The United States Postal Service announced on Monday its new lineup of stamps set to debut in 2027, including one that’s perfect for anyone fond of collecting stamps or baseball cards.
Hall of Fame center fielder Willie Mays will be featured on one of the 15 stamp designs the USPS initially announced this week. Mays’ stamp is the 50th in the USPS Black Heritage series, which also featured MLB trailblazer Jackie Robinson in a 1982 stamp.
Willie Mays, 1931-2024:
- Willie Mays, a baseball giant, dies at 93
- Loss of Mays leaves Giants heartbroken in Chicago
- 'My heart is on the floor': Baseball world reacts to Mays' passing
- Rickwood Field game has new meaning: Mays will 'be watching over'
- Timeline of the Say Hey Kid's legendary career
- Griffey grateful for time with Mays, 'the godfather of center fielders'
- Cutch remembers Mays: 'He was a pioneer for the game'
- 24 amazing Willie Mays stats
- Willie Mays' best moments
- Mays always knew he'd make The Catch
- Willie Mays learned the game in the Negro Leagues
- Mays, Clemente in same outfield? It happened
- The thing that stopped Aaron-Mays OF? $50
- Mays' pure joy for baseball made him the GOAT
- The day Mays nearly sat out but hit 4 HRs instead
- Mays' last dance in NY came with '73 Mets
The USPS release said the design of the Mays stamp is “an homage to classic baseball cards.” It prominently features a portrait of Mays in a New York Giants uniform. It also depicts one of the most famous plays in baseball history, often better known simply as “The Catch.”
In the eighth inning of Game 1 of the 1954 World Series, Mays sprinted backward to make an incredible over-the-shoulder catch in the Polo Grounds’ cavernous center field. By also making an on-point throw back to the infield, he helped keep at least one run off the board. Mays and the Giants later won that game in extra innings and captured the World Series in four games.
The late Mays, who died in 2024 at 93 years old, was a two-time MVP, a 20-time All-Star and 12-time Gold Glove winner.
The exact release date of Mays’ USPS stamp has not yet been announced.