Yankees honor late AP photojournalist Kathy Willens with moment of silence before Rays game

Players and fans stand at Yankee Stadium during a moment of silence for Kathy Willens before a baseball game between the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays, Friday, July 19, 2024, in New York. Willens, a pioneering photojournalist who helped advance the position of women behind the camera from the Super Bowl to war-torn Somalia during her nearly 45-year career at The Associated Press, died Tuesday. She was 74. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Yankees honored the late Associated Press photojournalist Kathy Willens with a moment of silence before Friday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Willens died Tuesday at the age of 74 from ovarian cancer, a diagnosis she received shortly after her retirement in 2021.

Willens was one of the first female staff photographers at AP, retiring after nearly 45 years. Her more than 90,000 photographs spanned presidents, Pope John Paul II, protests, war, sports triumphs and human tragedies.

Willens was so highly regarded that the Yankees honored her with a pregame ceremony when she retired. Yankees manager Aaron Boone gave Willens a framed print of her photo of David Cone after he completed his perfect game in 1999, which was autographed by the pitcher.

Willens began her professional career in 1974 as a freelancer for newspapers in the Detroit suburbs. She soon landed a job at The Miami News as a photo lab technician, then as a staff photographer, shooting front-page and other high-profile photos. In 1976, she was hired by the AP.

Working out of Miami, Willens covered the Mariel boat lift in 1980, when nearly 125,000 Cubans came to the U.S. in six months. He also covered the aftermath of the deadly riots that same year after four police officers were acquitted of fatally beating a black insurance executive.

During her career, Willens covered six Olympic Games, 11 Super Bowls and numerous NBA Finals, World Series and other championships.

Willens was transferred to AP’s New York headquarters in 1993. Shortly thereafter, she was transferred to Somalia, which was then in the midst of a civil war. She returned to New York to cover news and sports.

Willens has won numerous journalism awards, including an Associated Press Managing Editors Award for Reportorial Excellence and multiple awards in the Baseball Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame photo contests.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Larry Fleisher, The Associated Press

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