MLB To Honor Negro Leagues With Historic Game At Country’s Oldest Baseball Park

Take me out the ball game! Birmingham, Alabama, is gearing up to for a landmark visit from the MLB this month. On Thursday, June 20, the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals will compete in a regular-season matchup at Rickwood Field, the oldest professional baseball park in the country. This will be the first non-exhibition Major League Baseball) game to be played in the city of Birmingham, and it will also be the biggest game to be played at Rickwood Field in its 114-year history.

The History Of Rickwood Field

Rickwood Field was built in 1910 as a new home for the Birmingham Barons professional baseball team. When the team was away, the Negro League’s Birmingham Black Barons played games there. Among the team’s most notable players was 17-year-old Willie Mays, who grew up just down the road from the field, later became a household name while playing for the Giants, and is now one of baseball’s oldest living legends.

This Special MLB Event

This year’s MLB game and special programming around the event will honor the Negro Leagues. Tickets for the big game are available for secondary resale starting at around $425 per ticket. Gerald Watkins, chairman of the board for Friends of Rickwood Field, says the game is expected to draw a sellout crowd of more than 8,000 people.

“It’s going to be a tremendous event for the city in so many ways,” Watkins told Southern Living. “We’re beside ourselves waiting on the day to arrive so all this can happen, and we can share Rickwood Field and Birmingham with the rest of the world.”

Fans can join the festivities from afar by watching the game broadcast on Fox at 7 p.m. ET. Locals and those traveling to Birmingham can attend an action-packed week of activities all leading up to the big game.

Local Birmingham Events

• On Monday, June 17, downtown’s historic Carver Theatre will host a screening of the film “Say Hey, Willie Mays” at 6 p.m. The screening will be preceded by a reception at 5 p.m. and followed by a conversation with director Nelson George and Michael Mays, Willie Mays’s son.
• On Tuesday, June 18, the Birmingham Barons minor league team will take on the Montgomery Biscuits in a throwback game featuring vintage jerseys and special surprises. Tickets are on sale now and start at just $30.
• On Wednesday, June 19, fans can attend the Barnstorm Birmingham, a Juneteenth celebration that will include a celebrity softball game followed by a performance by hip-hop artist Metro Boomin. Celebrity players include former University of Alabama quarterback and current Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts; Pro Football Hall of Famer Terrell Owens and Dwight Freeney; comedians Sam Jay and Roy Wood Jr.; and six-time MLB All-Star C.C. Sabathia among others. Tickets are just $24 and can be purchased here.
• On Thursday, June 20, MLB is also partnering with several Birmingham bars and restaurants to host “Beyond the Ballpark” watch parties starting at 5 p.m. Continental Drift, Uptown Jazz Lounge, Denim on 7^th, and SLEEK Sports Bar will all screen the game, along with trivia, giveaways, and special experiences.

The game at Rickwood is part of a larger initiative by the MLB to recognize and celebrate the Negro League. At the end of May, Negro League stats were added to Major League Baseball’s official records for the first time, creating historic changes to long-held baseball records and shaking up leaderboards in major ways.

To prepare for the spotlight, Rickwood Field underwent major renovations to ensure the field of play meets Major League standards while also preserving the venue’s original infrastructure and distinctive design. Changes included a brand-new field, a new drainage system, new dugouts, new restrooms, and additional seating areas.

“One of the things that we wanted to make sure was that we were keeping Rickwood Field as authentic as possible,” Rob Fields, Senior Manager of Global Events at MLB, told Southern Living. “We want the look and feel of Rickwood to remain intact.”