As part of Major League Baseball’s upcoming event at Rickwood Field, AL.com and The Birmingham News will be producing weekly stories that showcase the history of Rickwood Field, and history of baseball in the state of Alabama.

“Rickwood: The legacy of America’s oldest ballpark” takes a deep dive at stories from the Negro Leagues to MLB icons playing at the historic venue, and how things are progressing as “MLB at Rickwood Field” takes place on June 20, 2024 between the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals. For the first story in our series, Mark Inabinett takes a look at perhaps, the greatest baseball player to play at Rickwood Field, Willie Mays.

Born in an Alabama town that no longer exists, Willie Mays became a baseball immortal.

When pundits and fans debate the greatest player in baseball history, Mays is among the handful of stars who must be included in the argument.

“If somebody came up and hit .450, stole 100 bases and performed a miracle in the field every day, I’d still look you right in the eye and tell you that Willie was better,” wrote Leo Durocher, Mays’ first manager with the New York Giants, in his autobiography, “Nice Guys Finish Last.” “He could do the five things you have to do to be a superstar — hit, hit with power, run, throw and field. And he had the other magic ingredient that turns a superstar into a super superstar — charisma.”