Willie Mays is widely considered to be the greatest baseball player of all time. The 'Say Hey Kid' had incomparable skills and an infectious smile. He dazzled on the field and off.

"All of us who love baseball have long known that the Negro Leagues produced many of our game's finest players, innovations and triumphs against the backdrop of injustice," said the MLB commissioner.

Gordon Smith is one of the few African American players on the J.V. baseball team at Mount de Sales Academy in Macon, Ga. On a recent, Spring like...