Shut up!” insisted Willie Mays, the baseball legend who died last Tuesday at age 93. “Just shut up!”
It was the summer of 1964, and Mays had convened all of the Black and Latino players on the San Francisco Giants in a hotel room in Pittsburgh. A newspaper column had quoted their manager, Alvin Dark, making racist comments about their intellectual and cultural deficiencies. Some of Mays’ teammates, including star Orlando Cepeda, were threatening to boycott games. They wanted Dark fired.
The approximately 30-minute tribute was held at San Francisco’s first home game since the team’s beloved star died Tuesday at the age of 93.
He won hearts on the East Coast, he won hearts on the West Coast, and everywhere in between,” Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow said during the tribute.
The tribute featured a video showing highlights of the charismatic star’s career, along with Barack Obama presenting Mays the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015.
The Giants planned additional tributes for the late Hall of Famer throughout the game against the Chicago Cubs, which San Francisco won 5-4 to snap a five-game skid.
“We all got to wear No. 24, and that’s pretty cool,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said, acknowledging the win was especially meaningful on a night when the team held a tribute for Mays.
“All the stuff pregame, it certainly gets your attention, and we’ve been thinking about this all week and finally win a game for him,” Melvin said. “Whether it was Rickwood or whatever, we had trouble winning games during his tributes, so it was good to be able to do it at home here.”
Mays played 21 seasons with the Giants and the two-time MVP and 24-time All-Star remains the franchise’s all-time career leader in home runs (646), hits (3,187), extra-base hits (1,289), games played (2,857) and at-bats (10,477), among other categories.
All Giants players and coaches wore Mays’ number for Monday’s game.
The commemoration follows a nationally televised game between the Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday at Rickwood Field in Alabama, which MLB heralded as “A Tribute to the Negro Leagues,” honoring the legacy of Mays, along with other impactful Black baseball stars.
“We’re honored to be here on tonight and I’m sure the pregame will be a special time for sure,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said before Monday’s game.
“In that perspective, glad we could be here for part of the tribute.
