I'll never forget what you told me that Willie and Hank validated such a powerful word,

how good the Negro leagues were.

If Mays became the best all-around player in major league history and folks such as, you know,

Buck O'Neill and Moni irvin were telling you and

everyone else that oscar charleston and josh gibson and these guys were at least as good it's like

wow okay before he was to say hey kid he was just a kid patrolling center Center Field in the 1948 Negro League World Series.

This is the story of a Birmingham Black Baron and the greatest major league of all time,

Willie Mays.

Before the untimely passing of the late great Henry Aaron, I took tremendous pride in acknowledging at that time that the two greatest living major leaguers,

unquestionably were Henry Aaron and Willie Mays.

And the fact that both of them came out of the Negro leagues gave an indication of the tremendous

talent that was part of the Negro Leagues.

And in many ways, as I've mentioned prior, validated the lesser known, but of equal capabilities of players that call the Negro League's home.

Well, I also take great delight in pointing out a photograph here at the Negro

League's baseball museum. And you see this baby-faced kid surrounded by grown men and they're

celebrating having advanced to a World Series championship.

That team was the Birmingham Black Barons, and that baby-faced kid was the legendary Willie Mays.

Before he became the say-hey kid, however, his young buck to be exact because again he was just a

baby out there patrolling center field for the birmingham black barons and i reflect again on

the legendary henry erin who told me when he left to go

join the Indianapolis Clowns in 1952, he was 18 years old. And he didn't know if he was leaving

to go play with kids his own age or grown men. As we know, he was leaving to go play with grown men.

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