Belated Farewell to a Legend
Willie Mays was one of a kind, and baseball is thriving in part due to his impact on the sport.
Even before the day began, June 18 was shaping up as an exciting matchup between two of the best teams in baseball: the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles, who woke up tied with the same number of losses. The Yankees were 50-24 and Baltimore sat at 47-24. The Bombers sent Nestor Cortes Jr. to the mound while Albert Suárez started the game for the O’s.
Prior to this season, Suárez hadn’t pitched in the major leagues in many years. He made 40 appearances with the Giants in 2016 and 2017, often in relief. He entered Yankee Stadium with an ERA under two, less than half of what he averaged with San Francisco. Nevertheless, this was to be a true test of his ability. Home runs are a common occurrence in the Bronx, and New York boasts perhaps the best two hitters in the American League in Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. Due to the injury Anthony Rizzo suffered in Boston, General Manager Brian Cashman opted to promote Ben Rice from the AAA Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. Rice would eventually return to the Electric City in September.
As many of you know, I attended the Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference from June 6-8. I absolutely loved walking through the Plaque Gallery. Years ago I got Trevor Hoffman’s autograph at Padres FanFest, and the former San Diego closer’s plaque hangs among them. At the conference, one topic of conversation was Willie Mays being the best known living player to have participated in a segregated league. Obviously Mays went on to have a long career in the majors, but the superlative outfielder began his professional career with the Birmingham Black Barons. I was saddened to hear of his passing on this Tuesday and recalled having sent him a birthday card one year when a friend of Mays shared his post office box address on the web.
Back in 2015, I went to a screening of a documentary about the writer Arnold Hano, who grew up in New York before moving to Laguna Beach here in Orange County. Hano became famous for a book entitled A Day in the Bleachers which discussed a game from the 1954 World Series in which Mays distinguished himself by making perhaps the most famous catch in the history of the sport. His account brought me closer to a game I missed attending by decades and it was inspiring to be in his presence. Especially as a New York Giants fan who felt at home in Manhattan’s Polo Grounds, Hano had a deep admiration for the Say Hey Kid. Both Mays and Hano lived into their nineties, but I miss them all the same.
On this day at Yankee Stadium, the home team took a 1-0 lead in the second inning after a walk to Gleyber Torres, a double by Austin Wells, and a run-scoring single off the bat of Anthony Volpe. In the third, Suárez drilled Judge in the hand with a pitch and the Yanks would capitalize. Alex Verdugo singled and Giancarlo Stanton plated Judge with a base hit of his own. Rice followed with a third consecutive single and Torres skied a ball to right for a sacrifice fly.
DJ LeMahieu added an insurance run in the fifth with a sacrifice fly to drive home Torres, who had also been hit by a pitch. Despite a late rally by Baltimore, the Bombers won a 4-2 decision.
I flipped channels to watch the Dodgers taking on the Rockies at Coors Field, where often no lead feels safe. Colorado held a 9-4 lead after eight innings and Los Angeles appeared headed for defeat. Pinch hitter Elehuris Montero and outfielder Brenton Doyle both homered to help build the home team’s advantage.
Tyler Kinley recorded only one out in the ninth while surrendering a walk to Andy Pages, a single to Miguel Rojas, and a Miguel Vargas free pass. Jason Heyward came to the plate with the tying run on deck and delivered a grand slam over the right field fence. Now things were interesting, but Victor Vodnik could still restore order with a pair of outs.
Shohei Ohtani ripped a single, but he makes most pitchers look bad. A Will Smith strikeout brought the Rox within a single out of a victory over their division rivals. Vodnik issued an intentional walk to Freddie Freeman, setting up a showdown with future Home Run Derby champion Teoscar Hernández. Vodnik got ahead in the count 1-2 before controversy ensued. It was ruled that Hernández checked his swing on a very high pitch, leading to some choice words directed at first base umpire Lance Barksdale by Rockies manager Bud Black. If it had been considered a swing, the game ends right there.
The next pitch was almost predictable: another soaring drive to right that landed in the bullpen area. Los Angeles had jumped ahead 11-9. Rockies outfielder Jake Cave immediately began to bark at Barksdale and the other umpires for allowing the at-bat to continue. Nevertheless, the damage had been done and Evan Phillips would seal the victory for the Dodgers. Even Dinger the mascot probably had trouble cheering up Colorado fans on this night.
One more epic finish remained as the Angels welcomed the Milwaukee Brewers in an interleague affair without the injured Mike Trout. The Brew Crew jumped ahead 6-1 with Christian Yelich taking Griffin Canning deep in the first inning. Jackson Chourio drove in two runs with a double in the fourth and scored on the same play when Jo Adell committed a fielding error.
The score remained that way entering the bottom of the ninth, and it seemed the Angels would need a miracle to avoid another defeat. Catcher Logan O’Hoppe doubled to lead off the inning and scored after two Elieser Hernández wild pitches. Still, that was only one run and Brandon Drury followed with a strikeout. Then, things got interesting. Zach Neto singled and Mickey Moniak doubled before Adell hit an RBI grounder for the second out. Undeterred, rookie Nolan Schanuel drove home Moniak with a single. Luis Rengifo walked and the bases were loaded for the number three hitter Taylor Ward.
On a 1-2 count, Ward put a charge into a fastball and sent it to deep right field. If the ball landed over the yellow line, this would be a home run and the Angels would win the game. No longer are hitters required to drive the ball over the high scoreboard. Sal Frelick had other plans, leaping to catch the ball at the wall and immediately celebrating the win. We were that close to a walk-off grand slam capping a six-run inning. Instead, Hernandez and the NL Central winners took the game 6-3.
We are all poorer without Mays around, but I’m sure he would have appreciated that the drama of baseball continues. Case in point: within moments, the Dodgers are about to host the Padres in a winner-take-all Division Series Game 5. The sport owes many thanks to him for bringing so much attention to the sport throughout a dazzling career. His career statistics are hard to wrap your mind around: a .301 batting average, 660 home runs, and 339 stolen bases among many others. That’s a legacy worth celebrating in any decade.
