Like baseball fans worldwide, Nebraska baseball fans are still reeling this morning after the news that Hall of Fame outfielder and perhaps the greatest ever to play the game, Willie Mays, passed away on Tuesday afternoon.
The good news here is that the 93-year-old reportedly passed away peacefully and when he did, he was surrounded by family and loved ones. Among the bad news is that he departed just days before Major League Baseball was set to honor his life and his career by playing a game between the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals at Rickwood Field.
Rickwood is the oldest professional ballpark in the United States and former home of the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues, where Mays spent the earliest parts of his professional baseball career. It’s his early career where Nebraska area baseball very briefly crossed paths with the Say Hey Kid.
The small but significant Nebraska ties with Willie Mays’ early career
After playing with the Black Barons, Mays was signed the then, New York Giants and spent a short period of time in the minor leagues with the Minneapolis Millers. In 1951, he made his case for call-up to the bigs by hitting .477 in 35 games.
That call came on May 24 when Mays and the Millers were set to play an exhibition game against the Sioux City Soos. However, Mays never appeared in that game. Before first pitch, the super star outfielder was summoned to New York to officially begin a career that finished with some of the best numbers ever, both offensively and defensively.
It’s here where there Nebraska ties come in. Mays caught a flight out of Omaha in order to join his new team. Local radio host Gary Sharp shared a picture of Wilie Mays waiting to begin his legendary career on Tuesday night after news broke of the Hall of Famer’s death.
Nebraska area baseball fans who might have been in the airport that day might have only been able to brush elbows with greatness, but even that is plenty newsworthy.
While I wasn’t old enough to watch Willie Mays play (he retired two years before I was born), growing up a baseball fan, I watched countless clips of his amazing play, including, obviously, “The Catch.”
I spent most of last night watching tributes pour into the man and somehow feel cheered that Willie Mays crossed paths with Nebraska and the town I live, even if it was only briefly and tangentially. The baseball world will miss Willie Mays. His death is the passing of a true legend.