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First Look at Jersey Patches Honoring Willie Mays on Giants Uniforms

The San Francisco Giants are paying tribute to the late Willie Mays with a new jersey patch.

Josh Wilson

Willie Mays' jersey, February 27, 2019, at Don & Charlie's, 7501 E. Camelback Road, Scottsdale. Don Charlie S
Willie Mays' jersey, February 27, 2019, at Don & Charlie's, 7501 E. Camelback Road, Scottsdale. Don Charlie S / Mark Henle/The Republic
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Willie Mays passed away peacefully on Tuesday at 93 years old. He played for the Birmingham Black Barons, the Giants (in both New York and San Francisco) and the New York Mets in a Hall of Fame playing career that spanned 23 years and was briefly paused due to military service in 1953.

Mays is considered one of the best baseball players of all time, and many consider him to be the best.

The Giants, who were in the midst of a game against the Chicago Cubs when the news was announced, will honor Mays with a jersey patch affixed to the front of their shirts. The Giants shared a photo of the circular patches on Twitter. They feature his last name and jersey number, 24, with a black background, orange lettering and a stitched orange border.

Additionally, every MLB game on Wednesday will feature a moment of silence for Mays, the league announced.

The Giants return home on Monday, where they are sure to honor him at Oracle Park in a special way. They have already announced that a public celebration of his life will be scheduled. Fittingly, San Francisco is set to play the St. Louis Cardinals in a game at Rickwood Field on Thursday, where the MLB is honoring the legacy of the Negro Leagues. The historic venue is where Mays played his first professional baseball game for the Barons.

Mays was not planning to attend the series, but reportedly conveyed thoughts to retired player and manager Dusty Baker that he asked him to relay at the festivities.

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Josh Wilson
JOSH WILSON

Josh Wilson is the news director of the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in 2024, he worked for FanSided in a variety of roles, most recently as senior managing editor of the brand’s flagship site. He has also served as a general manager of Sportscasting, the sports arm of a start-up sports media company, where he oversaw the site’s editorial and business strategy. Wilson has a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from SUNY Cortland and a master’s in accountancy from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois. He loves a good nonfiction book and enjoys learning and practicing Polish. Wilson lives in Chicago but was raised in upstate New York. He spent most of his life in the Northeast and briefly lived in Poland, where he ate an unhealthy amount of pastries for six months.

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