Two Icons Receive Postal Honors in 2027

The U.S. Postal Service announced on Monday that it will release stamps honoring Willie Mays and Pat Summitt in 2027. The agency confirmed the dates for the two new issues in a public statement.

Mays died in 2024 at age 93. He played in the major leagues from 1951 to 1973. During that span, he hit .301, recorded 660 home runs, and drove in 1,909 runs. He was selected to the All-Star team 24 times and won the National League Most Valuable Player award twice. His stamp will mimic the design of a vintage baseball card. It shows a portrait of him with the New York Giants. An inset image captures his famous over-the-shoulder catch of a Vic Wertz drive during the 1954 World Series opener. Antonio Alcalá, an art director at the postal service, designed the stamp. The orange background represents the colors of the teams he played for, including the New York Giants, San Francisco Giants, and New York Mets. This issue marks the 50th entry in the Black Heritage series.

Summitt died in 2016 at age 64. She coached at the University of Tennessee from 1974 to 2012. Her teams won eight national championships. She finished with a career record of 1,098 wins and 208 losses. Her stamp features an oil-on-primed-linen portrait. Roberto Parada created that portrait. Ethel Kessler, another postal art director, handled the final design. Summitt is inducted into both the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.

The postal service will release the stamps next year. No specific month has been assigned yet.