For many of its “jewel” events in recent years, Major League Baseball has created temporary ballparks where none existed before. For its regular season game on June 20, 2024 in Birmingham, Alabama, MLB did the opposite. It worked with the city to modernize a ballpark that opened in 1910.
This was no easy task when you consider that Rickwood Field is on the National Register of Historic Places. In fact, it’s so old that the city’s Minor League team has moved twice since it last called the park its regular home in 1987.
I spent three days in Alabama to investigate and witness how all of this was accomplished, and see what kind of event was done by MLB. Here in one place are four different articles I produced to give you the full picture.
The first provides the rich history of Rickwood — some of it profoundly negative, due to the segregation in place for decades. It’s important for you to understand that the very reason MLB chose to bring a game here wasn’t because the ballpark is old. It’s because it was home to the Birmingham Black Barons, and honoring the Negro Leagues was the major motivation for this game.
The second article addresses how the aging facility was upgraded to accommodate a big-league game — without destroying it’s historic nature.
Next is a series of quotes from interesting people I encountered at Rickwood — from the two grandsons of the man who was responsible for the design and construction of the stadium in 1910 to a delightful U.S. Senator.
Fourth was a specific assignment given to me from USA TODAY headquarters. That was to record my biggest take-aways from the events … and I had a lot to say about everything.
So check out these two very special pages to learn all about the event called MLB at Rickwood.