integrated Major League Baseball. He failed to get a hit in his first 12 trips to the plate before smacking his first, a home run off future Hall of Fame pitcher Warren Spahn.

Mays went on to win Rookie of the Year honors in 1951 with a .274 average, helping the Giants come from 13 games behind the Brooklyn Dodgers before his team won the pennant on a legendary home run by Bobby Thomson. Mays, then 20 years old, was on deck when Thomson hit his home run, later telling reporters he was so nervous he prayed he would not come to bat.

Mays missed most of the 1952 season and all of 1953 while serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, spending much of his service time playing for the Army baseball team.

He returned to the Giants in 1954 and won the first of his two Most Valuable Player awards as he paced the Giants to a four-game World Series sweep of the Cleveland Indians. In the first game of that series, Mays pulled off The Catch, which remains one of the most memorable plays in baseball history.

At New York's Polo Grounds, the Indians' Vic Wertz hit a shot to deep centerfield. Mays turned, sprinted toward the wall, made a graceful over-the-shoulder catch and then immediately whirled around and made a perfect throw that kept two Cleveland baserunners from advancing.

"I was a guy, when I first came up, I believed I could catch any ball that stayed in the ballpark," Mays told an interviewer years later. "I guess I was kind of a cocky kid, knowing that if the ball went up, I could catch it."

In 1958, the Giants moved to San Francisco, where Mays was not quite so beloved. Fans crowding into tiny Seals Stadium, the Giants' first home, instead embraced rookie sensations Orlando Cepeda and Willie McCovey as their own.

"Mays never was to San Francisco what he was to New York," wrote sportswriter Dick Young. "When the Giants moved to California, the San Francisco fans saw Mays as 'of' New York."

The Giants moved into cavernous and windy Candlestick Park in 1960, robbing Mays of many home runs that would have gone out in a more typical ballpark.

But Mays still possessed extraordinary skills and in 1962, carried the Giants to another playoff win over the Dodgers and into the World Series.

The series was a seven-game spellbinder won by the New York Yankees when Bobby Richardson speared a line drive for the final out of the game with Mays on second base, representing what would have been the winning run.

By the late 1960s, Mays was slowing down. In May 1972, he was traded to the New York Mets and made a final World Series appearance in 1973, his last season, when the Mets lost to the Oakland Athletics in seven games. He retired later that year.

In his book "Willie's Time," baseball writer and historian Charles Einstein wrote:

"The lights were hot and the cameras rolled and you knew Willie was there because you heard that laugh. Came The Automatic Question: 'Who was the greatest player you ever saw?' His answer was prompt enough: 'I thought I was.' There was merriment in his eyes as he looked around the room. 'I hope I didn't say that wrong.'"

- Reuters 

MLB ROUNDUP: PIRATES STUN GIANTS WITH LATE OUTBURST

USA TODAY Sports 

 Nick Gonzales hit a walk-off RBI single in the 10th inning after Pittsburgh tied the score with four runs in the ninth, lifting the Pirates to a 7-6 victory over the visiting San Francisco Giants on Tuesday.

Gonzales singled up the middle on the first pitch of the inning from Erik Miller (0-2), scoring automatic runner Michael A. Taylor from second base.

Thairo Estrada and Matt Chapman hit home runs for San Francisco, which saw a four-game winning streak come to an end. The Giants led 6-2 before Pittsburgh forced extras with its late four-run rally.

With one out and the bases loaded in the ninth, the Pirates' Ji Hwan Bae singled in a run against Camilo Doval. Andrew McCutchen followed with a ground ball that was mishandled by shortstop Marco Luciano, allowing Yasmani Grandal to score from third base.

The Pirates pulled within 6-5 when Jared Triolo scored on Bryan Reynolds' groundout, and then they tied the score on Oneil Cruz's RBI double to right field. David Bednar (3-3) pitched a scoreless 10th inning for Pittsburgh.

Astros 6, Angels 5 (10 innings)

Kyle Tucker posted his second multi-homer game in three days and scored the winning run when Jeremy Pena delivered a walk-off single in the 10th inning as Houston topped visiting Los Angeles.

Pena plated Tucker with a single to right field off Angels closer Carlos Estevez (0-3). Josh Hader (3-3) earned the win in relief for Houston, striking out four over two perfect innings.

Angels starter Griffin Canning worked five solid innings, allowing two runs on five hits and three walks to go along with two strikeouts. Astros starter Cristian Javier labored over four innings and 71 pitches, getting tagged for four runs and eight hits. He walked three and fanned one.

Phillies 5, Rangers 2

Bryce Harper hit a solo home run and a double, Ranger Suarez improved to 9-0 with seven strong innings and host Philadelphia defeated Texas.

Alec Bohm, Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto each had two hits as the Phillies won their fourth in a row. Bohm drove in two runs.

Corey Seager hit a solo home run while Derek Hill and Jonah Heim added two hits apiece for the Rangers. Marcus Semien contributed an RBI double.

Guardians 7, Mets 6

Jose Ramirez and David Fry each hit a two-run homer and Cleveland held on to beat visiting New York for its fifth straight win.

Emmanuel Clase worked around a one-out single in the ninth for his 15th save. Nick Sandlin (4-0) got the win with two-thirds of an inning out of the bullpen for the Guardians.

Mark Vientos homered for the Mets, who have dropped the first two games of the three-game set and are 9-19 in their past 28 contests.

Reds 2, Padres 0

Andrew Abbott tossed seven scoreless innings and Cincinnati took advantage of two key errors in a two-run second inning to earn a much-needed shutout victory over visiting San Diego.

Abbott (3-4) allowed just four singles and didn't allow a baserunner to reach third base in winning for the second time in his past seven starts. Fernando Cruz pitched a scoreless eighth and Alexis Diaz pitched the ninth for his eighth save. Elly De La Cruz doubled home one of the two unearned runs in the second inning for the Reds.

The Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. singled in the first inning for his 500th career hit. San Diego right-hander Joe Musgrove gave up two unearned runs on three hits over three innings while throwing 66 pitches in his return from the injured list.

Brewers 7, Marlins 5

Former Miami star Christian Yelich slugged a go-ahead, two-run triple in the eighth inning, leading visiting Milwaukee to a win over the Marlins.

William Contreras went 2-for-4 with three RBIs in the win. He also walked and scored the go-ahead run in the eighth. Brewers rookie reliever Tobias Myers (1-2) pitched one scoreless inning to earn his first major league win.

Miami shortstop Tim Anderson, who hadn't played since May 10 due to a back injury, went 2-for-4 with a run. A.J. Puk (0-5) took the loss, allowing three runs in two-thirds of an inning.

Twins 10, Nationals 0

Joe Ryan pitched seven shutout innings, Byron Buxton hit two of Minnesota's four home runs and the visiting Twins routed Washington to snap a seven-game losing streak.

Jose Miranda and Willi Castro also homered for the Twins, who ended their longest losing streak since an eight-game skid in April 2018. Ryan (3-3) allowed three hits and two walks while striking out six as he bounced back from a loss to the Yankees last Thursday.

Washington starter Patrick Corbin (1-5) gave up eight runs on nine hits -- three of them home runs -- and three walks over six innings. He struck out three and saw his ERA climb to 6.29.

Red Sox 5, Rays 2

Boston scored three runs over the eighth and ninth innings en route to a victory against Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Jarren Duran and Reese McGuire both homered as Boston took the first two games of the three-game series, giving the Red Sox their first series win at Tropicana Field since 2019.

Isaac Paredes went 3-for-4 and drove in both Tampa Bay runs. The Rays recorded just three hits after the first inning.

Mariners 6, Yankees 3

Dylan Moore homered twice and drove in four runs, Bryan Woo pitched six scoreless innings and visiting Seattle beat New York.

Moore hit a two-run homer in the third inning off Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt (5-2), smacked a solo shot in the ninth and had an RBI single in the seventh for the Mariners, who have won three of their past four games. Ty France contributed a solo homer.

Schmidt allowed two runs on four hits in five innings. The Yankees lost consecutive games for the first time since April 29-30 in Baltimore.

White Sox 5, Blue Jays 0

Starter Garrett Crochet allowed two hits across six scoreless innings, Corey Julks and Danny Mendick each had two RBIs and visiting Chicago defeated Toronto, ending an eight-game losing streak against the Blue Jays and a four-game skid overall.

Toronto starter Yusei Kikuchi (2-4) allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits and three walks while striking out six in six innings. Crochet (5-4) walked one and fanned four.

Eloy Jimenez left the game after scoring in the fifth inning. He was diagnosed with a left hamstring strain.

Royals 10, Tigers 3

Bobby Witt Jr. went 3-for-4 with two home runs and tied a career high with six RBIs to help Kansas City beat visiting Detroit for its fifth straight win.

Royals starting pitcher Alec Marsh (4-1) went six innings, allowing three runs on five hits and two walks while striking out five.

Detroit starter Casey Mize (1-3) gave up six runs on nine hits to go along with a pair of strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings. The Tigers have lost three straight and five of their past seven.

Cubs 4, Braves 3 (10 innings)

Nico Hoerner's infield single drove home the winning run with one out in the 10th inning to give Chicago a win over visiting Atlanta.

With automatic runner Cody Bellinger at third, Hoerner chopped a high grounder to Atlanta first baseman Matt Olson. Olson fielded the ball cleanly but had no play as Bellinger easily scored. Luke Little (1-0) got the win while Aaron Bummer (1-2) took the loss.

Atlanta starter Charlie Morton, who was knocked out by the Cubs after pitching only three innings last week, regained his form. The veteran righty went five innings on Tuesday and allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits.

Athletics 5, Rockies 4

Abraham Toro led off the eighth inning with a tiebreaking home run to help Oakland beat visiting Colorado in the opener of a three-game series.

J.D. Davis and Seth Brown also homered for the A's, who ended an eight-game losing streak. Oakland starter Aaron Brooks allowed three runs and six hits in six innings.

Ezequiel Tovar homered twice and Ryan McMahon added another blast for the Rockies, who have lost four in a row. Colorado starter Cal Quantrill went six innings, allowing two runs and three hits.

Diamondbacks 7, Dodgers 3

Brandon Pfaadt pitched six strong innings and Joc Pederson hit a three-run home run against his former club as Arizona beat host Los Angeles.

Christian Walker hit a home run and Ketel Marte had a single to extend his career-best hitting streak to 20 games for the Diamondbacks. Pfaadt (2-3) gave up three runs (two earned) on four hits, with one walk and seven strikeouts.

Shohei Ohtani had two hits, two stolen bases, two runs and an RBI for the Dodgers. Ohtani's double was Los Angeles' only hit through the first five innings against Pfaadt. Dodgers right-hander Gavin Stone (4-2) gave up four runs on eight hits over six innings.

Orioles-Cardinals (suspended)

The game between Baltimore and host St. Louis was suspended due to rain with the score tied at 1-1 in the sixth inning. The game will resume Wednesday at 11:15 a.m. CT and will be followed by the third game of the series.

DODGERS' YOSHINOBU YAMAMOTO MAKES FIRST APPEARANCE VS. GIANTS

USA TODAY Sports 

 The banged-up San Francisco Giants will get their first look at one of their primary offseason targets, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, when they open a three-game home series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night.

Neither Yamamoto (4-1, 2.79 ERA) nor the Giants' scheduled starter Monday, Jordan Hicks (3-1, 2.30), pitched when the rivals met in Los Angeles in the first week of the season. The Dodgers swept that three-game set, taking the last two games by identical 5-4 counts.

Before spending big money on Blake Snell during training camp, the Giants were among the teams in the bidding for Yamamoto, a five-time All-Star and three-time Pacific League Most Valuable Player in Japan.

The Dodgers won the bidding war with a 12-year, $325 million offer.

The 25-year-old right-hander struggled in his first Major League Baseball start -- that came against the San Diego Padres in the series played in South Korea -- but he has been as advertised since, pitching to a 1.76 ERA with a 4-0 record in his past seven starts.

He has won his past three outings, giving up just two runs in 20 innings.

Yamamoto will see a Giants team decimated by injuries, but nonetheless on a two-game winning streak. Injury replacement Casey Schmitt was the hero of Sunday's 6-5, 10-inning home win over the Cincinnati Reds with a walk-off double.

The Giants prevailed despite having to go without catcher Patrick Bailey, who called in sick, and for the most part without leadoff man Jung Hoo Lee, who is believed to have dislocated his left shoulder while crashing into the center-field fence in the top of the first inning. He is set to undergo an MRI on Monday.

San Francisco already was without injured Michael Conforto, Nick Ahmed, Jorge Soler and Austin Slater, as well as starting pitchers Snell, Alex Cobb and Robbie Ray.

Shortly after Luis Matos, promoted from Triple-A before the game, scampered home with the winning run Sunday, Giants manager Bob Melvin scratched his head and tried to explain how his undermanned crew had done it.

"It's great to win a game when you have a lot of bad news during the course of it," he insisted. "It ended up being a good day as far as win/loss.

"It's just one of those times in the season when you've got to persevere. Win a game -- that's what it's all about -- and we'll regroup tomorrow."

The Dodgers flew into town Sunday night having lost two of three in San Diego. They scored only one run in a walk-off defeat Friday, before getting shut out Sunday.

The Dodgers elected to rest star Shohei Ohtani in the series finale after he complained of lower-back tightness Saturday. He is expected to play in the opener in San Francisco.

"I personally believe I can play, but really just taking it easy today," he said before Sunday's game, through an interpreter. "I was told I would be getting a day off (this week). Just earlier than I expected."

Ohtani has faced Hicks just once in their careers, grounding into a forceout last May. Ohtani played for the Los Angeles Angels and Hicks for the St. Louis Cardinals at the time.

Hicks has dominated the Dodgers in eight previous head-to-heads, seven of which have been in relief. He's gone 0-0 while allowing just four hits and no runs over those 9 2/3 innings with 17 strikeouts.

The right-hander's only previous start against the Dodgers came for the Cardinals in July 2022, a game in which he allowed a hit and three walks in 1 2/3 innings, but no runs.

- Reuters 

GIANTS AND PA ANNOUNCER RENEL BROOKS-MOON PART WAYS AFTER 24 YEARS

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 SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The San Francisco Giants and longtime public-address announcer Renel Brooks-Moon are parting ways after the sides failed to reach agreement on a contract extension.

The Giants said Monday there were “extensive discussions” about a new deal after Brooks-Moon’s contract ended in December, but instead “they mutually and amicably agreed to part ways.”

Brooks-Moon was one of baseball's first Black female PA announcers and now will be the club's public address announcer emeritus, still representing the Giants in the community as a volunteer, activist and mentor.

The booth at Oracle Park will be named in her honor.

Brooks-Moon thanked fans and wished her successor well, along with new manager Bob Melvin as the team prepares for the 2024 season.

“As a Bay Area native, it has been the honor of my lifetime to serve on the mic, and in the community for the Giants for 24 years,” Brooks-Moon said in a statement. “My very first game on April 11, 2000, I shall never forget because the job has always been bigger than me. Representation matters, and it is my great hope that my time in the booth has inspired little girls, young women and people of color to pursue their dreams even if those dreams seem impossible, because impossible dreams can come true."

Brooks-Moon became the first female public-address announcer for a World Series in 2002, and she also was the first woman to work the PA mic for a championship in any major sport.

“Renel has been the familiar and inspirational voice for generations of players and fans at Oracle Park,” Giants CEO Larry Baer said. “As an ambassador for the organization and a respected leader, Renel has been a Giant voice in the ballpark and in the community, and will be a Forever Giant. It will be a fitting tribute to name the PA booth in her honor.”