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MLB at Rickwood Field
MLB at Rickwood Field: A Tribute to the Negro Leagues was a Major League Baseball (MLB) specialty game played between the National League (NL) West's San Francisco Giants and the NL Central's St. Louis Cardinals on June 20, 2024. The game was played at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, the former home of the Negro leagues' Birmingham Black Barons, one day after Juneteenth. This was the first regular-season Major League Baseball (MLB) game played in the state of Alabama. The Cardinals won 6–5.
On June 13, 2023, initial reports revealed that the Giants would play in a Field of Dreams style game, celebrating Willie Mays in Alabama. Due to construction at the MLB at Field of Dreams site, games in 2023 and 2024 were unable to happen. However, MLB decided to shift their marketing into a game to honor Willie Mays, the Negro Leagues, and Juneteenth. The official name for the game was unveiled as MLB at Rickwood Field: A Tribute to the Negro Leagues on August 4, 2023. All living Negro League players were invited to the game (157 total), and 60 were confirmed to attend.
On June 20, 2023, MLB released a statement indicating that "On-field personnel for both teams will wear period uniforms highlighting the Negro Leagues histories of both St. Louis and San Francisco."
On February 28, 2024, MLB released a teaser poster preview video for the Rickwood Field game. The poster specified the Giants are planning on wearing the San Francisco Sea Lions uniforms and the Cardinals to wear St. Louis Stars uniforms to pay homage to the cities histories of the Negro Leagues.
On June 12, 2024, despite San Francisco being the designated away team and St. Louis being the designated home team, MLB revealed that the Giants will wear their cream home Sea Lions uniform while St. Louis will wear their road grays. The Giants and Cardinals both wore a "Mays 24" memorial patch on their uniforms during the game. The Giants' uniforms included a "throwback" logo for Chevrolet, the team's uniform advertising sponsor, on the sleeve.
In October 2022, MLB executives met with Rickwood Field Chairman and Executive Director, Gerald Watkins to discuss mock-up designs of how to set the ballpark up, how to reconfigure the clubhouses and dugouts, where to put medical areas, how to revamp the concessions and where to build the broadcast center.
Preparatory renovations of the park were scheduled to begin in 2023. Jerry Brewer of The Washington Post wrote, "MLB is tasked with performing tasteful cosmetic surgery on a ballpark known for its old and minimalist charm."
By 2024, Rickwood Field underwent $5 million in renovations which included a new playing surface, a new padded wall that is 10 feet (3.0 m) deeper than the original, and shifting the entire field to the left by 5 feet (1.5 m) to make the field more symmetrical. Other renovations include new dugouts, a modern batter's eye in center field, a digital scoreboard, netting along the foul lines and accessibility upgrades. The distance from home plate to the backstop was shortened during the renovation.[failed verification] Tahoma 31 bermuda grass, and temporary light towers were also installed during the renovation.
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MLB at Rickwood Field
MLB at Rickwood Field: A Tribute to the Negro Leagues was a Major League Baseball (MLB) specialty game played between the National League (NL) West's San Francisco Giants and the NL Central's St. Louis Cardinals on June 20, 2024. The game was played at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, the former home of the Negro leagues' Birmingham Black Barons, one day after Juneteenth. This was the first regular-season Major League Baseball (MLB) game played in the state of Alabama. The Cardinals won 6–5.
On June 13, 2023, initial reports revealed that the Giants would play in a Field of Dreams style game, celebrating Willie Mays in Alabama. Due to construction at the MLB at Field of Dreams site, games in 2023 and 2024 were unable to happen. However, MLB decided to shift their marketing into a game to honor Willie Mays, the Negro Leagues, and Juneteenth. The official name for the game was unveiled as MLB at Rickwood Field: A Tribute to the Negro Leagues on August 4, 2023. All living Negro League players were invited to the game (157 total), and 60 were confirmed to attend.
On June 20, 2023, MLB released a statement indicating that "On-field personnel for both teams will wear period uniforms highlighting the Negro Leagues histories of both St. Louis and San Francisco."
On February 28, 2024, MLB released a teaser poster preview video for the Rickwood Field game. The poster specified the Giants are planning on wearing the San Francisco Sea Lions uniforms and the Cardinals to wear St. Louis Stars uniforms to pay homage to the cities histories of the Negro Leagues.
On June 12, 2024, despite San Francisco being the designated away team and St. Louis being the designated home team, MLB revealed that the Giants will wear their cream home Sea Lions uniform while St. Louis will wear their road grays. The Giants and Cardinals both wore a "Mays 24" memorial patch on their uniforms during the game. The Giants' uniforms included a "throwback" logo for Chevrolet, the team's uniform advertising sponsor, on the sleeve.
In October 2022, MLB executives met with Rickwood Field Chairman and Executive Director, Gerald Watkins to discuss mock-up designs of how to set the ballpark up, how to reconfigure the clubhouses and dugouts, where to put medical areas, how to revamp the concessions and where to build the broadcast center.
Preparatory renovations of the park were scheduled to begin in 2023. Jerry Brewer of The Washington Post wrote, "MLB is tasked with performing tasteful cosmetic surgery on a ballpark known for its old and minimalist charm."
By 2024, Rickwood Field underwent $5 million in renovations which included a new playing surface, a new padded wall that is 10 feet (3.0 m) deeper than the original, and shifting the entire field to the left by 5 feet (1.5 m) to make the field more symmetrical. Other renovations include new dugouts, a modern batter's eye in center field, a digital scoreboard, netting along the foul lines and accessibility upgrades. The distance from home plate to the backstop was shortened during the renovation.[failed verification] Tahoma 31 bermuda grass, and temporary light towers were also installed during the renovation.