MLB will be honoring the Negro Leagues and the legendary Willie Mays with a televised game today at America's oldest ballpark, Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Als. Both teams will be wearing Negro Leagues uniforms — the Cardinals will wear St. Louis Stars kits, while the Giants will wear San Francisco Sea Lions jerseys. On June 17, the day before he died, Mays gave a statement to the San Francisco Chronicle about the game. "My heart will be with all of you who are honoring the Negro League ballplayers, who should always be remembered, including all my teammates on the Black Barons," he said. Here's more from TODAY about the history of Rickwood Field, preparations for the game, and how to watch it.
Baseball's all-time leaders lists have changed overnight with the integration of the Negro Leagues into Major League Baseball statistics. Josh Gibson is now officially one of the greatest players of all time, beating Ty Cobb for career batting average and Babe Ruth for slugging percentage and OPS. His great grandson, Sean Gibson, now hopes that the MVP award will be renamed in his honor. The trophy was previously named after Kenesaw Mountain Landis, baseball's first commissioner, who played a key role in keeping baseball segregated. “How ironic would it be for Josh Gibson to replace the man who denied more than 2,300 men the opportunity to play baseball in the major leagues,’’ Sean Gibson told USA Today.