As you’re all likely aware by now, MLB and the world lost an icon yesterday, when Willie Mays — arguably the greatest player in MLB history — passed away at the age of 93.
In his memory the San Francisco Giants will be adding a “MAYS 24” patch, rendered in the team’s colors of black and orange, to their uniforms beginning with this afternoon’s game against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.
Here are a couple additional looks at the patch as it will appear on the jersey.
Major League Baseball has also announced that every game today will be preceded by a moment of silence to honor Mays’ life and career.
Here are the start times and matchups today/tonight:
There will be a moment of silence in memory of the great Willie Mays before each game today. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/ukmcYAkqNR
— MLB (@MLB) June 19, 2024
Mays was (and still is) set to be honored at tomorrow evening’s “MLB at Rickwood” game. This was planned in advance of his passing — he had already said he wouldn’t have been able to attend — but I’m quite certain the ceremony will be even more heartfelt and somber with his passing.
Mays began his MLB career playing for the Giants when they were still located in New York, moving with the team to San Francisco. He was traded to the New York Mets in 1972, where he ended his career by playing in the 1973 World Series.
As of now, there has been no announcement of whether the Mets will similarly honor Mays with a memorial patch. (I expect they will, as they only recently retired his No. 24, but we’ll have to see).
The fact that every MLB game today will feature a moment of silence, likely accompanied by some form of video tribute, in honor of Mays speaks to his stature in the baseball world.
RIP Say Hey Kid.
Mays began his MLB career playing for the Giants when they were still located in New York, moving with the team to San Francisco. He was traded to the New York Mets in 1972, where he ended his career by playing in the 1973 World Series.
One of my favorite fun facts from Married with Children. The three players who started and ended their careers in the same city but with different teams. Can you name the other two?
Baseball only?
I ALMOST included this same bit of trivia in that article — Mays (NY), Aaron (Milwaukee), Ruth (Boston).
Pretty good list.
Jimmie Foxx did as well, in Philadelphia. Unlike the other three he played in more than one other city.
Gil Hodges did it, too. Brooklyn Dodger, New York Met.
Wow, love all the responses and all the additional finds. I should have known about Santo!!
Ron Santo started his career with the Cubs and ended with the White Sox.
I found one more…This AI stuff is pretty neat!
Don Kessinger
Started his career in 1964 with the Cubs, Ended in 1979 with the White Sox. Not a Hall of Famer, but a very serviceable Shortstop for some 16 years in the Majors. .252 BA, .626 OPS, 6x All Star, 2X Gold Glove.
Others, assuming the Angels and Dodgers both as LA Teams…
Andy Messersmith (Angels to start, Dodgers to end)
Willie “3 Dog” Davis (Dodgers to start, Angels to end)
Ron Fairly (Dodger to start in 1958 and Angles to end)
Joe Ferguson (Dodgers to Start and Angels to end)
Add Yogi Berra (Yankees start, 2 for 9 with Mets in 1965)
Babe Ruth and Henry Aaron. What do I win?
Have the Giants been traveling with these patches? How fast can something like this be made?
With the acceptance of Negro League statistics into major league totals, Mays began his Major League career with the Birmingham Black Barons.
I’d guess a patch making company with an existing MLB contract was used. The design is beautifully simple. Probably could turn around a couple hundred within a few hours.
MLB officially incorporates Negro Leagues stats and history through the 1948 season, so absolutely we should retrospectively say that Mays began his MLB career in Birmingham in 1948. Though at the time, the Negro Leagues were in a state of transition, and were seen briefly as effectively a downwardly evolving rival minor-league circuit. Mays at the time would have regarded 1951 as the start of his big-league career. I’ve liked how most news media reports I’ve seen refer to Mays starting his professional career in 1948 with Birmingham, then signing with the Giants and racing through a brief minor-league career before debuting in the bigs in ‘51.
If they really wanted to make it special they could take off the Chevy patch. I do not really care too much about the ad patches except for this, Uniform is no longer just reserved for special people or occasions, it can be bought.
Of course the patch isn’t going anywhere…
In Fact…
During the 2023 season the team wore two patches for the passing of Gaylord Perry and Vida Blue. Both on the same sleeve until the patch deal in August. The solution was to displace the tribute patches to the same sleeve as the team logo. Progress, apparently.
Nice patch, but ironically Mays never wore a NOB as a player! The Giants instituted them in 1973 after Willie left and the Mets did not have them until 1978.
The Giants have done this same patch style for memorials for awhile now. They’ve done it the same for other people even if they’ve never had NOB during their career also.
I’d love to own one of these patches to wear on my jersey in honor of Willie. RIP.
Did they really need to add his name? He’s #24 for the Giants. Iconic without the name. A simple 24 on a black background would have been enough.
I’m waiting for the inevitable contest of who can make the best concept MLB logo out of a silhouette of “The Catch” by Willie Mays.
24 only would have been better, but for younger fans this might encourage them to look him up.
His name never looked right above the number. Why not simply go with this? link
I think an argument could be made that Mays’ stature was great enough to warrant a league-wide memorial patch.