NEWSLETTER
MLB Notes — On Tuesday, the baseball world lost one of the all-time greats when Hall of Famer Willie Mays passed away. Here’s how the baseball world is mourning the loss of one of the greatest players of all time.
The Baseball World Reacts to the Passing of Willie Mays
Mays’ Godson and former Giants legend Barry Bonds took to Instagram to share his feelings on Mays’ passing:
“I am beyond devastated and overcome with emotion. I have no words to describe what you mean to me — you helped shape me to be who I am today. Thank you for being my Godfather and always being there. Give my dad a hug for me. Rest in peace Willie, I love you forever. #SayHey”
Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen had this to say:
“Before there was Bonds and Griffey and all these guys, and Stargell, there was Willie Mays. He was the guy who before Rickey Henderson, before all these great center fielders even, there was Willie Mays. There was Willie Mays. He was a pioneer for the game. He was a guy who I was very fortunate to be on the Giants. That was one of the things that had me pretty excited going to the Giants was knowing I was going to be around people like Willie McCovey and Willie Mays and Barry Bonds and those guys. His legacy is going to live on. Anyone who has ever come in contact with Mays for even a day is going to have a story, is going to have something.”
Angels manager Ron Washington said that he was looking forward to seeing Mays tomorrow at the Rickwood game in Birmingham, Alabama:
“We’re losing all of our legends. It goes to show you how long this game has been going on. We know he’s a superstar. Baseball will definitely miss him. In the San Francisco area, he was always visible, always available for anybody. We’re going to sorely miss him.
“I met Willie one time when I went there to play in San Francisco. I was sitting in the dugout and went over to introduce myself. One thing I remembered about it is that he knew who I was. At the time, I was nobody. It’s bad because I knew the world was looking forward to him at Rickwood on Thursday. And now he won’t be there. He’ll just be there in spirit.”
President Barack Obama:
“Willie Mays wasn’t just a singular athlete, blessed with an unmatched combination of grace, skill, and power. He was also a wonderfully warm and generous person – and an inspiration to an entire generation. I’m lucky to have spent time with him over the years, and Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to his family.”
Cardinals shortstop Brandon Crawford on what Thursday’s MLB at Rickwood Field game now means:
“I feel like it was already in his honor, but yeah, now it’s more of I guess a little different mood to it. But I mean just being able to be around him for years was really special, and just being able to hear him talk — every spring he would come and talk to us and tell stories and stuff like that.
“So just being able to be around that, listening to one of the best players ever play the game was really cool and special to me — and being able to talk to him and all that over the years. So I thought it was already really cool that there was gonna be a game kind of in his honor in a way, but — I don’t know if it changes anything necessarily, but it’s just cool to be able to be a part of that.”
You can read more reactions from members of the baseball world on the passing of Mays in this MLB.com story:
Keith Law Drops his MLB Mock Draft 2.0
Pretty much every mock draft published in the past month has the Cleveland Guardians taking Oregon State infielder Travis Bazzana No. 1 overall, but The Athletic’s Keith Law switched things up in his latest draft, which dropped this morning. Law has Cleveland taking Georgia outfielder Charlie Condon, and here’s what he had to say about it:
“I doubt we’ll know Cleveland’s pick until the day of the draft, but other teams think it’ll be Oregon State second baseman Travis Bazzana or Condon, with one rumor that the Guardians were looking at going way under slot with high school position player Konnor Griffin. If West Virginia infielder JJ Wetherholt’s medicals check out, though, I would imagine they’d explore a deal with him, thinking he was good enough to be a 1-1 candidate coming into the spring. Cleveland picks again at 36 and 48, so they can get creative with some high school pitching if they want to.”
Law has the Reds taking Bazzana at No. 2 and the Rockies going college bat with Florida thumper Jac Caglianone at No. 3. You can read his complete mock draft here:
Astros Place Verlander on IL
Astros starter Justin Verlander was placed on the injured list on Tuesday with a neck injury. He was scratched from his start on Saturday with “neck soreness” and will now hit the IL for the second time this season.
Verlander said the pain started “a couple of weeks ago,” but he attempted to pitch through it. He stopped his bullpen session on Wednesday after the neck “flared up,” all but guaranteeing he would miss Saturday’s start against the Tigers.
Verlander said he would have played through the injury if it had been October, so it seems like something that could have been a short IL stint.
“If this was playoff time, I’d like to think I’d be out there,” Verlander said on Saturday. “But that pattern where it’s every day getting a little bit better, I think with the off days, it’s best to let it fully resolve itself and I hope it does.”
