Tonight in Unpacks: MLB will honor the Negro Leagues with a special game Thursday night at the oldest stadium in pro sports, and SBJ’s Joe Lemire reports on what the game means to veterans of segregated baseball -- and what went into getting the ballpark ready for the event.
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Rickwood Field: Field of forgotten -- and renewed -- dreams
MLB arrives at Rickwood Field this week for the first official regular-season game at the 114-year-old ballpark, the oldest professional stadium in the country. MLB at Rickwood Field: A Tribute to the Negro Leagues will feature the Cardinals and Giants on Thursday evening at a renovated Rickwood Field, and it comes just weeks after MLB announced that Negro Leagues statistics would be formally recognized by MLB and that it would pay retirement benefits to all living former players.
The game itself follows a week of community events. There will be a screening of the 2022 documentary “Say Hey, Willie Mays,” including a post-film panel with his son, Michael; Play Ball clinics for local Boys and Girls Clubs and Nike RBI programs; a New York Life-organized symposium with financial advice for Black-owned businesses; a Negro Leagues Family Alliance luncheon; a celebrity softball game co-produced by MLB and Uninterrupted; and a minor league game with the Double-A Birmingham Barons playing at Rickwood instead of their current home at Regions Field.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred described the Negro Leagues as “a crucial part of our history,” and added, “I hope that the programming around it leaves a real imprint on the people in Birmingham in terms of appreciating how important that field is to the history of the Negro Leagues. A focus on the history of the Negro Leagues is consistent with our efforts to produce diversity on the field and in the front office,” as SBJ's Joe Lemire reports in one of two cover stories in a special edition of this week's magazine.
Coverage of the historic game at Rickwood Field includes: