BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ¨C It was, quite simply, poetic.

Bill Greason standing on the grass at Rickwood Field, preparing to send a pitch to home plate.

A Black Baron in 1948, Greason played alongside a 17-year-old Willie Mays as Birmingham won the Negro American League pennant. On Thursday night, the 99-year-old right-hander was tapped to toss the ceremonial first pitch for MLB at Rickwood Field: A Tribute to the Negro Leagues.

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Though he could no longer take the mound, Greason set up about halfway between it and the plate, gave his best attempt at a windup, then delivered a one-hop throw to Ron Teasley Jr., the son of Ron ¡°Schoolboy¡± Teasley. Greason is the oldest living Negro League player; Teasley is the second oldest.

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¡°I have many memories of this place because we were the only team that played here other than the white team,¡± Greason told FOX¡¯s Ken Rosenthal during an in-game interview. ¡°It was a pleasure to be a part of such an experience that we had here.¡±

Though Greason was just six years Mays¡¯ senior, he took on a mentor role for the late Hall of Famer, who was still in high school when he suited up for the Black Barons. With only two days having passed since Mays¡¯ death, Greason fondly remembered the person he knew well before the rest of the world would come to know him as the Say Hey Kid.

¡°He was a determined young man,¡± Greason said. ¡°He had the gifts, the talent, and he was sensitive to listening to those who were older than he was. It was a tremendous blessing, and we turned out to be real close. Like brothers.¡±

In 1954, Greason reached the Major Leagues, becoming the Cardinals¡¯ first Black pitcher. It was particularly fitting that he watched his former team compete against Mays¡¯ former team on Thursday, especially in their throwback uniforms as a nod to their Negro League counterparts. Greason¡¯s club came away victorious on the night, earning a 6-5 win.

It was all part of a celebration of the history that Greason ¨C who also fought in the battle of Iwo Jima and has been a minister for the past 53 years ¨C and his contemporaries made amid unimaginably difficult circumstances all those years ago.

¡°Once you make up your mind and see what¡¯s going on and know you can¡¯t change it, you adapt to it and make the best of it. And that¡¯s what we did,¡± he said. ¡°We didn¡¯t worry too much about segregation because when we get to the ballpark, we put that uniform on, go out and play, come back, change, go. That¡¯s the way it was with us. We didn¡¯t allow segregation to stop us from playing, from using our talents and gifts for what we were there for.¡±