BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Mother Nature must’ve had the players at Rickwood Field in mind when she stopped dumping buckets of rain into the steamy Alabama atmosphere on Wednesday afternoon.
The grounds crew at the historic ballpark was busy in the moments leading up to the Hank Aaron Invitational Showcase, also known as the “44 Game," but when it came time for first pitch, Mother Nature supplanted lightning-riddled gray skies with a partly cloudy backdrop perfect for baseball.
It seemed as if the baseball gods wanted this game to be played.
Rickwood Field has played host to dozens of baseball’s immortal staples. Their first names don’t need to be mentioned: Robinson, Ruth, Mays, Paige, Aaron.
And on Wednesday, the historic site welcomed the next generation of shining stars for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to trot the same terrain that so many greats had in years past.
The showcase was won by Team Aaron -- which was managed by former Major Leaguer Howie Kendrick -- 6-1 over Team Robinson. Kayden Lipscomb, Justus Mike and Ayden Roman led the charge with one RBI apiece in the victory.
But to play in the game was to walk away with a victory. Its significance ran much deeper than anything that was tallied in the final box score.
Each participating player was hand-selected from the batch of top-notch talents who were chosen to take part in last week’s Hank Aaron Invitational. The camp, hosted at Vero Beach, Fla.’s Jackie Robinson Training Complex, featured 112 attendees. Then, 44 – a nod to Aaron’s uniform number – were chosen to travel to Rickwood for the exhibition.
Players wrapped camp on Monday, flew to Birmingham Tuesday and took in the Negro Southern League Museum on Wednesday morning. The museum, which features the largest collection of Negro League artifacts in the United States, is set to celebrate its 10-year anniversary in August.
It’s also celebrating a newly-opened exhibit on Willie Mays, an Alabama native who began his professional career with the Negro League’s Birmingham Black Barons in 1948, before being signed by the Giants (who were then in New York) in 1950. Mays passed away last year, just two days before MLB’s first game at Rickwood, which featured the Giants wearing San Francisco Sea Lions (a former Negro League team) uniforms.
In addition to attending the museum, players visited with 10-year-old Cole Murphy, a Birmingham baseball player who is now seven years in remission from acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
“It’s great,” Team Aaron starting pitcher Chris Guillory said of meeting Murphy. “Growing up looking up to people, it’s great to be on the other end ... a simple follow-back on Instagram is a big thing to them. So it’s a great feeling to get to talk to [Murphy].”
Guillory, a Kennesaw State commit who earned himself a clean first inning with a punchout to escape a two-out jam, touched on the importance of the experience for him.
“It was great getting to see history, stuff that ... African Americans had to go through with baseball and all the history behind it. It’s great to see, especially having Papa Jack [former Major Leaguer Ron Jackson] here. Got to see him in person, got to talk to him, and it’s just a great feeling.
“I’ve been doing MLB Develops since my freshman year, so I’ve put in a whole bunch of work, and I feel like I came a long way. It’s great to know the coaches have seen that as well, and trust me enough to have the ball. ... This prepared me [for the next level] tremendously. Not a lot of kids get this opportunity, it feels like I’m just one step ahead.”
Daunte Bell II, who needed just six pitches to get through his starting appearance on the mound for Team Robinson, expressed similar sentiments of gratitude.
“The whole experience has been truly a blessing,” the Millikan High School rising senior said. “A great opportunity, I loved everything since day one. ... I played with a lot of these guys through other events, so just to be out here and train with some of the top MLB guys who used to play, it’s a great learning experience.
“I really just hope this gets my name out there, cause I haven’t gotten a lot of interest so far. So I definitely want this to really help boost that up, and hopefully what I did today on the mound, that shows [my ability].”
Bell put together a stellar performance in front of the plethora of scouts in attendance on Wednesday afternoon.
The opportunity for players like Bell to be seen, but also to be developed as young men, is one that Jemile Weeks holds dear to his heart.
“Seeing a ballplayer grow,” the Team Robinson manager said via the game’s MLB.com broadcast regarding his favorite part of the events.
“Watching these young guys get an opportunity to get information from guys that have done it before, been through every level that they’re going through -- and that they’re going to go through -- and being able to see them grow as individuals, and then ballplayers after that.
“There’s nothing better than giving that back to them.”