Birmingham's Rickwood Field site of MLB's First Negro Leagure ...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WAFF) - For the first time in Major League Baseball history, a Negro League tribute game was hosted at Rickwood Field.

The San Fransico Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals took the field to play for something greater than competition. Both teams paid homage to trailblazers of their time, including Alabama’s own late and great Willie Mays.

Mays made his professional debut at Rickwood Field with the Birmingham Black Barons as a teenager. He would later go on to play for the New York Giants.

This historic day for baseball allowed players and coaching staff to reflect on the new era of baseball as well as what it means to play at Rickwood Field.

“One of kind type of place to play. You look around and feel what transpired here a long time ago,” San Fransico Giants’ manager, Bob Melvin, said post-game, “you don’t get to experience a game like this.”

The Cardinals defeated the Giants, 6-5.

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