MLB will host Negro Leagues tribute game at Rickwood Field in June in honor of Willie Mays

Major League Baseball will host a Negro Leagues tribute game at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama on June 20, 2024, between the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Opened in 1910, the 10,800-seat stadium is the oldest professional ballpark in the US and a National Historic Site. The stadium was home to the Birmingham Black Barons from 1924-60.

“It’s an honor. Whenever I get to represent my culture in that way, especially at the MLB level, it’s always a pleasure,” said Cardinals rookie Jordan Walker, who is black. “All I have to do is stay healthy and ready and I definitely want to play in that game.”

The game will honor Hall of Famer Willie Mays, an Alabama native who began his professional career with the team in 1948.

“Willie played there, the oldest ballpark in the country,” said Giants manager Gabe Kapler. “A truly incredible opportunity for our organization. I’m very excited about it.”

MLB said Tuesday it is organizing the game around the Juneteenth holiday, which commemorates the 1865 emancipation of enslaved African Americans in Texas. There will also be a Double-A game at the ballpark between the Southern League’s Birmingham Barons and Montgomery Biscuits on June 18.

St. Louis will be the home team for the June 20 game, which will begin shortly after 7 p.m. EDT and will be broadcast nationally on Fox. Period uniforms will be used relating to the history of the San Francisco and St. Louis Negro Leagues.

“The legacy of the Negro Leagues and their greatest living player, Willie Mays, is one of excellence and perseverance,” Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “We look forward to sharing the stories of the Negro Leagues at this event next year.”

A World Series champion with the Giants in 1954, Mays was a 24-time All-Star, tied with Stan Musial for second behind Hank Aaron’s 25. Mays won the 1954 major league batting title and was named in 1954 and 1965 named NL MVP.

“I can’t believe it. I never thought in my life I would see a Major League Baseball game played on the field where I played baseball as a teenager,” Mays said in a statement. “It’s been 75 years since I played for the Birmingham Black Barons at Rickwood Field, and to hear that my Giants and the Cardinals will play a game there and honor the legacy of the Negro Leagues and all those who came before them is really emotional. for me. We can’t forget what brought us here and that was the nigger leagues for so many of us.”

MLB will work with the City of Birmingham and Friends of Rickwood to renovate the ballpark, home to the minor league Barons from 1910-1961, 1964-65, 1981-87. The Barons have played at Regions Field, about 3 miles away, since 2013, moving one game a year to Rickwood as a tribute to the team’s history.

Walker, it was important to baseball to honor the history of the Negro Leagues.

“It was really an introduction to black people in baseball. I know Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. That was all we had before that,” he said. “So everyone coming out, representing our culture and the game of baseball, it’s really special. That’s really the main reason I’m here today, all that support.”