MLB at Rickwood Field in 2024

By admin

June 20, 2024

Major League Baseball is a headed to Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, on 20 June to pay tribute to the Negro Leagues and Willie Mays, the legendary Hall of Famer who died Tuesday.  This game is being played to pay tribute and homage to the legacy of the Negro Leagues. A once shunned and ignored part of baseball history, the Negro Leagues are now getting more spotlight than ever. In late May, MLB incorporated the statistics of the leagues into the official records, shedding light on some of the best Black players who were denied entry into the major leagues due to segregation.

Rickwood Field, the oldest professional ballpark in the United States and former home of the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues, will be the site of a special Regular Season contest between the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants on June 20, 2024.

The Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues called Rickwood Field home from 1924 through 1960. As a teenager, Willie Mays began his professional career with the Black Barons in 1948. He played with them before beginning his legendary MLB career as a member of the New York Giants in 1951. Rickwood Field was the site of the final Negro League World Series game in October 1948, which saw Mays’ Black Barons falling to the Homestead Grays in five games.

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