It could have been — by all accounts, should have been — a washout. Another heavy dose of rain descended upon Fairfield on Friday morning, just as officials from Major League Baseball gathered to unveil the renovation of Willie Mays Field in the city where the late baseball legend lived as a child.

Then someone yelled, “Want to take a lap?!” With that, members of the blue-and-gold Fairfield Mighty Tigers 6-and-under championship team took off down the first baseline for the first round-trip around the pristine diamond.

The field was dedicated under a crying sky, yet the spirit of renewal in this struggling city was joyful not dampened.

“You’ve got to pivot,” said state Sen. Merika Coleman as the several dozen attendees huddled under a tent.

The renovation cost an estimated $1.5 million.

Coleman presented an oversized check symbolic of $325,000 contributed by the state (which committed an additional $500,000). MLB committed $250,000 raised from a charity auction. Other financial support came from the MLB and Atlanta Braves foundations, former major leaguer (and Mobile native) Jake Peavy and Michael Mays, Willie Mays’s son.

Willie Mays died almost a year ago to the day as MLB hosted a Salute to the Negro Leagues at Rickwood Field in Birmingham last year.

“I’m full of pride today and I’m sure Dad is beaming up there above,” said Michael Mays, who’s tried to purchase his father’s childhood home in Fairfield and transform it into a youth sports community center.

“I’ve been coming out here throughout the totality of the renovation,” Coleman said, “but today I saw things I hadn’t seen before. Most of the work was really done in the last two weeks. I didn’t even think we were going to make today’s deadline. So today, my heart is filled with joy.”

Added Mays: “To see this community, MLB, local leaders and most of all these local kids out here today enjoying themselves on this beautiful field is not only a personal dream come true, it’s a testament to the kind of development and good news possible when we all come together.”

On Thursday afternoon, weather permitting, the oldest baseball park in America will host MLB’s second annual East-West Classic, an exhibition featuring former major leaguers. Among those in town for the game are CC Sabathia (who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame next month), Ryan Howard and Gary Sheffield ( a member of baseball’s elite 500-home run club).

Also in Birmingham and at the dedication was World Series champion manager Dusty Baker.