Major League Baseball is paying tribute to Negro League and Hall of Fame player Willie Mays this week with minor and major league games at legendary Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama. Mays was a Birmingham native and former player for the Birmingham Black Barons.
The featured game between the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals will be on Thursday. Both teams will wear period uniforms in honor of their cities’ Negro League history. Fox will broadcast the regular season game at 7:15 p.m. ET.
“Over 130 Hall of Famers have played at Rickwood,” MLB Network’s Harold Reynolds told Yahoo Sports. “So when I see that fence, I remember my first time at Fenway, my first time at Wrigley, my first time at Yankee Stadium. This ballpark is like a family. It’s like, ‘Where did Babe Ruth hit the ball?’ That’s a great piece of history. We’re missing that.”
Fortunately, the tribute game is scheduled to take place just a few weeks after Negro League statistics are officially incorporated into MLB’s historical record.
“We get to tell people who these players were, who they were and what their talents were,” Reynolds said. “That’s what this job is about.”
On Tuesday, the Birmingham Barons (Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox) will host the Montgomery Biscuits (Double-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays) at 7 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on MLB Network with Rich Waltz and Chris Young providing play-by-play commentary and former “Daily Show” correspondent Roy Wood Jr. serving as a sideline reporter.
Wood, a Birmingham native, worked as host of MLB Network’s “All MLB Team Show” in December. He said serving as a sideline reporter for Tuesday’s minor league game was “like getting my journalism degree again.”
“The idea is to maintain that sense of celebration of why we’re here and why we’re at this ballpark,” Wood told Yahoo Sports. “For me, the plan is to be the eyes and ears for people who can’t be at Rickwood, but if there’s an opportunity to add more information about the city of Birmingham and the people of Birmingham, my job is to make sure we remember why we’re here and why this field is so interesting.”
“We’re talking about the original depth of field. It used to be 480 feet in the straight and 400 feet at the line,” he added. “Then the right field line is like 320 feet and then it sticks out like 390 feet or something, some ridiculous height. I’m not gonna say ‘drunk’ on the air, but who drew these dimensions?”
Reynolds believes Wood’s ability to talk about growing up in Birmingham and playing at Rickwood Field will captivate viewers and make him perfect for the job.
“I’ll tell you the story of when Ensley High School forfeited a game to us because they had a fight in their own dugout,” Wood said. “I think Rickwood is the only baseball team that’s ever lost because of a fight. LaVert Andrews didn’t run on a ground ball that he should have run, and his teammate yelled, ‘I’m sorry,’ and LaVert punched Andrews in the face.”
On Wednesday, the Birmingham event will feature a celebrity softball game in celebration of Juneteenth. The broadcast will air on MLB Network at 2:30 pm ET on Thursday between the “MLB Central” and “MLB Tonight” pregame shows live from Rickwood Field, with Reynolds and Young providing play-by-play commentary.
Players taking part in the softball game include former Philadelphia Phillies slugger Ryan Howard, University of Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe, NFL veterans Terrell Owens and Dwight Freeney, Cleveland Browns quarterback Jameis Winston (who grew up in the Birmingham area), and NBA veterans Stephen Jackson and J.R. Smith. Wood Jr. will also be playing, along with actors Omari Hardwick, Phoebe Robinson and Lil Rel Howery.
“I’ll be the first person to drag bunt in a celebrity game,” Wood said. “Chuck Carr was my inspiration. Brett Butler, Willie McGee, those are the guys I want to be.”