For the first time, Major League Baseball will hold a regular season game at historic Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama on June 20, 2024 between the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants. To celebrate "MLB at Rickwood Field: A Tribute to the Negro Leagues," Stadium Vagabond is re-releasing a photo essay about this classic ballpark that opened on August 18, 1910. For historic context, Comiskey Park, home to the Chicago White Sox from 1910 to 1990, opened just six weeks prior to Rickwood’s debut. While baseball fans only have photos to remind themselves of Comiskey, all ballpark aficionados should make a pilgrimage to Birmingham to experience this historic treasure.
After hosting thousands of games for the Negro League’s Birmingham Black Barons (Willie Mays’ first pro team) and the minor league Birmingham Barons, Rickwood soon will be a “major league ballpark”. The Southern League’s Barons have moved on to Region’s Field overlooking downtown Birmingham after spending 24 years at suburban Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. The Hoover ballpark is best known for hosting history’s most famous basketball playing minor leaguer in 1994.
Visit the “Friends of Rickwood” website for much more info on the ballpark.
To read about the dramatic inaugural Field of Dreams game between the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees, check out the Stadium Vagabond story here.
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