Willie Mays Rickwood Field tri...

Just days before Major League Baseball was set to honor the legacy of the Negro Leagues with a game at the legendary Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, Willie Mays died at the age of 93. Mays, who was born in Westfield, Alabama, just minutes away from Rickwood Field, played his first professional home games there in 1948 as a member of the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League. Mays' San Francisco Giants took on the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday in the first MLB regular-season game at Rickwood Field. The Cardinals emerged victorious by a score of 6-5. MLB went all-out to treat the game and its location with the gravitas they deserved. The Giants and Cardinals players took the field alongside former Negro League players, then Bill Greason — the oldest living Negro Leagues player, at 99 years old — threw out the first pitch. There were other touches, too, such as the first all-Black umpiring crew in AL/NL history, the Fox Sports broadcast airing an inning in a black-and-white, 4:3 aspect ratio retro style and Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson reminding everyone the kind of racism Black players encountered a half-century ago. Mays was not set to be in attendance Thursday, with his final public statement saying he'd remain at home in California during the game. With the passing of the "Say Hey Kid," tributes poured in from across MLB this week, as well as from the rest of the sports world and beyond.