Note: Week 2 of the college football season is here. Make your picks for Joe vs. the Pro and the Hero at the bottom of the column. Each week, winners of the 6-0 Challenge will be celebrated in Joe’s weekly newsletter, “SPORTS! Happy Hour.”

This is an opinion column.

____________________

Veteran and active-duty Marines celebrated the 100th birthday of Rev. Bill Greason on Tuesday at Rickwood Field in a ceremony that filled eyes with tears and hearts with pride.

Rev. Greason is America’s humble hero and Birmingham’s beloved prince. His extraordinary life pushes to the limit the capacity for human comprehension.

Mentor and teammate of Willie Mays with the Birmingham Black Barons, Rev. Greason has been a pastor at Bethel Baptist Church (Berney Points) for 53 years. He was the first Black pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals and has been a close friend of the San Francisco Giants for most of his life. Oh, and he also went to Sunday school with Martin Luther King, Jr.

In addition to all of those things, Rev. Greason was a trailblazing Montford Point Marine and fought in WWII at the Battle of Iwo Jima. The Montford Point Marines integrated the United States Marine Corps, becoming the first Black Marines since the Revolutionary War.

Whenever I’m with Rev. Greason, I don’t feel worthy to even be in his presence. His great gift is that he somehow makes everyone feel at ease and like they’ve known him forever.

The beautiful event at Rickwood was organized and sponsored by the Heart and Armor Foundation for Veterans Health. The group is based out of San Francisco and I would encourage anyone reading this column to visit their website and learn more about their vital mission.

Heart and Armor honored Rev. Greason with a ceremony worthy of a king. Where to even begin? Probably the best place to start is with Rev. Greason’s speech to the people who gathered for him at the historic stadium.

Rev. Greason’s profound message, sprinkled with his signature sense of humor, was the highlight of the evening. Here’s the transcript:

“Hello to all of you,” said Greason, standing at home plate. “It’s good to be here among you. God has blessed me to live 100 years, and I know that I’m able to do a little more than some of you because I can still count to 10.

“It’s a blessing to be here. All of that they’ve said, I just thank God for it. I had a praying mother, and I made up my mind I was going to follow her teaching, and because of that I’m standing here today. God is a good God.”

At that moment of the speech, congregants of Bethel Baptist seated behind the ceremony responded by saying, “Amen.” Suddenly, we were all in church. It wasn’t loud enough, though. Rev. Greason wanted to hear everyone.

“I’m going to try again,” Rev. Greason said. “God is a good God.”

“Amen,” shouted the few hundred people on the infield and inside the stadium. The entire Miles College baseball team attended the event and was seated in the infield. Miles will play its home games this season in Rickwood Field, newly renovated for Major League Baseball.

“You wouldn’t be here if He wasn’t,” Rev. Greason said, “because we are living in dangerous times. But God will take care of his children. I’m here today because God has been good to us.

“I had a lot to think about, and bring to mind, when I saw some fellows here in white caps [Marines in dress uniforms]…And I was just happy to be a part of them. It made me feel good to see my Marine brethren.

“I had an opportunity to serve during WWII, Iwo Jima, had a chance to see where that atomic bomb fell. We were stationed in Japan for 13 months, and God took care of me. So, I’m going to take care of His business.

“I’m just happy to see these fellows standing on the first-base side and third-base side. Fellow Marines, I believe I’ve said enough. I heard you had some food.

“God is a good God. It’s just good to be here, and I want to thank all of you who are participating in this occasion, and I thank God most of all for allowing me to live, to get to one, zero, zero.”

Serve. That was the message of Rev. Greason on his 100th birthday. Bethel Baptist threw a party for Rev. Greason earlier in the week. The ceremony by Heart and Armor was an encore, and it was first class in every way.

Marines in their dress uniforms stood at attention and flanked the infield. Corporal Marquise Brown of the Parris Island Marine Band sang the national anthem. The wonderful Sherri Brown sang “God Bless America.”

Gerald Watkins, president of Friends of Rickwood, escorted Rev. Greason around the bases in a golf cart. At each base, a different chapter of Rev. Greason’s life was then narrated by veterans and dignitaries, including Major Gen. J. Michael Myatt (ret.) of the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Congresswoman Terri A. Sewell.

Others read letters of gratitude written by President George W. Bush, Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski and even a message from Willie Mays before he passed away earlier this summer.

Here is Mays’ dedication in full because every word is now a part of history:

“When I was coming up and playing baseball with the Barons, Greason could see that I would make it to the Majors one day. He saw something special in me — a kid with nowhere to go but all over the place, and a talent that needed guidance.

“He wanted to make sure I headed in the right direction. He saw things I couldn’t see.

“Greason is always elegant, careful in his choice of words, faithful to God, loyal to his friends, quiet, but strong too. Steady, sure and smart. Oh, and he could pitch, too!

“We are still friends, and he still worries about me. I like knowing he is out there saying a prayer for me. I don’t worry about Greason. He knows what he’s doing. I don’t worry, but I think about him a lot.

“And, sometimes, I ask God to watch over my friend.”

I had to wipe my eyes at that point, but not for the first time.

Rev. Greason has accomplished so much, but it’s important to remember what was taken away. He was a brilliant pitcher who should have had a long career in Major League Baseball. He was robbed of that even after serving his country in one of the bloodiest battles in the history of the Marines.

I would be bitter. I would be resentful. After being denied, Rev. Greason continued to dedicate his life to serving others.

MAILBAG

Got a question for Joe? Want to get something off your chest? Send Joe an email about what’s on your mind for the mailbag. Let your voice be heard. Ask him anything.

Joseph Goodman is the lead sports columnist for the Alabama Media Group, and author of the book “We Want Bama: A Season of Hope and the Making of Nick Saban’s Ultimate Team.”