Monte Irvin’s celebration of life was Saturday in South Orange, N.J., where he was raised. The Hall of Famer died in January at 96. The Negro Leagues legend and baseball ambassador was one of the first two African Americans to play for the New York Giants and befriended a young Willie Mays in 1951, Mays’ rookie year.
Mays wasn’t at Saturday’s memorial, but his heartfelt words were. He wrote a tribute to Irvin and explained why he didn’t attend the event. Giants CEO Larry Baer read it.
Here it is:
“You're all going to hear a lot of things about Monte Irvin today.