HAGERSTOWN, Md., May 5 (UPI) -- Hagerstown, Md., officials have bowed to bitter objections and dropped plans to name the city's minor league stadium for Willie Mays.
Mays played only one game in Hagerstown but it was his first as a pro, back in 1950, and a belated move to honor him in some way only sparked hard feelings among residents of the old-fashioned, working-class community in Western Maryland.
The local newspaper was flooded with angry letters, the mayor found himself cornered on the streets, an African-American candidate felt so threatened she hired a bodyguard.
Finally, City Councilman Lewis C. Metzner withdrew a plan to re-name Municipal Stadium for Mays, the Baltimore Sun reported. He had sought to make up for the fact that Mays debuted in Hagerstown to catcalls and racial jeers. When a plan to name a street for him fell through, the stadium naming was suggested, but that, too, has now struck out.
