BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Willie Mays gave a message to his longtime friend Dusty Baker just a day before he died.
Mays, who died Tuesday afternoon at 93 years old, knew that he wouldn’t be able to make the trip to Birmingham, Alabama, for a week of festivities honoring the contributions that he and other Negro Leaguers have made to baseball. But he wanted Baker to share a message to the city he long called home.
“Birmingham, I wish I could be with you all today,” said Mays’ good friend and adviser Jeff Bleich, reading the statement at a ceremony Wednesday honoring Mays’ life and career. “This is where I’m from. I had my first pro hit here at Rickwood as a Black Baron. And now this year, some 76 years later, that hit finally got counted in the record books. I guess some things take time. But I always think better late than never.”
Mays also sent an antique clock with his picture on it to the city of Birmingham. Baker was not feeling well, Bleich said, so he was not at the ceremony.
“Time changes things,” Mays continued in his note. “Time heals wounds. And that’s a good thing. I had some of the best times of my life in Birmingham. So I want you to have this clock to remember those times with me, and to remember all the other players who were lucky enough to play here together.”
The ceremony took place in downtown Birmingham just miles from Rickwood Field, where Mays’ unforgettable career began. Bleich joined Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin and San Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer in giving speeches in Mays’ honor, standing in front of a grand mural display of the former Giants center fielder.
It’s an enchanting depiction of the electrifying “Say Hey Kid,” showing Mays beaming with his hands resting on his knees, his bevy of athletic accomplishments painted around him.
The artwork was created by artist Chuck Styles, who said he wanted to capture Mays’ humanity.
“I knew I wanted to showcase him in a way that everybody knew him for,” Styles said, “and that was his smile.”
Other tributes to Mays, born in Westfield, Alabama, near Birmingham, poured in all over the country Wednesday, including from President Joe Biden.
“Like so many others in my neighborhood and around the country, when I played Little League, I wanted to play center field because of Willie Mays,” Biden said in a statement. “It was a rite of passage to practice his basket catches, daring steals, and command at the plate — only to be told by coaches to cut it out because no one can do what Willie Mays could do.”
Mays, who began his professional career with the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues in 1948, had been baseball’s oldest living Hall of Famer and was considered the sport’s greatest living player.
He died two days before a game between the Giants and St. Louis Cardinals to honor the Negro Leagues at Rickwood Field in Birmingham.
“It’s actually even heavier today,” said Giants manager Bob Melvin, wearing a Mays T-shirt. “When you read all the articles and you read what everybody has to say about him, it kind of comes full circle in what he’s meant to our country. Even if you don’t know baseball, you know who Willie Mays is.”
Melvin said the Giants would wear patches with Mays’ No. 24 on their chest for Wednesday’s game against the Chicago Cubs.
When the team travels to Birmingham for the commemorative game at Rickwood Field on Thursday, the Giants will open Oracle Park for fans to watch the game on the scoreboard, the team announced.
Images of Mays will appear on the scoreboard before and after the event, and a sculpture of his jersey number will be placed in center field to honor him.
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said Thursday’s game becomes even more poignant after Mays’ death.
“Being there with everything that is going on will be definitely meaningful,” Marmol said. “You have an icon of the sport in the city where it all started, so I think bringing light to all of it will be a pretty cool moment down there.”
The 37-year-old manager said he never met Mays, but it was interesting to hear stories from former Giants like Brandon Crawford about him.
“I will do more of that today. It will be fun to hear people’s stories,” Marmol said. “I am curious to ask around to those who have.”
Cardinals assistant coach Willie McGee said he had several conversations with Mays when he played for the Giants from 1991 to 1994.
“Willie was the best, man, the greatest I have ever seen,” McGee said. “He had all six tools. His aggressiveness, his baserunning. That is what separated him, for me, his aggressiveness and his instincts from other five-tool guys.”
When asked if Mays ever gave him any advice, McGee chuckled.
“All the time — but I don’t remember none of it,” he said.
Why he could win: Acuna has been crushing it since he returned to the lineup May 23 after knee surgery. Indeed, his numbers are even better than during his MVP season in 2023. It should help that he’ll be hitting in front of his home fans in Atlanta: Todd Frazier in Cincinnati in 2015 and Bryce Harper with the Nationals in 2018 rode the loud support to Derby titles. Acuna’s raw power should also translate well to the Derby: Among players with at least 500 at-bats since 2023, he has the longest average home run distance in the majors.
Why he might not: Will he run into Pete Alonso again? Acuna competed in the 2019 and 2022 contests, losing both times to Alonso by a single home run (in the semifinals in 2019 and in the first round in 2022). The home-field advantage can also perhaps be a detriment if a player gets too hyped up in the first round. See Julio Rodriguez in Seattle in 2023, when he had a monster first with 41 home runs but then tired out in the second round.
2025 home runs: 35 | Longest: 440 feet
Why he could win: It’s the season of Cal! The Mariners’ catcher is having one of the greatest slugging first halves in MLB history, with 32 home runs, as he’s been crushing mistakes all season . His easy raw power might be tailor-made for the Derby — he ranks in the 87th percentile in average exit velocity and delivers the ball, on average, at the optimal home run launch angle of 23 degrees. His calm demeanor might also be perfect for the contest as he won’t get too amped up.
Why he might not: He’s a catcher — and one who has carried a heavy workload, playing in all but one game this season. This contest is as much about stamina as anything, and whether Raleigh can carry his power through three rounds would be a concern. No catcher has ever won the Derby, with only Ivan Rodriguez back in 2005 even reaching the finals.
2025 home runs: 23 | Longest: 451 feet
Why he could win: He’s big, he’s strong, he’s young, he’s awesome, he might or might not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. This is the perfect opportunity for Wood to show his talent on the national stage, and he wouldn’t be the first young player to star in the Derby. He ranks in the 97th percentile in average exit velocity and 99th percentile in hard-hit rate, so he can still muscle the ball out in BP even if he slightly mishits it. His long arms might be viewed as a detriment, but remember the similarly tall Aaron Judge won in 2017.
Why he might not: His natural swing isn’t a pure uppercut — he has a pretty low average launch angle of just 6.2 degrees — so we’ll see how that plays in a rapid-fire session. In real games, his power is primarily to the opposite field, but in a Home Run Derby you can get more cheapies pulling the ball down the line.
2025 home runs: 20 | Longest: 479 feet
Why he can win: Buxton’s raw power remains as impressive as nearly any hitter in the game. He crushed a 479-foot home run earlier this season and has four others of at least 425 feet. Indeed, his “no doubter” percentage — home runs that would be out of all 30 parks based on distance — is 75%, the highest in the majors among players with more than a dozen home runs. His bat speed ranks in the 89th percentile. In other words, two tools that could translate to a BP lightning show.
Why he won’t: Buxton is 31 and the Home Run Derby feels a little more like a younger man’s competition. Teoscar Hernandez did win last year at age 31, but before that, the last winner older than 29 was David Ortiz in 2010, and that was under much different rules than are used now.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Pittsburgh Pirates are back on the board after Tommy Pham‘s two-run home run in the third inning at Kansas City on Monday night ended a 30-inning scoreless streak.
The Pirates had been shut out in all three games at Seattle during their previous series.
However, they tallied another loss against the Royals, losing 9-3.
The scoreless streak included Sunday’s 1-0 loss to the Mariners in which Pittsburgh ace Paul Skenes threw 10 strikeouts in five scoreless innings before the Pirates gave up a run in the bottom of the sixth.
Before beginning this nine-game trip with the sweep by the Mariners, the Pirates had blanked the St. Louis Cardinals in three consecutive home games. Their streak of playing in six straight shutouts matched the longest in major league history.
Pham, a 12-year veteran who is in his first season with the Pirates, bookended the scoreless skid with RBIs. He drove in a seventh-inning run with a groundout Wednesday during the 5-0 victory over the Cardinals.
MILWAUKEE — Andrew Vaughn is back in the majors with the Milwaukee Brewers and making quite an early impression with his new team.
The Brewers called up the former Chicago White Sox slugger from the minors on Monday after a sprained left thumb landed first baseman Rhys Hoskins on the injured list. In his Brewers debut, Vaughn smashed a three-run homer off All-Star right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the first inning of Milwaukee’s 9-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Vaughn acknowledged his homer felt particularly good given the circumstances.
“You definitely black out running around the bases,” he said. “It’s special. It put us ahead against a really good pitcher and really good team.”
Vaughn became the fifth player in franchise history to homer in his first plate appearance with the club. He was the first Brewers hitter to accomplish the feat since Gabe Gross in 2006.
And it’s just the start Vaughn could use as he seeks to rejuvenate his career.
The 27-year-old Vaughn hit 72 homers for the White Sox from 2021-24, but he had tailed off lately. He posted a .699 OPS last year that was a career low at the time. He followed that up by batting .189 with a .218 on-base percentage, five homers and 19 RBI in 48 games for Chicago before getting sent to the minors on May 23.
After acquiring Vaughn in a June 13 trade that sent pitcher Aaron Civale to the White Sox, the Brewers kept him in the minors. A spot on the big league roster opened up when Hoskins got hurt last weekend.
Vaughn gives the Brewers a right-handed option to pair with left-handed hitter Jake Bauers at first base while Hoskins is out. Bauers, 29, is batting .214 with a .331 on-base percentage, five homers and 18 RBI in 54 games this season.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy said Hoskins’ stay on the injured list “can be weeks, not days,” potentially giving Vaughn an extended audition. Hoskins, 32, has hit .242 with a .340 on-base percentage, 12 homers and 42 RBI in 82 games.
Vaughn had been hitting .259 with a .338 on-base percentage, three homers and 16 RBI in 16 games with the Brewers’ Triple-A Nashville affiliate.
That represented a major step forward after his struggles with the White Sox.
“I feel like my swing consistency’s been a lot better – swing decisions, just working in the cage and getting it right,” Vaughn said before Monday’s game. “There were some keys I worked on, just simple things. Don’t want to do a whole revamp of the swing because it’s probably impossible during the season, most hitters would say. Just small keys and getting it right.”
Vaughn wasted no time endearing himself to his new teammates. He started a 3-6-3 double play to end the top of the first inning before delivering his 409-foot shot over the wall in left-center field in the bottom half.
“To have him show up first day, not know anybody at noon, and then he’s in there and then kind of get a huge hit in the first inning to kind of open things up was a great way to say, ‘Here I am,'” Murphy said.
Vaughn is eager to keep making those kind of statements.
“That’s pretty cool, just to be a part of something bigger than myself, being part of the Brewers,” Vaughn said. “Just trying to do anything I can to help this team win.”
In other Brewers news, shortstop Joey Ortiz was held out of the starting lineup for a second straight game after going 0 for 3 with two strikeouts Saturday in a 4-2 loss at Miami. Ortiz is hitting .209 with a .269 on-base percentage, six homers and 28 RBI in 87 games this season, though he showed progress by posting a .748 OPS in June.
Murphy said Ortiz has been swinging better lately, but must make better swing decisions.
“I want him to give me his best approach at the plate,” Murphy said before Monday’s game. “We’ve given him a lot. We’re playing him every day, and we need him, and he can’t just have lapses at the plate like that. He’s got to fight through that.”