Over the past decade, Major League Baseball has made a significant effort to expand the reach of its teams and players by holding a series of spring training and regular season games at unique locations across the country, as well as at iconic stadiums in Worldwide. Whether it’s a fictional hallowed ground like the Field of Dreams among the cornfields of Iowa or the Little League Classic in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, MLB has gone to extraordinary lengths to build high-caliber environments to allow these demonstration games to take place, and The results have been consistently memorable. Beyond U.S. borders, we’ve seen regular season games in Australia, Mexico, Japan, England and, most recently, South Korea.
One of the main goals of these “jewel” events is to bring big league baseball to places that rarely witness the highest level of our sport or have never done so before. But in the case of the latest edition of such an event – the regular season game played between the Giants and Cardinals at Rickwood Field, the oldest stadium in America – the dynamic was practically the opposite. This was far from an introduction of the best baseball in the world to a new stage or audience; instead, it was a return to a place that has more history than any other stadium on the planet. So while Thursday’s game was technically the first MLB regular season game played in the state of Alabama, it wasn’t the first time Rickwood Field hosted the sport’s best. It had been a while.
Since Rickwood Field hosted its first game in 1910, more than half of the 351 elected members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame have appeared in a game at the historic ground as a player, coach or umpire. This includes decades of Negro Leagues games primarily featuring the iconic Birmingham Black Barons, as well as minor league games that extend much closer to the present and countless exhibitions and barnstorming events that have hosted almost all the legends of the past, from Babe Ruth to Roberto Clemente and countless stars in between. Most notably, Rickwood Field is where Willie Mays made his professional debut with the Black Barons at age 17 in 1948. While Mays’ death at age 93 earlier this week cast a dark shadow on Thursday’s proceedings, it also motivated everyone those involved to further elevate the appreciation of Mays’ life and legendary career.
For a league that has demonstrated a willingness to push toward new frontiers for its sport, the opportunity – if not the responsibility – to look back with an event like this was particularly powerful. And with the recent news of MLB’s ongoing process of adding Negro Leagues statistics to the league’s official record books, Thursday’s game in Birmingham was a beautiful setting to further highlight and celebrate the legendary careers of the era’s black players. . Several of these players – including Bill Greson, 99 years oldthe oldest living black man in the League – were present in Birmingham for the pre-match ceremonies.
While we all benefit from learning more about the lives and on-field achievements of players who starred in the Negro Leagues, looking back to a place and time when games were regularly played at Rickwood Field – the 1940s, 1950s and 1960 in the heart of the Jim Crow South – not an entirely pleasant exercise. Returning to a place rooted in a harrowing history that took place in the not-so-distant past brings up a lot of emotions for many of the players and people involved. For an event like this to be executed properly and authentically, it is completely necessary to acknowledge this.
On Thursday’s pregame show, Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson shared his visceral and painful memories of the horrific racism he suffered while playing with the Birmingham A’s in 1967. Then a minor leaguer in his second season professional, Jackson was subjected to routine mistreatment and prejudice. in public establishments, repeated threats to his safety and vile acts of racist violence during his summer playing for Kansas City’s Double-A affiliate. While there was much to celebrate about MLB’s presence in Birmingham this week, Jackson’s brutally honest reflections and the emotions he shared provided a vital reminder that not all memories are good.
But as a baseball venue, Rickwood Field has stood the test of time. A sporting landmark for over 100 years, it has now been restored and updated to allow future generations to connect with its rich history, hosting some of the greatest players of all time. Which brings us back to May.
While we all wish we could have seen Say Hey Kid return to the stadium where it all started for him, the statement Mays released through the Giants Just days before his passing, it was a big step to communicate his reverence for Rickwood as an exceptionally special place.
“The first big thing I thought of was playing at Rickwood Field,” he said. “It wasn’t a dream. It was something I was going to do. I would work hard to be one of the Black Barons of Birmingham and play ball at Rickwood Field. That’s what I did.”
For a young Mays, born and raised in nearby Fairfield, Alabama, Rickwood was the pinnacle of the profession he aspired to. And before he even turned 18, the extremely talented outfielder achieved the practical goal he set.
“Rickwood Field was where I played my first home game,” he said, “and playing there was IT; all I wanted.”
It was everything Mays wanted. Yet, remarkably, it was also just the beginning. Three years later, Mays made his MLB debut with the New York Giants, just over four years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947. Mays’ iconic career spanned two coasts over two decades, with 660 home rums mixed along the way.
Fifty years after Mays’ final season in 1973, MLB announced plans for its Giants to play a regular-season game at Rickwood Field in 2024. At the time, Mays released a statement expressing his excitement:
“I can’t believe it. I never thought in my lifetime I would see a Major League Baseball game being played on the same field where I played baseball as a teenager. It’s been 75 years since I played for the Birmingham Black Barons at Rickwood Field and knowing that my Giants and Cardinals will play there and honoring the legacy of the Negro Leagues and all those who came before them is very exciting to me. We can’t forget what brought us here and that was the Negro Leagues.
This year, as the event approached, Mays again shared her excitement about Rickwood’s return to the spotlight.
“I’m glad the Giants, Cardinals and MLB are doing this, allowing everyone to see professional football at Rickwood Field,” he said. “It’s good to remind people of all the great ball that was played there and all the players. All these years and it’s still here. Me too. What about this?
Those final few sentences hit especially hard after Mays’ death. But he was absolutely right. It was wonderful to see the spotlight on a place that meant so much to him, a place that hosted so many great games over the years. And it was good to remind the world of all the great players who have passed through Rickwood Field over the past 114 years – none greater than Mays himself.
