Yankees Mag: Game of Gratitude

It seemed as if it would never stop raining. On the afternoon in which a collection of former Major League stars had converged on historic Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Ala., to play a game celebrating the Negro Leagues, the weather didn’t make it easy for the festivities to go off.

The event was originally scheduled for noon on Juneteenth, a national holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, but as the rain continued to splash off the infield tarp at Rickwood Field, Major League Baseball officials knew that in a best-case scenario, things would need to pushed back.

In the spirit of the day and everything it represented, no one involved was willing to concede to the weather, regardless of how bad the forecast looked. And in the end, their fortitude paid off. As the sky above the oldest professional baseball stadium in the world turned from gray to blue, the enthusiasm for this meaningful event was restored.

After holding a similar throwback tribute to the Negro Leagues’ decades-long All-Star Game with the 2024 East-West Classic at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, N.Y., Rob Manfred, along with 2025 Hall of Fame inductee CC Sabathia -- who serves as a special assistant to the Commissioner -- began to discuss the idea of bringing the East-West Classic to one of the only remaining Negro Leagues stadiums in existence, and to have it coincide with the Juneteenth holiday.

Buoyed by the success of the June 2024 regular-season matchup between the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants at Rickwood Field, moving this year’s event to Birmingham made perfect sense.

“Knowing how many Black ballplayers came from this area and started their careers in this park, it only felt right to come down here and do this,” Sabathia said after he and about two dozen other former big leaguers arrived at the field for this year’s game. “We did such a great job with the Giants-Cardinals game last year, and Rob Manfred didn’t want it to be a one-off. He wanted to keep coming down to serve this community, which has such a rich baseball tradition.

“It was a no-brainer to bring this game to Rickwood Field on Juneteenth. Two things that were always in my life were baseball and Juneteenth. So, coming down here and doing this on a grand stage for MLB is a dream. It’s incredibly special.”

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Although having the East-West Classic at Rickwood was a natural fit, it only became a reality due to the efforts of Friends of Rickwood, a nonprofit organization that worked to restore the historic ballpark after the Birmingham Barons moved to nearby Hoover, Alabama, following the 1987 season.

“The ballpark was basically just getting overgrown because it was unattended,” said Gerald Watkins, who has served as Friends of Rickwood’s president since 2008. “We learned that Ron Shelton, who directed Bull Durham, wanted to come here and do a movie on Ty Cobb featuring Tommy Lee Jones. We were able to get some of the big companies in this area as well as the city, which owns the ballpark, to pitch in money for necessary improvements.”

Cobb was released in 1994, with several scenes taking place at Rickwood Field, and a short time later, the city of Birmingham leased the ballpark to Friends of Rickwood. Over the next few decades, the field hosted high school and college games, as well as travel ball tournaments, and it also served as a location for two more movies -- Soul of the Game and 42.

In 2021, Watkins learned that Major League Baseball was planning to have a game between the Yankees and the Chicago White Sox at a stadium built next to the set of the famed baseball movie Field of Dreams in Iowa. “My first thought was, Why not do a game here, as well?” he said. “My pitch to MLB was that this is a real field of dreams because on this field, Willie Mays and a whole bunch of other people dreamed about being in the big leagues. MLB officials came down and saw value in bringing a game to this ballpark. CC Sabathia really liked being here, and he wanted to come back to Birmingham. So, here we are.”

Rickwood Field isn’t just special because it has been around since 1910 and is the oldest stadium in America to have served as the home of a Negro Leagues team. It’s not just a spectacular place to watch a baseball game because of its vintage look, which includes a manual scoreboard in left-center field and four monumental steel-frame light towers. The ballpark’s grandeur -- featuring a center-field wall that used to sit almost 500 feet from home plate and still remains in front of a grove of oak trees -- is a sight to see. But it’s not the most compelling characteristic of the structure.

Rickwood Field is a national landmark because so many events that have shaped baseball -- and society -- as we know it today took place within the dark green concrete exterior of the 10,800-seat ballpark, located a few miles from downtown Birmingham.

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Beginning in 1920, the Birmingham Black Barons started playing their home games at Rickwood Field as part of the Negro National League, which was founded by Hall of Famer Rube Foster and remained in existence until the Great Depression a decade later. Sharing the ballpark with the Minor League Barons, an all-white team owned by ballpark founder Rick Woodward, Birmingham’s Negro League team grew in popularity. In 1927, the team won the league’s second-half pennant, a triumph fueled by the performance of 20-year-old Satchel Paige, who won seven of his nine decisions.

Paige was far from the only legend to play at Rickwood Field over the next five decades. A year after a Spanish mission-style façade was added to the ballpark’s entrance in 1928, Babe Ruth took the field at Rickwood during a barnstorming tour. The Bambino’s appearance was followed by that of Negro Leagues icons and Baseball Hall of Famers Josh Gibson and Cool Papa Bell, who, as part of the Homestead Grays, took on the Black Barons in the “Colored World Series” in 1943.

Of the nearly 200 Hall of Famers who have stepped onto the field at Rickwood in some capacity -- including Jackie Robinson, Ernie Banks, Hank Aaron and Derek Jeter -- none was woven into the fabric of the stadium like one hometown player who made his professional debut there.

Before the world saw him establish himself as one of the single most prolific players in history with the Giants, 20-time All-Star Willie Mays signed with the Black Barons in 1948. In his first season as a pro, the 17-year-old only played in home games so that he could complete his academic requirements and also play for his high school team. Mays remained with the Black Barons until 1950, when the New York Giants signed him.

“To see this field, which looks like it did generations ago, and to know that you’re going to be playing a game on the same field as so many legends like Willie, it’s an awesome experience,” Sabathia said. “I feel a direct connection to this place. Without this ballpark, I wouldn’t be who I am. This community has so much history in baseball; it’s really special to come down here to play a game. There’s a direct connection to this field for so many of us. We wouldn’t be able to play the game if it wasn’t for the guys who paved the way and played on this field.”

Nick Swisher, who played in the East-West Classic this year, shared some of the same feelings as his former teammate.

“There are so many individuals who played here and then made our game what it is,” the former Yankees outfielder said from the first-base dugout before the game. “It’s hard to focus on one player, but Willie Mays and Satchel Paige are two guys that jump out for me. Maybe they didn’t get the acknowledgment that they deserved until after they played here, but they had an enormous impact on the sport that exists today.”

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As significant as the Negro Leagues history that took place at Rickwood Field in its first five decades was, the events that happened there in the 1960s were perhaps even more impactful on American society.

After Jackie Robinson broke the Major League color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947 and ushered in the integration of the sport, attendance figures for Negro Leagues games declined. Following several ownership changes, the Black Barons played their final game in 1960, leaving the Minor League Barons as the ballpark’s only tenant.

Prior to the start of the 1962 season, Major League Baseball mandated that all Minor League clubs become fully integrated. However, local laws in Birmingham did not allow Black players and white players to compete against each other.

As a result of extreme pressure and violence against peaceful civil rights activists who protested the laws, Barons owner Albert Belcher disbanded the team, which caused the entire Southern Association to fold.

Although Belcher was initially defeated and remained a target of threats from the Ku Klux Klan, which held rallies at Rickwood Field, he remained dogged in his quest to bring baseball back to Birmingham. As Birmingham’s local government slowly evolved, the “Checkers Rule,” which stated that it was unlawful for a Black person and a white person to play with each other in any game of cards, dice, baseball, football, basketball or similar games, such as checkers, would eventually be ignored, leading to a rebirth of the soon-to-be-integrated Barons.

The new Barons were the Double-A affiliate of the Kansas City A’s, owned by Birmingham-area native Charlie Finley. On April 17, 1964, days after stadium workers cut down chicken wire that had been in place to keep Black fans and white fans separated from each other, the Barons debuted as the city’s first racially integrated professional team and played in front of an integrated crowd.

“That brought the game where it needed to be,” Swisher said. “We are all human beings. It doesn’t matter what you look like. For all those individuals who had that opportunity to finally play on the same field when Minor League Baseball came back to Rickwood Field, they had to wait a long time for that to happen. I can’t imagine the things that they had to go through during those years.”

Watkins, now 68, still has vivid memories of attending games in the years after Rickwood Field was integrated. He believes that the ballpark was one of the few sanctuaries from the unrest taking place in Birmingham in the 1960s.

“Black fans and white fans came here to get away from the troubles of the world and to be entertained,” he said. “We never learned of any racial problems that happened during games here. They may have happened downtown, but when people came to watch a ballgame, it was an escape. They came to enjoy the ballgame and the camaraderie.

“I came here many times when I was a teenager, and I would sit down and talk to whoever was sitting next to me. We were all connected by the brotherhood of baseball. For the most part, people have adapted, and thank God for that.”

***

For Jerry Hairston Sr. -- who spent almost 14 years with the Chicago White Sox and whose two sons, Jerry Hairston Jr. and Scott Hairston, also had Major League careers -- managing the East team on June 19 was a full-circle moment for more reasons than one.

Not only was Hairston Sr. managing his oldest son for the first time, but he also had a long history of coming to Rickwood Field while growing up in nearby Gardendale, Ala. As the son of Sam Hairston, who played for the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League from 1944 through 1948 and then for the Chicago White Sox in 1951, Hairston Sr. had some of his favorite childhood experiences at Rickwood Field.

“Being back in Birmingham, it brought back a lot of memories of coming here as a small kid with my dad and seeing all of the players he knew,” he said. “Even though Negro League baseball was dying out in the 1950s, I was able to go into that clubhouse and meet some of the greatest players in history. Just seeing my dad have so much fun with guys he knew was a really sweet thing to be part of.”

As one of the first Black students at Gardendale High School, Hairston had the opportunity to play baseball at Rickwood Field on several occasions.

“I will never forget that,” he said. “When you look back on it, you realize how unique it was to play in a high school game on a field where guys like Willie Mays and Josh Gibson also played.”

As meaningful as being back at Rickwood was for the elder Hairston, the experience was equally poignant for his two sons.

“This is the first time my dad has ever managed me in a game, and to do it here, it’s extra special,” said Jerry Hairston Jr., who was a member of the Yankees’ 2009 championship team. “For my grandfather to play at this stadium decades ago and for my father to play here in high school and in 1972 when he was in Double-A, and to know that Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige and so many other incredible players took this field, this was really special.”

The A’s Double-A affiliate remained in Birmingham until 1975, during which time Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson played there in 1967. In 1981, the Detroit Tigers placed their Double-A affiliate in Birmingham, where it remained until 1987, when the last Minor League game was played at Rickwood Field.

“I saw Reggie Jackson hit a ball over the roof in right field practically from his knees,” Hairston Sr. said. “That was something I will never forget. I knew that he was going to be in the Majors and that he was going to be a star.”

Jackson may have paved the way to his Hall of Fame career in Birmingham, but just like every other Black player who came through that area, he often had to deal with racism, being told he could not eat in restaurants or stay in hotels with his white teammates. When he returned to Rickwood Field last year, Jackson was candid about his experiences, noting that he would often be called the N-word when entering places where he was not welcome.

The most recent East-West Classic didn’t just serve as a celebration of the Negro Leagues, but also as a way to honor the players who endured the horrors of racism while simply living their lives and participating in a sport.

“All the stuff that went on in the South back then, I can’t imagine going through what those guys went through,” Sabathia said. “As a kid from California, it was a culture shock for me, and I always feel like I have to pay it forward, to pay those guys back for what they went through and for what they did. If they didn’t do what they did, none of us would have been able to play the game we love. I’m extremely grateful for what those guys went through.”

***

A few minutes before the festivities -- which began with a home run derby contest that former Milwaukee Brewers star Prince Fielder won -- got underway, Sabathia turned his focus to the task at hand. Although the 251-game winner and 2009 World Series champion retired more than five years ago, his competitive fire has not fully diminished.

“It’s going to be serious,” he said. “Guys are laughing now, but as soon as it gets real, it’s going to get real.”

Sporting a gray uniform with “West” across the chest, Sabathia walked to the outfield a few minutes before the game began and warmed up with his catcher. As he moved farther away from his batterymate every few seconds, the big lefty ramped up the velocity of his pitches.

Following his warmup and the base-line introductions of both teams, the captain of the West team returned to the dugout and spent a few minutes with legendary manager Dusty Baker.

In his one inning of work, Sabathia retired all three batters he faced, snagging the third out -- a ground ball off the bat of former Braves slugger Andruw Jones -- barehanded.

Even though Sabathia came out of the game, the next few innings were eventful for him. His teammates scored three runs in the bottom of the first, giving the West a lead it would not relinquish. Then, in the middle of the second inning, Baker and East team captain Chris Young presented Sabathia with a stadium chair that had previously resided in the Polo Grounds and at Rickwood Field.

A few innings after that, seven former Negro Leagues players, all of whom were sitting behind home plate, were recognized. As each of their names were called, the crowd gave them a standing ovation.

After former Yankees pitcher José Contreras provided the West team with a few innings of shutout ball, one of Sabathia’s longtime teammates closed out the five-inning, 3-0 victory. With the East down to its final out, Baker summoned Dellin Betances -- who admittedly had not thrown a baseball in three years -- to the mound.

Betances was rusty at first, throwing a few pitches in the dirt. But he rebounded, recording the final out with a strikeout.

“It was truly special to be able to go out there, have fun and compete again,” Betances said. “It’s been a long time. To be able to touch the stadium where so many legends played, it’s something I will never forget.”

***

In March of 1965, less than a year after the first fully integrated baseball game took place in Birmingham, hundreds of nonviolent protesters marched through the state of Alabama, demanding equal voting rights. When the demonstrators departed Selma, they were viciously attacked by members of law enforcement on Bloody Sunday. Days later, President Lyndon Johnson told Congress, “Their cause must be our cause, too,” and by August, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a landmark piece of federal legislation prohibiting racial discrimination in voting, became law.

As Jerry Hairston Jr. stood on the field moments after the 2025 East-West Classic had concluded, he was asked about the significance of the events that took place decades ago and how they still resonate today.

“[Former Dodgers pitcher] Don Newcombe once told me about a dinner that he, Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella had with Martin Luther King Jr.,” Hairston said. “During their conversation, Dr. King told Jackie, Roy and Don that what they did on the field as well as off the field helped spearhead the Civil Rights Movement. It gave everyone confidence, and it allowed the whole world to see Black athletes having success, not just on the field, but also away from the field in terms of how they carried themselves. Martin Luther King said that those guys helped get the ball rolling in the late ’40s.

“When you fast forward to 1961, Birmingham was really the hub of what was going on in our country. When the Birmingham Barons came back, that solidified where the country was going.”

Before leaving the ballpark for the night, the Hairston family made one final stop. The group found the photo of their patriarch, Sam Hairston, which adorns a wall filled with images of fellow baseball heroes, all taken at Rickwood Field.

“This is the palace of baseball right now,” Hairston Sr. said. “It’s the oldest baseball stadium in the world. After everything the guys who used to play here went through, we just had to get this game in today. We owed it to them.”

Alfred Santasiere III is the editor-in-chief of Yankees Magazine. This story appears in the July 2025 edition. Get more articles like this delivered to your doorstep by purchasing a subscription to Yankees Magazine at www.yankees.com/publications.