MLB celebrates magical night at Rickwood Field

MLB’s Rickwood Subject sport between the Giants and Cardinals final night time, which honored the historical past of the Negro Leagues, drew 8,332 followers to Birmingham, all of them “soaking within the environment of probably the most magnetic factor Main League Baseball has achieved in a very long time.” The Cardinals received 6-5, however “the star of the night time was the sector itself and the historical past of the Negro Leagues.” The groups “wore throwback uniforms, the San Francisco Seals and St. Louis Stars, and Rickwood Subject was bedecked, adorned and curated like a museum of baseball magic.” The sport additionally honored the late Baseball HOFer Willie Mays, which “was all the time a part of the plan” for MLB with this sport. Mays’ demise “remodeled Birmingham’s tribute to the Negro Leagues right into a nationwide spectacle.” And MLB “did all the pieces proper at Rickwood Subject” (AL.com, 6/20).

The sector “was stunning.” The handbook scoreboard “had an identical look to the olden days,” and “the vibes have been excellent” (S.F. CHRONICLE, 6/21). It was “arduous to consider Mays wasn’t bodily current” at Rickwood, “however he was right here.” Mays’ son, Michael, “took the sector alongside Ken Griffey Jr. and Mays’ godson Barry Bonds moments earlier than the primary pitch.” Griffey yelled to the gang, “Let him hear you!” they usually “obeyed and responded with a raucous, joyous applause that felt prefer it went on for a number of minutes.” The gang “stored it going with chants of ‘Willie, Willie, Willie,’ inducing one other palpable wave of emotion” (FOXSPORTS.com, 6/20).

Dozens of dwelling Negro League gamers “took the sector earlier than the sport in a transferring ceremony”Mary DeCicco/MLB Photographs through Getty Photographs

From the second the Giants’ staff bus pulled into the stadium, “they took each alternative to honor” Mays. Gamers, coaches and workers members all “walked off the bus sporting reproduction grey jerseys, with ‘Birmingham’ on the entrance and the No. 8 on the again,” the identical uniform Mays wore when he debuted at 17 years previous for the Birmingham Black Barons (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 6/20).

Dozens of dwelling Negro League gamers “took the sector earlier than the sport in a transferring ceremony.” The Giants and Cardinals “walked them onto the grass, some being pushed in wheelchairs.” The ceremony “introduced tears to the eyes of lots of the 8,000 followers in attendance” and “gave an early reminder that this was way over only a common season baseball sport” (NBCSPORTSBAYAREA.com, 6/21).

MLB’s youth growth basis on Wednesday introduced the Negro Leagues Household Alliance — a bunch of households of former gamers “whose mission is to protect the leagues’ historical past and legacy” — with a examine for $500,000 (WASHINGTON POST, 6/20).

Willie Mays’ demise “remodeled Birmingham’s tribute to the Negro Leagues right into a nationwide spectacle”Daniel Shirey/MLB Photographs through Getty Photographs