Montgomery Biscuits 6 at Birmingham Barons 5 (Southern League, MiLB at Rickwood) - June 18, 2024

I have five bucket list stadiums left, with the most important one being Birmingham's Rickwood Field, the oldest professional ballpark in the world. I had been here ten years ago but there was no game at that time. The AA Birmingham Barons used to play a single game here every year (known as the Rickwood Classic) and I booked a trip in 2020, only for the pandemic to end those plans. There were no games between 2021-23, and then MLB finally realized the potential of this venue and scheduled a major league game for this season as part of a week-long celebration that included a Barons battle. That game was to take place on Tuesday, two days before the Cardinals and Giants would face off. With ticket prices for the minor league game about a tenth of the big boys, I focused on that and booked a flight to Birmingham and joined several friends for a salute to baseball history.

The ballpark is located in a rather run-down neighbourhood just west of downtown, so there is no parking. Instead, you had to leave the car at Legion Field and take a shuttle bus to Rickwood. Thanks to Kevin and Tike for providing the rides. Upon arriving, I was disappointed to find a fence in front of the stadium that prevented a clear view of the structure. Still, the fencing was lined with quotes from Negro League players, just one of many historic touches as the event was to honour the Negro Leagues.

Entry was easy as you just had to walk through the newer metal detectors without removing things from your pocket and then have your ticket scanned. We had arrived quite early but there were still a couple thousand fans already there.

Several stars from the Negro Leagues were honoured with columns, including Willie Mays. As I was reading about his incredible career, another fan called him the Greatest Living Ballplayer, which at the time might have been true. Sadly, a few hours later, it was not as Mays had passed away that afternoon in California at the age of 93, an unbelievable coincidence. The news was announced to the crowd in the 7th inning of the game and certainly changed the mood from celebratory to mournful. There was no moment of silence though, but a long round of applause. 

MLB had done a good job of using the space to display a lot of history of the Negro Leagues. It took quite a while to read everything, though much of it was not new information, for me at least.

Food and merchandise tents were also available outside the stadium and all were doing brisk business. Capacity for these games was 8.300 but the minor league battle did not sell out, with attendance at 7,866.

An old bus was even included in the display. The Birmingham Black Barons played in various leagues from 1920-60; Satchel Paige went 36-17 for them from 1927-30 while Willie Mays played 13 regular season and 8 playoff games in 1948 with all of those statistics recently being added to their major league totals. 

There were other exhibits that showcased the uniforms and other memorabilia from the Black Barons and other Negro League teams.

You could also get into the old locker rooms, which had more history to study. It was a little bit overwhelming to try to see it all in the limited time before the game, but it was very well presented and extremely informative.

Some more recent artwork could be found as you wandered around the outside of the stadium.

The painting of Mays wearing a Barons uniform above is also found on a beautiful mural at the corner of 18th Street North and Morris Avenue in downtown Birmingham. My buddy Ashvin and I went there on Wednesday morning and the people who had painted it were just finishing up. They said they completed the artwork about three hours before his death was announced the day before. The mural was designed by Chuck Styles and an official unveiling was held on Wednesday afternoon. This is a must see next time you are in the Magic City.

Returning to Rickwood, the lineups were posted on a blackboard. Note the names here, many are top prospects and will be playing for the Rays (Montgomery) or White Sox (Birmingham) before you know it.

It seems like every possible space was used for a photo of a Negro League great such as Roy Campanella, who started his pro career at the age of 15 with the Washington Elite Giants in 1937.

Pennants for the teams that had played here were painted on a wall. The A's were the Double A affiliate of the Athletics from 1967-75 and Reggie Jackson played here and was a victim of racism, which he described during Thursday's broadcast. 

Seats from the Polo Grounds were also included in the exhibit; of course, Willie Mays played here for six seasons before the Giants moved to San Francisco.

The ballpark underwent some renovations for the major league game, including lighting and of course a brand new field. But the seating bowl had been left as is, with green, red, and gold box seats between the bases and bleachers down the lines.

The bleachers curve into right field for a couple of sections. To the left of those seats was the broadcast desk that was used for the game on Thursday night.

Below is the view from the worst seat in the ballpark. Not too bad, though the poles were an issue throughout, and some unlucky fans had their view blocked. We were sitting midway down the right field line, and between us and the field, though it did not obstruct anything vital.

The seats down the left field line do not go much beyond third base, and even there, the fencing had small poles that might have been bothersome.

The manual scoreboard is new and the out-of-town scores were from the 1950s (obviously they were not updated during the game). The battery was in the spot where you would typically see hits and errors, with hits being at the bottom center.

There is a walkway between the two levels and you could walk along it throughout the game. This made moving between sections quite easy and after four innings in my seat, I decided to try other locations.

These were the good seats and I moved over here as their bright gold colour signaled when a swath was empty.

At first, I sat up top to see how the field looks. This far away, the poles are not an issue, but if you are close to one, you have to hope the pitcher or batter is not blocked.

Later on, I moved down and enjoyed the last few innings from a very nice spot indeed. The teams wore uniforms from the Negro Leagues, with Montgomery sporting Gray Sox to take on the Black Barons.

The game was excellent, with Chicago's #9 prospect Jairo Iriate starting for Birmingham while Montgomery's mound man was Cole Wilcox, Tampa Bay's #11 prospect. Chandler Simpson (one ranking higher than Wilcox), who leads the minors in average and stolen bases, led off the game with a single and promptly stole second and third, coming in to score on a Bob Seymour single. The Biscuits added one more in that inning and tacked on three in the second, including a bases-loaded single from Simpson. Iriate settled down after that and the Barons got a pair in the 3rd and two more in the 7th to get within a run, with Chisox #4 prospect Edgar Quero (trade from the Angels in the Giolito deal last summer) going 4-4 with 2 RBIs until that point. A Seymour sac fly in the 9th gave Montgomery some insurance and they brought in Antonio Jimenez to close it out.

Three singles around a strikeout brought up Quero with the bases loaded and he delivered his fifth hit and third RBI of the evening, but the ball was hit too hard to score the runner from second. Tim Elko came to the plate with the game on the line and he swung at the first pitch, hitting a tailor-made grounder to second for an easy 4-6-3 DP. Just like that, the evening was over. It was an exciting finish, and the 6-5 score honoured Willie Mays, who was born on the 6th day of the 5th month in 1931.

This was a special experience and I was glad that I had waited to see it, when MLB did it up right. I expect more games will be played here and if you have yet to be, make sure you try to get down to one of them.

Notes

The Cardinals beat the Giants by that same 6-5 score on Thursday night in a event that was more than just a game. I hope that you were able to see the broadcast, which was a great tribute to the Negro Leagues and likely the start of an annual tradition.

Best,

Sean