LUY-Development

Category: Sports

  • Homegrown Talent: Natchez’s Drake Cox Heads to World Power Showcase Home Run Derby

    Homegrown Talent: Natchez’s Drake Cox Heads to World Power Showcase Home Run Derby

    In an exciting announcement, Cathedral player Drake Cox from Natchez has been selected to participate in the 17th Annual World Power Showcase Home Run Derby and All-American/World Classic. The prestigious event will take place at Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers, from November 24th through the 26th. This event is renowned for featuring some of the most prolific amateur baseball players from around the globe, offering them a premier stage to exhibit their exceptional skills to top baseball evaluators.

    The World Power Showcase, an event celebrated for highlighting the future stars of baseball, will see Cox joining the ranks of the 17th Annual World Power Showcase All-American/World Team. Players selected for this honor are noted for their outstanding character, advanced arm talent, power, and impressive references from coaches and scouts. Additionally, their recent performances during school and summer seasons have contributed to their selection.

    Cox’s participation is particularly noteworthy as he will be representing his home state of Mississippi. His inclusion in the All-American Classic Game is a testament to his prowess on the field. This game is set to feature the top amateur pitching and power-hitting prospects worldwide, providing Cox a significant platform to demonstrate his abilities against some of the best emerging talents in baseball.

    Aside from his participation in the All-American Classic Game, Cox will also have the unique opportunity to showcase his power-hitting skills in the Home Run Derby. This event not only highlights his talent but also places him among an elite group of young athletes poised to make a substantial impact in the sport.

    The selection of Drake Cox for this event is a proud moment for Natchez and the state of Mississippi, reflecting the high caliber of talent emerging from the region. As Cox prepares to compete at the World Power Showcase, local fans and supporters will undoubtedly be cheering him on, hopeful for a standout performance that underscores his exceptional talent, hard work, and dedication.

  • Jackson Prep standout is taken 9th in MLB Draft

    Jackson Prep standout is taken 9th in MLB Draft

    In the realm of high school baseball, Jackson Prep (Flowood, Miss.) has once again produced one of the most promising prospects in recent drafts. Griffin, a standout player who reclassified from the 2025 Draft to 2024, is drawing significant attention as a full-time baseball player. His talent and dedication have paid off, as he has just been drafted 9th overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the July draft. Unlike Jerrion Ealy, a previous Jackson Prep star who chose to pursue a football career, Griffin is firmly committed to baseball.

    Griffin’s journey began with a bang when, as a freshman, he led Jackson Prep to a Midsouth Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) 6-A state championship. His impressive performance didn’t stop there; he has been instrumental in securing titles for the Patriots in each of the last two seasons. This spring, he topped national high schoolers with an astounding 87 stolen bases out of 88 attempts, highlighting his exceptional speed and base-running acumen.

    Recognized as Gatorade’s National High School Player of the Year, Griffin’s physical attributes are as notable as his achievements. Standing at 6-foot-4 and weighing 205 pounds, he possesses five-tool potential that scouts and coaches dream of. His size does add some length to his right-handed stroke, causing occasional timing issues at the plate, but he controls the strike zone well and makes regular contact. His combination of electric bat speed, strength, and leverage could translate into 30-homer power as he learns to drive the ball in the air more consistently.

    Griffin’s well-above-average speed gives him 30-30 upside, making him a dual threat in terms of power and base-stealing ability. Scouts project him as a plus defender at shortstop and a possible Gold Glover in center field. The Louisiana State commit covers plenty of ground with long strides at both positions and also offers a strong arm that has been clocked up to 96 mph off the mound. His makeup is as impressive as his physical ability, marking him as a player with immense potential and a bright future in Major League Baseball.

    With his draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates, Griffin is set to bring his exceptional skills and drive to the professional level, promising an exciting career ahead for both him and the Pirates’ organization.

  • Rachel Thompson Named Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach

    Rachel Thompson Named Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach

    WESSON, Miss. – Rachel Thompson is in her first year as assistant coach for the Lady Wolves. Thompson, a native of Summit, graduated from North Pike High School in 2016. She attended Southwest Mississippi Community College from 2016-2018 where she was a member of the Lady Bears basketball team. During her time at Southwest, she was named MACJC Player of the week, and helped lead the Lady Bears to the MACJC State tournament finals.

    “I am very excited to have Rachel join the staff,” said Lady Wolves head coach Britta Stephens. “She brings a relentless work ethic and a great passion for the game of basketball. Her experiences as a collegiate player who has now moved into the coaching ranks will make her extremely valuable to our players.” She then attended and continued her playing career at William Carey University from 2018 to 2020. During her time as a Lady Crusader, Thompson led the team in scoring and rebounding while earning Second-Team All-Conference honors her junior and senior years. She graduated from WCU with a bachelor’s degree in physical education. Thompson’s coaching experience includes multiple years as a volunteer with the Summit Rotary Gym as well as a stint with her alma mater, Southwest Mississippi, as a volunteer assistant. During her time at Southwest, she has coached players that have received various recognitions including player of the week, all-conference, and all-star selections.

    “I am especially happy to have Rachel because she is a player who I recruited, coached for two years, and had the opportunity to coach with in the past,” added Stephens. “Her familiarity with my style of coaching and the type of program we are working to build at Co-Lin will help us to continue building on the foundation that was started last season.”

  • Dejounte Murray, traded twice in 3 years, pledges to push Zion Williamson, Pelicans to higher level

    Dejounte Murray, traded twice in 3 years, pledges to push Zion Williamson, Pelicans to higher level

    Dejounte Murray took no offense to being traded after each of his two best seasons in the NBA.

    Rather, the 27-year-old point guard says he’s gratified by the opportunity to join a team that made the 2024 playoffs and is headlined by Zion Williamson — who showed up Tuesday for Murray’s introductory news conference at the New Orleans Pelicans’ headquarters.

    Murray figures his future in New Orleans will be determined more by team results than by how he performs individually — and he can accept that.

    “It’s a business and I stay out of when it comes to the front office,” Murray said. “You’ve got to realize, in the NBA, you have to win. It’s not on one player. You always have to do what’s best for your team and sometimes those are hard things and I understand.”

    Murray’s main goal is “working hard and being a great person,” he said. “That’s the same thing I try to tell young guys coming into the league — control what you can control.”

    Murray was an All-Star during the 2021-22 season, when he averaged 21.1 rebounds, 9.2 assists and two steals per game for San Antonio. That wound up being his last season with the Spurs, who’d selected him 29th overall out of Washington in the 2016 NBA draft.

    San Antonio dealt Murray to Atlanta, where last season he averaged a career-high 22.5 points per game. Now, for the second time in three years, he has been traded again.

    “San Antonio was San Antonio, and Atlanta was Atlanta,” Murray said. “I’m in New Orleans as a Pelican and I’m excited for that — and that’s all that matters.

    “I understand my role. I’m a basketball player. I’m not a GM,” Murray said. “I want to continue to grow as man and a father and basketball player. … I fit in perfect and I think it’s going to be a smooth transition.”

    Murray said the Pelicans were “already a great team.”

    New Orleans finished the past regular season seventh in the Western Conference, but it fell to the eighth playoff seed after losing a play-in tournament game to the Los Angeles Lakers. Williamson suffered a season-ending hamstring injury in that game, and New Orleans was swept by top-seeded Oklahoma City in the first round of the playoffs

    “They won 49 games and going to the playoffs, that speaks for itself,” Murray said.

    Murray also believes he’ll help Williamson grow as a pro — and vice versa.

    “That’s our superstar and I’m excited to push him,” Murray said, nodding toward a smiling Williamson, who took a front-row seat across from the dais where Murray sat for his introduction.

    “I told him I’m going to push him,” Murray continued. “If I see something I think he can be better at, if he sees something to me, we’re going to be open to that. … I’m excited to push him to the next level because there are a bunch of levels he can reach.”

    Pelicans basketball operations chief David Griffin and coach Willie Green both said they’ve been monitoring Murray’s career and seized upon the opportunity to bring him in — even though that meant giving up players they liked, including veteran big man Larry Nance Jr. and 2022 first-round draft choice Dyson Daniels. New Orleans also sent two future first-round draft choices to the Hawks, as well as 2022 second-round pick EJ Liddell and veteran center Cody Zeller.

    “When talked about where are the opportunities for us to improve, the vast majority of those questions ended with one answer, and it was Dejounte Murray,” Griffin said, emphasizing that he viewed Murray as a “two-way closer” with a knack for making winning plays at both ends of the court in a game’s late stages.

    Murray’s arrival also gives the Pelicans a true starting point guard — something they lacked last season when CJ McCollum, a career shooting guard, took over the point guard spot in New Orleans’ starting lineup.

    Griffin said the Pelicans tried to acquire Murray before least season’s trade deadline and were encouraged this offseason to try again when they met with agent Rich Paul at a Klutch Sports pro day for draft prospects in Los Angeles.

    Griffin said Paul told him, “You really need to go try to get Dejounte Murray.”

    And when Paul “shared with us the excitement that Dejounte had for our situation, it was really an eye-opening thing,” Griffin said. “He’s hungry to win. He’s hungry to win in New Orleans. He’s hungry to win with Zion, with Brandon (Ingram), with CJ. He’s hungry to be part of this family and I think that’s going to resonate throughout the time that he’s here.”

  • ‘Special Stars’: Special Olympians honored during Fourth of July event

     

    NATCHEZ — During July 4 activities on the Natchez Bluff Thursday, Mayor Dan Gibson and other city officials recognized the local athletes in the Special Olympics who went all the way to compete in state competitions at the Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi.

    One of them, Shaquille Williams who could not make it to the celebration on Thursday, was named the Special Olympics Athlete of the Year for the State of Mississippi, Gibson said.

    Among others honored Thursday were Alan Pitman, Deandre Woods, Gregory Anderson, Roderick Smith, Rose White, Keymon Frazier, Tamara Hollard and 2023 Mississippi Special Olympics Athlete of the Year Thomas Luckett.

    “These special stars make the Miss-Lou so special,” Gibson said. “There are about 15 to 20 more (Special Olympic athletes) who couldn’t make it here today. We will get their certificates to them, including Shaquille Williams who is the Special Olympics Athlete of the Year for the State of Mississippi.”

    These Special Stars hold a special place in the heart of Alderman Billie Joe Frazier, whose grandson stands among them, he said.

    “We attended the Special Olympics in Biloxi and I’m very proud of these young ladies and men,” Frazier said. “Everyone has a special needs person in their family and we need to take heed to these kids and put more emphasis on taking care of them. Not only Natchez but across the bridge also. … These young ladies and men really represented Natchez well and I would like to see more support from business owners and community leaders for our Special Olympics because they really need our support and help.”

    Alderman Curtis Moroney added how proud he is to be from Natchez and take part in such fellowship as celebrated on July 4.

    “I’m really proud to be from Natchez and this is another one of those days when it is a great time to be in Natchez,” he said. “We’re going to have a spectacular sunset in a little while and it’s events like this when we all come together, share some time and just experience what it’s like to be from a small town. You can’t find that in a big city. There is nowhere like Natchez.”

    The festivities Thursday concluded with the annual Fourth of July Fireworks Extravaganza, a grand display of fireworks shot off from the Mississippi River for the entire Miss-Lou to see.

    The event is made possible by the sponsors who donate to the nonprofit Miss Lou Fireworks organized by Shelter Insurance agent Sabrina Doré. Curtis Elkins of Pyromania Fireworks put together the show.

    The post ‘Special Stars’: Special Olympians honored during Fourth of July event appeared first on Mississippi’s Best Community Newspaper.

    This article was written by The Natchez Democrat. To view the original article on the Natchez Democrat’s site, Click Here

  • Making sense of college sports realignment. Which schools are changing conference affiliation?

    Making sense of college sports realignment. Which schools are changing conference affiliation?

    College sports in the U.S. has seen scores of schools change conference affiliation over the past century, but the pace has quickened over the past three decades and certainly over the past two years. It is no longer a surprise to see storied programs leave their longtime conference home in search of more stability and more revenue in the college athletics arms race.

    By early August, a dozen more schools will officially change affiliation, from Stanford and USC to Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona State, Colorado and SMU. A look at football membership in the Power Five and the Group of Five, largely dating to the launch of the Big 12 in 1996:

    ACC

    1996 (9): Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Wake Forest, Virginia.

    2023 (14): Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest.

    2024 (17): Boston College, California, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Pittsburgh, SMU, Stanford, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest.

    BIG TEN

    1996 (11): Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin.

    2023 (14): Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, Wisconsin.

    2024 (18): Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, Southern California, UCLA, Washington, Wisconsin.

    BIG 12

    1996 (12): Baylor, Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech.

    2023 (14): BYU, Baylor, Cincinnati, Central Florida, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas, Texas Tech, West Virginia.

    2024 (16): Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, Baylor, Cincinnati, Central Florida, Colorado, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech, Utah, West Virginia.

    PAC-12

    1996 (10): Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon, Oregon State, Southern California, Stanford, UCLA, Washington, Washington State.

    2023 (12): Arizona, Arizona State, California, Colorado, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, Southern California, UCLA, Utah, Washington, Washington State.

    2024 (2): Oregon State, Washington State.

    SEC

    1996 (12): Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt.

    2023 (14): Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt.

    2024 (16): Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt.

    AMERICAN ATHLETIC

    2013 (10, first season): Central Florida, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Houston, Louisville, Memphis, Rutgers, SMU, South Florida, Temple.

    2023 (14): Charlotte, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, Memphis, Navy, North Texas, Rice, SMU, South Florida, Temple, Tulane, Tulsa, UAB, UTSA.

    2024 (14): Army, Charlotte, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, Memphis, Navy, North Texas, Rice, South Florida, Temple, Tulane, Tulsa, UAB, UTSA.

    CONFERENCE USA

    1996 (6): Cincinnati, Houston, Louisville, Memphis, Southern Mississippi, Tulane.

    2023 (9): Florida International, Jacksonville State, Liberty, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee State, New Mexico State, Sam Houston State, UTEP, Western Kentucky.

    2024 (10): Florida International, Jacksonville State, Kennesaw State, Liberty, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee State, New Mexico State, Sam Houston State, UTEP, Western Kentucky.

    2025 (11): Delaware, Florida International, Jacksonville State, Kennesaw State, Liberty, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee State, New Mexico State, Sam Houston State, UTEP, Western Kentucky.

    MID-AMERICAN

    1996 (10): Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Miami (Ohio), Ohio, Toledo, Western Michigan.

    2023 (12): Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Miami (Ohio), Ohio, Northern Illinois, Toledo, Western Michigan.

    2025 (13): Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Massachusetts, Miami (Ohio), Ohio, Northern Illinois, Toledo, Western Michigan.

    BIG WEST/WAC/MOUNTAIN WEST

    1996 (Big West, 6): Boise State, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico State, North Texas, Utah State.

    1996 (WAC, 16): Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, Fresno State, Hawaii, New Mexico, Rice, San Diego State, San Jose State, SMU, TCU, Tulsa, UNLV, Utah, UTEP, Wyoming.

    2024 (MWC, 12): Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, San Diego State, San Jose State, UNLV, Utah State, Wyoming.

    SUN BELT

    2001 (7, first season): Arkansas State, Idaho, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Middle Tennessee State, New Mexico State, North Texas.

    2024 (14): Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, James Madison, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Marshall, Old Dominion, South Alabama, Southern Mississippi, Texas State, Troy.

    INDEPENDENTS

    1996 (11): Arkansas State, Army, Central Florida, East Carolina, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana Tech, Navy, Northern Illinois, Notre Dame, UAB.

    2023 (4): Army, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Notre Dame.

    2024 (3): Connecticut, Massachusetts, Notre Dame.

    2025 (2): Connecticut, Notre Dame.

  • LSU women’s basketball star Flau’jae Johnson drops her debut album.

    LSU women’s basketball star Flau’jae Johnson drops her debut album.

    Flau’jae Johnson, a standout Sophomore player for LSU women’s basketball, has just released her debut album, “Best of Both Worlds,” despite a rigorous schedule of summer workouts with her team.

    The album features singles like “Pop It” and “AMF,” the latter of which includes a collaboration with NLE Choppa. “Pop It” recently gained attention after being featured in a promotional video for LSU gymnastics.

    Hailing from Savannah, Georgia, Johnson was inspired to pursue rap by her father, Jason Johnson, who performed under the name Camoflauge. At 20 years old, Johnson views her rap career as a way to honor and continue her father’s legacy. She first gained national recognition through her appearances on “America’s Got Talent” and “The Rap Game,” and later signed with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation label.

    Johnson has openly discussed her dual passions for basketball and music. While being recruited for college basketball, she faced pressure from many schools to choose one path over the other, despite her status as a McDonald’s All-American. However, during her recruiting visit to LSU, head coach Kim Mulkey took her to a recording studio—a gesture unique to LSU.

    “You really don’t know how much effort and time this kid puts into basketball on top of (music) … if you go into her room it’s like a studio,” Mulkey said during a 2023 postgame press conference.

    Johnson’s daily routine is a testament to her dedication: she wakes up before dawn to work on her music, attends school, and then heads to basketball practice. Her commitment has paid off; she secured a starting spot on LSU’s team, played a crucial role in the 2023 National Championship, was named the 2023 SEC Freshman of the Year, and has earned multiple conference honors.

    Coach Mulkey has stated that she supports Johnson’s dual pursuits as long as they do not interfere with her basketball performance.

    Flau’jae Johnson continues to excel both on the court and in the recording studio, embodying the spirit of her album’s title, “Best of Both Worlds.”

    Watch her official music video for AMF below.

  • Jury orders NFL to pay nearly $4.8 billion in ‘Sunday Ticket’ case for violating antitrust laws

    Jury orders NFL to pay nearly $4.8 billion in ‘Sunday Ticket’ case for violating antitrust laws

    LOS ANGELES (AP) — A jury in U.S. District Court ordered the NFL to pay nearly $4.8 billion in damages Thursday after ruling that the league violated antitrust laws in distributing out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on a premium subscription service.

    The jury awarded $4.7 billion in damages to the residential class and $96 million in damages to the commercial class. Since damages can be tripled under federal antitrust laws, the NFL could end up being liable for $14.39 billion.

    The lawsuit covered 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses in the United States who paid for the package of out-of-market games from the 2011 through 2022 seasons on DirecTV. The lawsuit claimed the league broke antitrust laws by selling its package of Sunday games at an inflated price. The subscribers also say the league restricted competition by offering “Sunday Ticket” only on a satellite provider.

    The NFL said it would appeal the verdict. That appeal would go to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and then possibly the Supreme Court.

    Should the NFL end up paying damages, it could cost each of the 32 teams approximately $449.6 million.

    “We are disappointed with the jury’s verdict today in the NFL Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit,” the league said in a statement. “We continue to believe that our media distribution strategy, which features all NFL games broadcast on free over-the-air television in the markets of the participating teams and national distribution of our most popular games, supplemented by many additional choices including RedZone, Sunday Ticket and NFL+, is by far the most fan friendly distribution model in all of sports and entertainment.

    “We will certainly contest this decision as we believe that the class action claims in this case are baseless and without merit.”

    The trial lasted three weeks and featured testimony from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

    “Justice was done. The verdict upholds protection for the consumers in our class. It was a great day for consumers,” plaintiffs attorney Bill Carmody said.

    During his closing remarks, Carmody showed an April, 2017, NFL memo that showed the league was exploring a world without “Sunday Ticket” in 2017, where cable channels would air Sunday afternoon out-of-market games not shown on Fox or CBS.

    The jury of five men and three women deliberated for nearly five hours before reaching its decision.

    Judge Philip S. Gutierrez is scheduled to hear post-trial motions on July 31, including the NFL’s request to have him rule in favor of the league because the judge determined the plaintiffs did not prove their case.

    Payment of damages, any changes to the “Sunday Ticket” package and/or the ways the NFL carries its Sunday afternoon games would be stayed until all appeals have been concluded.

    The league maintained it had the right to sell “Sunday Ticket” under its antitrust exemption for broadcasting. The plaintiffs said that only covers over-the-air broadcasts and not pay TV.

    Other professional sports leagues were also keeping an eye on this case since they also offer out-of-market packages. A major difference though is that MLB, the NBA and the NHL market their packages on multiple distributors and share in the revenue per subscriber instead of receiving an outright rights fee.

    DirecTV had “Sunday Ticket” from its inception in 1994 through 2022. The league signed a seven-year deal with Google’s YouTube TV that began with the 2023 season.

    The lawsuit was originally filed in 2015 by the Mucky Duck sports bar in San Francisco but was dismissed in 2017. Two years later, the 9th Circuit, which has jurisdiction over California and eight other states, reinstated the case. Gutierrez ruled last year the case could proceed as a class action.

  • Willie Mays, the Giants’ electrifying ‘Say Hey Kid,’ dies at 93

    Willie Mays, the Giants’ electrifying ‘Say Hey Kid,’ dies at 93

    Willie Mays, the electrifying “Say Hey Kid” whose singular combination of talent, drive and exuberance made him one of baseball’s greatest and most beloved players, has died. He was 93.

    Mays’ family and the San Francisco Giants jointly announced Tuesday night he had died earlier in the afternoon in the Bay Area.

    “My father has passed away peacefully and among loved ones,” son Michael Mays said in a statement released by the club. “I want to thank you all from the bottom of my broken heart for the unwavering love you have shown him over the years. You have been his life’s blood.”

    The center fielder, who began his professional career in the Negro Leagues in 1948, had been baseball’s oldest living Hall of Famer. He was voted into the Hall in 1979, his first year of eligibility, and in 1999 followed only Babe Ruth on The Sporting News’ list of the game’s top stars. The Giants retired his uniform number, 24, and set their AT&T Park in San Francisco on Willie Mays Plaza.

    Mays died two days before a game between the Giants and St. Louis Cardinals to honor the Negro Leagues at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama.

    “All of Major League Baseball is in mourning today as we are gathered at the very ballpark where a career and a legacy like no other began,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said. “Willie Mays took his all-around brilliance from the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League to the historic Giants franchise. From coast to coast … Willie inspired generations of players and fans as the game grew and truly earned its place as our National Pastime.”

    Few were so blessed with each of the five essential qualities for a superstar — hitting for average, hitting for power, speed, fielding and throwing. Fewer so joyously exerted those qualities — whether launching home runs; dashing around the bases, loose-fitting cap flying off his head; or chasing down fly balls in center field and finishing the job with his trademark basket catch.

    Over 23 major league seasons, virtually all with the New York/San Francisco Giants but also including one in the Negro Leagues, Mays batted .301, hit 660 home runs, totaled 3,293 hits, scored more than 2,000 runs and won 12 Gold Gloves. He was Rookie of the Year in 1951, twice was named the Most Valuable Player and finished in the top 10 for the MVP 10 other times. His lightning sprint and over-the-shoulder grab of an apparent extra base hit in the 1954 World Series remains the most celebrated defensive play in baseball history.

    “When I played ball, I tried to make sure everybody enjoyed what I was doing,” Mays told NPR in 2010. “I made the clubhouse guy fit me a cap that when I ran, the wind gets up in the bottom and it flies right off. People love that kind of stuff.”

    For millions in the 1950s and ’60s and after, the smiling ballplayer with the friendly, high-pitched voice was a signature athlete and showman during an era when baseball was still the signature pastime. Awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2015, Mays left his fans with countless memories. But a single feat served to capture his magic — one so untoppable it was simply called “The Catch.”

    In Game 1 of the 1954 World Series, the then-New York Giants hosted the Cleveland Indians, who had won 111 games in the regular season and were strong favorites in the postseason. The score was 2-2 in the top of the eighth inning. Cleveland’s Vic Wertz faced reliever Don Liddle with none out, Larry Doby on second and Al Rosen on first.

    With the count 1-2, Wertz smashed a fastball to deep center field. In an average park, with an average center fielder, Wertz would have homered, or at least had an easy triple. But the center field wall in the eccentrically shaped Polo Grounds was more than 450 feet away. And there was nothing close to average about the skills of Willie Mays.

    Decades of taped replays have not diminished the astonishment of watching Mays race toward the wall, his back to home plate, reach out his glove and haul in the drive. What followed was also extraordinary: Mays managed to turn around while still moving forward, heave the ball to the infield and prevent Doby from scoring even as Mays spun to the ground. Mays himself would proudly point out that “the throw” was as important as “the catch.”

    “Soon as it got hit, I knew I’d catch the ball,” Mays told biographer James S. Hirsch, whose book came out in 2010.

    “All the time I’m running back, I’m thinking, ‘Willie, you’ve got to get this ball back to the infield.’”

    “The Catch” was seen and heard by millions through radio and the then-emerging medium of television, and Mays became one of the first Black athletes with mass media appeal. He was a guest star on “The Donna Reed Show,” “Bewitched” and other sitcoms. He inspired a handful of songs and was named first in Terry Cashman’s 1980s novelty hit, “Talkin’ Baseball (Willie, Mickey & The Duke),” a tribute in part to the brief era when New York had three future Hall of Famers in center: Mays, Mantle of the Yankees and Snider of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

    The Giants went on to sweep the Indians, with many citing Mays’ play as the turning point. The impact was so powerful that 63 years later, in 2017, baseball named the World Series Most Valuable Player after him even though it was his only moment of postseason greatness. He appeared in three other World Series, in 1951 and 1962 for the Giants and 1973 for the Mets, batting just .239 with no home runs in the four series. (His one postseason homer was in the 1971 National League playoffs, when the Giants lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates).

    But “The Catch” and his achievements during the regular season were greatness enough. Yankees and Dodgers fans may have fiercely challenged Mays’ eminence, but Mantle and Snider did not. At a 1995 baseball writers dinner in Manhattan, with all three at the dais, Mantle raised the eternal question: Which of the three was better?

    “We don’t mind being second, do we, Duke?” he added.

    Between 1954 and 1966, Mays drove in 100 or more runs 10 times, scored 100 or more 12 times, hit 40 or more homers six times, more than 50 homers twice and led the league in stolen bases four times. His numbers might have been bigger. He missed most of 1952 and all of 1953 because of military service, quite possibly costing him the chance to overtake Ruth’s career home run record of 714, an honor that first went to Henry Aaron, then Mays’ godson, Barry Bonds. He likely would have won more Gold Gloves if the award had been established before 1956. He insisted he would have led the league in steals more often had he tried.

    “I am beyond devastated and overcome with emotion. I have no words to describe what you mean to me,” Bonds wrote on Instagram.

    Mays was fortunate in escaping serious injury and avoiding major scandal, but he endured personal and professional troubles. His first marriage, to Margherite Wendell, ended in divorce. He was often short of money in the pre-free agent era, and he received less for endorsements than Mantle and other white athletes. He was subject to racist insults and his insistence that he was an entertainer, not a spokesman, led to his being chastised by Jackie Robinson and others for not contributing more to the civil rights movement. He didn’t care for some of his managers and didn’t always appreciate a fellow idol, notably Aaron, his greatest contemporary.

    “When Henry began to soar up the home-run chart, Willie was loathe to give even a partial nod to Henry’s ability, choosing instead to blame his own performance on his home turf, (San Francisco’s) Candlestick Park, saying it was a lousy park in which to hit homers and this was the reason for Henry’s onrush,” Aaron biographer Howard Bryant wrote in 2010.

    Admirers of Aaron, who died in 2021, would contend that only his quiet demeanor and geographical distance from major media centers — Aaron played in Atlanta and Milwaukee — kept him from being ranked the same as, or even better than, Mays. But much of the baseball world placed Mays above all. He was the game’s highest-paid player for 11 seasons (according to the Society for American Baseball Research) and often batted first in All-Star Games, because he was Willie Mays. From center field, he called pitches and positioned other fielders. He boasted that he relied on his own instincts, not those of any coach, when deciding whether to try for an extra base.

    Sports writer Barney Kremenko has often been credited with nicknaming him “The Say Hey Kid,” referring to Mays’ spirited way of greeting his teammates. Moments on and off the field sealed the public’s affection. In 1965, Mays defused a horrifying brawl after teammate Juan Marichal clubbed Los Angeles Dodgers catcher John Roseboro with a bat. Mays led a bloodied Roseboro away and sat with him on the clubhouse bench of the Dodgers, the Giants’ hated rivals.

    Years earlier, when living in Manhattan, he endeared himself to young fans by playing in neighborhood stickball games.

    “I used to have maybe 10 kids come to my window,” he said in 2011 while visiting the area of the old Polo Grounds. “Every morning, they’d come at 9 o’clock. They’d knock on my window, get me up. And I had to be out at 9:30. So they’d give me a chance to go shower. They’d give me a chance to eat breakfast. But I had to be out there at 9:30, because that’s when they wanted to play. So I played with them for about maybe an hour.”

    He was born in Westfield, Alabama, in 1931, the son of a Negro League player who wanted Willie to do the same, playing catch with him and letting him sit in the dugout. Young Mays was so gifted an athlete that childhood friends swore that basketball, not baseball, was his best sport.

    By high school he was playing for the Birmingham Black Barons, and late in life would receive an additional 10 hits to his career total, 3,293, when Negro League statistics were recognized in 2024 by Major League Baseball. With Robinson breaking the major league’s color barrier in 1947, Mays’ ascension became inevitable. The Giants signed him after he graduated from high school (he had to skip his senior prom) and sent him to their minor league affiliate in Trenton, New Jersey. He began the 1951 season with Minneapolis, a Triple-A club. After 35 games, he was batting a head-turning .477 and was labeled by one scout as “the best prospect in America.” Giants Manager Leo Durocher saw no reason to wait and demanded that Mays, barely 20 at the time, join his team’s starting lineup.

    Durocher managed Mays from 1951-55 and became a father figure — the surly but astute leader who nurtured and sometimes pampered the young phenom. As Durocher liked to tell it, and Mays never disputed, Mays struggled in his first few games and was ready to go back to the minors.

    “In the minors I’m hitting .477, killing everybody. And I came to the majors, I couldn’t hit. I was playing the outfield very, very well, throwing out everybody, but I just couldn’t get a hit,” Mays told the Academy of Achievement, a Washington-based leadership center, in 1996. “And I started crying, and Leo came to me and he says: ‘You’re my center fielder; it doesn’t make any difference what you do. You just go home, come back and play tomorrow.’ I think that really, really turned me around.”

    Mays finished 1951 batting .272 with 20 home runs, good enough to be named the league’s top rookie. He might have been a legend that first season. The Giants were 13 games behind Brooklyn on Aug. 11 but rallied and tied the Dodgers, then won a best-of-three playoff series with one of baseball’s most storied homers: Bobby Thomson’s shot in the bottom of the ninth off Ralph Branca.

    Mays was the on-deck batter.

    “I was concentrating on Branca, what he was throwing, what he might throw me,” Mays told The New York Times in 2010. “When he hit the home run, I didn’t even move.

    “I remember all the guys running by me, running to home plate, and I’m saying, ‘What’s going on here?’ I was thinking, ‘I got to hit!’”

    His military service the next two years stalled his career but not his development. Mays was assigned as a batting instructor for his unit’s baseball team and, at the suggestion of one pupil, began catching fly balls by holding out his glove face up, around his belly, like a basket. Mays adopted the new approach in part because it enabled him to throw more quickly.

    He returned full time in 1954, hitting 41 homers and a league-leading .345. He was only 34 when he hit his 500th career homer, in 1965, but managed just 160 over the next eight years. Early in the 1972 season, with Mays struggling and the Giants looking to cut costs, the team stunned Mays and others by trading its marquee player to the New York Mets, returning him to the city where he had started out in the majors.

    Mays’ debut with his new team could not have been better scripted: He hit a go-ahead home run in the fifth inning against the visiting Giants, and helped the Mets win 5-4. But he deteriorated badly over the next two seasons, even falling down on occasion in the field. Many cited him as example of a star who stayed too long.

    In retirement, he mentored Bonds and defended him against allegations of using steroids. Mays himself was in trouble when Commissioner Bowie Kuhn banned him from the game, in 1979, for doing promotional work at the Bally’s Park Place Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. (Kuhn’s successor, Peter Ueberroth, reinstated Mays and fellow casino promoter Mantle in 1985).

    But tributes were more common and they came from everywhere — show business, sports, the White House. In the 1979 movie “Manhattan,” Woody Allen’s character cites Mays as among his reasons for living. When Obama learned he was a distant cousin of political rival and former Vice President Dick Cheney, he lamented that he wasn’t related to someone “cool” like Mays.

    “Willie Mays wasn’t just a singular athlete, blessed with an unmatched combination of grace, skill and power,” Obama said Tuesday on X. “He was also a wonderfully warm and generous person — and an inspiration to an entire generation.”

    Asked about career highlights, Mays inevitably mentioned “The Catch,” but also cherished hitting four home runs in a game against the Braves; falling over a canvas fence to make a catch in the minors; and running into a fence in Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field while chasing a bases-loaded drive, knocking himself out, but still holding on to the ball.

    Most of the time, he was happy just being on the field, especially when the sun went down.

    “I mean, you had the lights out there and all you do is go out there, and you’re out there by yourself in center field,” he told the achievement academy. “And, I just felt that it was such a beautiful game that I just wanted to play it forever, you know.”

  • Celtics win 18th NBA championship with 106-88 Game 5 victory over Dallas Mavericks

    Celtics win 18th NBA championship with 106-88 Game 5 victory over Dallas Mavericks

    BOSTON (AP) — Jayson Tatum put his hands behind his head, with TD Garden fans standing on their feet cheering around him, and took it all in.

    Walking to the bench, he wrapped both arms around Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla.

    The journey was complete.

    The Boston Celtics again stand alone among NBA champions.

    Tatum had 31 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds, and the Celtics topped the Dallas Mavericks 106-88 on Monday night to win the franchise’s 18th championship, breaking a tie with the Los Angeles Lakers for the most in league history.

    Boston earned its latest title on the 16th anniversary of hoisting its last Larry O’Brien Trophy in 2008. It marks the 13th championship won this century by one of the city’s Big 4 professional sports franchises.

    “It means the world,” Tatum said on stage after the team received the trophy from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. “It’s been a long time. And damn I’m grateful.”

    Jaylen Brown added 21 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and was voted the NBA Finals MVP.

    “I share this with my brothers and my partner in crime Jayson Tatum,” Brown said after the 107th career playoff game he and Tatum have played together — the most for any duo before winning a title.

    Jrue Holiday finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Center Kristaps Porzingis also provided an emotional lift, returning from a two-game absence because of a dislocated tendon in his left ankle to chip in five points in 17 minutes.

    They helped the Celtics cap a postseason that saw them go 16-3 and finish with an 80-21 overall record. That .792 winning percentage ranks second in team history behind only the Celtics’ 1985-86 championship team that finished 82-18 (.820).

    Mazzulla, in his second season, at age 35 also became the youngest coach since Bill Russell in 1969 to lead a team to a championship.

    “You have very few chances in life to be great,” Mazzulla said.

    Luka Doncic finished with 28 points and 12 rebounds for Dallas, which failed to extend the series after avoiding a sweep with a 38-point win in Game 4. The Mavericks had been 3-0 in Game 5s this postseason, with Doncic scoring at least 31 points in each of them. He said the chest, right knee and left ankle injuries he played through during the finals weren’t an excuse for Dallas struggling throughout the series.

    “It doesn’t matter if I was hurt, how much was I hurt. I was out there,” he said. “I tried to play, but I didn’t do enough.”

    Kyrie Irving finished with just 15 points on 5-of-16 shooting and has lost 13 of the last 14 meetings against the Celtics team he left in the summer of 2019 to join the Brooklyn Nets.

    Irving thinks better things are ahead for the Mavs.

    “I see an opportunity for us to really build our future in a positive manner, where this is almost like a regular thing for us and we’re competing for championships,” he said.

    NBA teams are now 0-157 in postseason series after falling into a 3-0 deficit.

    Mavs coach Jason Kidd believes Doncic and his team will grow from this NBA Finals experience.

    “I think the first step is just to be in it. I think that’s a big thing,” he said. “Yes, we lost 4-1, but I thought the group fought against the Celtics and just, unfortunately, we just couldn’t make shots when we had to, or we turned the ball over and they took full advantage of that.”

    Boston never trailed and led by as many as 26, feeding off the energy of the Garden crowd.

    Dallas was within 16-15 early before the Celtics closed the first quarter on a 12-3 run that included eight combined points by Tatum and Brown.

    The Celtics did it again in the second quarter when the Mavericks trimmed what had been a 15-point deficit to nine. Boston ended the period with a 19-7 spurt that was capped by a a half-court buzzer beater by Payton Pritchard – his second such shot of the series – to give Boston a 67-46 halftime lead.

    Over the last two minutes of the first and second quarters, the Celtics outscored the Mavericks 22-4.

    The Celtics never looked back.

    Russell’s widow, Jeannine Russell, and his daughter Karen Russell were in TD Garden to salute the newest generation of Celtics champions.

    They watched current Celtics stars Tatum and Brown earn their first rings. It was the trade that sent 2008 champions Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to Brooklyn in 2013 that netted Boston the draft picks it eventually used to select Brown and Tatum third overall in back-to-back drafts in 2016 and 2017.

    The All-Stars came into their own this season, leading a Celtics team that was built around taking and making a high number of 3-pointers, and a defense that rated as the league’s best during the regular season.

    The duo made it to at least the Eastern Conference finals as teammates four previous times.

    They finally reached the finish line in their fifth deep playoff run together.

    After both struggling at times offensively in the series, Tatum and Brown hit a groove in Game 5, combining for 31 points and 11 assists in the first half.

    It helped bring out all the attributes that made Boston the NBA’s most formidable team this postseason – spreading teams out, sharing the ball, and causing havoc on defense. And even chipping a tooth, like Derrick White did after he was landed on by Dereck Lively II.

    “I’ll lose all my teeth for a championship,” White said.

    And it put a championship bow on a dizzying stretch for the Celtics, that saw them lose in the finals to the Golden State Warriors in 2022 and then fail to return last season after a Game 7 home loss to the Miami Heat in the conference finals.

    Tatum vowed that night to erase the sting of those disappointments.

    Standing in a sea of confetti Monday night he was reminded by his 6-year-old son, Deuce, of what he’d accomplished.

    “He told me that I was the best in the world,” Tatum said. “I said, ‘You’re damn right I am.’”