Major League Baseball, Rickwood Field to Spotlight Negro League Greats

Rickwood Field is a bucket list location for any baseball fan and June 20, the world will get the full experience of the oldest professional ballpark in the United States.

The field in Birmingham, Alabama, which opened in 1910, has seen 180 future Baseball Hall of Famers compete on its hallowed grounds. Now, Rickwood Field will host a regular season Major League Baseball game between the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants as a special tribute to the Negro Leagues.

“What’s so special about this opportunity is that the people in the region here in Birmingham and Jefferson County have known of the historic significance of Rickwood for years,” said John Oros, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau. “But many people outside of this area really had not heard of it.”

The Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues called Rickwood Field home from 1924 through 1960. As a teenager, Willie Mays, who passed away on Tuesday, began his professional career with the Black Barons in 1948. Rickwood Field was the site of the final Negro League World Series game in October 1948, which saw Mays’ Black Barons fall to the Homestead Grays in five games.

Oros credits the Friends of Rickwood, a nonprofit organization which aims to preserve the park, with making necessary improvements.

“Gerald Watkins and his team at Friends of Rickwood have done a great job of keeping the park relevant and current,” Oros said. “I know that through Gerald’s outreach efforts in the past, there were passing conversations with MLB about hosting a game here that would elevate Rickwood to get it to the level of attention so that people know more about it and its storied history. It’s just going to be so exciting to see the stadium have its story told.”

Big Impact for Birmingham

Business is booming in Birmingham. The city recently reported in 2023 its tourism industry provided $2.52 billion in estimated economic impact, supported 51,550 jobs and the region hosted 3.96 million overnight visitors, the highest count since 2017.

The Magic City hosted the World Games in 2022 and was the site for first and second round action of the 2023 NCAA Men’s Tournament. In 2024, it will have millions of eyeballs focused on it on June 20 at Rickwood.

“This is basically a two-and-a-half-hour commercial for Birmingham and you just can’t measure that,” Oros said of the ESPN telecast. “The real beauty of it is that the great ball players that played in the Negro Leagues are going to be highlighted for their accomplishments and how great they were. And at the same time, it’ll promote our destination and the iconic story that surrounds Rickwood Field.”

The game on June 20 is part of a larger week of activities at Rickwood Field. On June 18, the venue will host a Minor League Baseball contest between the Birmingham Barons and the Montgomery Biscuits. On June 19, for the Juneteenth holiday, the Barnstorm Birmingham event will take place, centered on a celebrity softball game followed with a performance by hip-hop star Metro Boomin.

On June 20, MLB is extending the Rickwood Game “Beyond the Ballpark” to the local community at four local bars and restaurants for watch parties.

“When people hear about this game and all these events, it’s going to create incremental new baseball tourism here,” Oros said. “There are aficionados of the game that love to travel to the old ballparks like Wrigley Field and Fenway Park and take in the nostalgia and history of those stadiums. We could add this one to their list. So it’s a unique attraction and I think maybe when people hear about it, they’ll want to come to Birmingham.”

While the GBCVB will know more about the economic impact after the dust settles and hotel rooms and ticket revenue are counted, Oros says tickets are tracking as a split between locals and tourists.

“I would imagine probably half of the crowd will be from outside of our area, which we’re very excited about because it might be new visitors that are coming here for the first time,” he said. “They will experience all of our other one-of-a-kind, unique attractions, as well as the great food with our restaurants.”

Walking Into History

When the nearly 11,000 spectators enter Rickwood Field, they’ll be met with a mixture of nostalgia and modernization.

The ballpark, modeled after Pittsburgh’s famous Forbes Field, has been the backdrop for several well-known baseball movies. Rickwood was used for scenes in the film biopics of Jackie Robinson (“42”) and Ty Cobb (“Cobb”). The 1995 movie Soul of the Game features the park as well.

“If you’re a true baseball historian, Rickwood Field is one of the venues that’s got to be on your bucket list,” Oros said. “It takes you back in time and you hear the stories of the great players that played there. It’s a cool atmosphere and ambiance. You’re stepping through history when you go in there.”

Over the years, Birmingham has made adjustments to the ballpark, including adding seats and general upgrades to keep up with building codes. But the facade of the stadium is mostly the same as it was back when the Negro League stars ruled the diamond.

The ballpark originally had some interesting dimensions, with center field being 505 feet from home plate. Rickwood has since had its fences brought in, but a portion of the original concrete center field wall remains on the property.

While Major League Baseball loves to host games at special venues, it also has strict rules before it allows players to run out onto the field. MLB took the stadium over for about a week and Oros and his team got to see it all dressed up for the first time on June 13.

“MLB has required that the city and the owners of the stadium come up with dollars to bring it up to Major League specs as far as certain aspects of the project such as the quality of the field, the grass, the playing surface, the dugouts,” Oros said. “The city of Birmingham has been very supportive of doing improvements to the stadium, as have other partners around Birmingham and Jefferson County.”

But Rickwood Field is not just a place to dress up for an MLB game. The 114-year-old venue holds its weight year-round as the home field for Miles College, an HBCU program. Birmingham also hosts a lot of youth baseball tournaments, with most at the Hoover Metroplex. But when Hoover overflows with events or wants to rollout the red carper for a special game, Rickwood steps up.

The current Minor League and Major League players who compete on the revamped Rickwood turf and dirt throughout the week will join a long list of some of the best players who have competed at the venue.

“The Negro Leagues had so many great players that are now in the Hall of Fame. Willie Mays, Henry Aaron, Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, Jackie Robinson, just to name a few. All of those players are going to have the spotlight shone on them during this broadcast,” Oros said. “And what many people don’t realize is that many of the Major League players came in and played exhibition games there, including guys like Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb. This is a very special place.”