Second Consecutive Juneteenth Celebration in Alabama Will Feature 2025 Hall of Fame Inductee CC Sabathia,
All-Star Chris Young, Dusty Baker and Other Luminaries;
Baseball and Softball Field at Willie Mays Park to Be Unveiled in Mays’ Hometown of Fairfield;
MLB Donating Game Tickets to Local College Students and Community Members;
Tickets on Sale to General Public Today on MLB.com
In memory of Alabama native Willie Mays’ 94th birthday today, Major League Baseball announced that the second edition of the East-West Classic, a tribute to the Negro Leagues All-Star Games held from 1933-1962, will be held on Thursday, June 19th at historic Rickwood Field in Birmingham. General admission tickets for the event’s first trip to Rickwood Field are available now for $12 at mlb.com/rickwood. Rosters and other information regarding the event were unveiled earlier today on a special MLB Tonight program on MLB Network.
For the second straight year, MLB will celebrate Juneteenth with an event at Rickwood Field, following up on the success of last year’s Barnstorm Birmingham event and Fam Jam celebrity softball game which preceded the first AL-NL game ever played in Alabama last June at Rickwood Field. Last year’s East-West Classic tribute game was developed and hosted by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York and coincided with the opening of the institution’s groundbreaking exhibit, The Souls of the Game: Voices of Black Baseball, as well as the unveiling of a statue of Hank Aaron titled “Keep Swinging” on the Museum’s first floor. Held at historic Doubleday Field on May 25, 2024, the East defeated the West, 5-4, behind a go-ahead three-run homer from Ryan Howard. First pitch for this year’s contest is slated for 1:05 p.m. and the game will last five innings or two hours, whichever comes first. For the second consecutive year, MLB Network will produce and air an all-access program featuring the sights and sounds from the East-West Classic on Sunday, June 29th at 1:00 p.m. (ET). The program will also stream on MLB.com, MLB.TV and in the MLB App. The National Baseball Hall of Fame will also have a presence at this year’s East-West Classic, showcasing items from its Education Collection for fans to experience and learn more about Black baseball history.
The 2025 rosters will be led by 2025 Hall of Fame inductee CC Sabathia (West captain) and All-Star outfielder Chris Young (East captain) of MLB Network, along with honorary manager Dusty Baker. The distinguished group of players participating spans over 390 Major League seasons and 35,900 games, combining for 10 World Series titles, an MVP Award, two Cy Young Awards, 68 All-Star appearances, 18 Silver Slugger Awards and 23 Rawlings Gold Glove Awards. Prior to the five-inning contest, members of both teams will participate in a home run derby at 12:00 p.m., featuring defending champion Adam Jones. A tentative list of players participating in the East-West Classic is available here.
As a continuation of the memorable effort last June, MLB Together – along with Alabama State Senator Merika Coleman; Councilmembers E.J. Foster, Cedric Norman, and Barakas Taylor; Mr. Michael Mays; the Peavy Family Foundation; and other community stakeholders – will help unveil a refurbished baseball and softball field at Willie Mays Park in the Hall of Famer’s hometown of Fairfield. While the field had fallen into disrepair and became unusable for most competitive levels of the game, now the new field will continue to serve generations of aspiring youth baseball players in the area. On June 19th, a new competitive diamond will be commemorated at Willie Mays Park for the Fairfield and Birmingham community to use for baseball and softball by community partners such as Miles College, A.G. Gaston Boys and Girls Club, local NIKE RBI, Little League, and other youth groups. Initial proceeds for the field were generated from the 2024 MLB Winter Meetings Charity Auction. This program is a key component of MLB Together, baseball’s social responsibility platform that mobilizes our Clubs, Players and Partners to invest in communities off the field, providing youth access to play our sport.
Rickwood Field is the oldest professional ballpark in the United States and former home of the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues, who called Rickwood Field home from 1924 through 1960. As a teenager, Mays began his professional career with the Black Barons in 1948. He played with them before beginning his legendary MLB career as a member of the New York Giants in 1951. Rickwood Field was the site of the final Negro League World Series game in October 1948, which saw Mays’ Black Barons falling to the Homestead Grays in five games.
The Friends of Rickwood and the City of Birmingham worked with MLB to renovate and maintain Rickwood Field in 2024, transforming the National Historic Site before hosting a Major League game between the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals. Following his passing last year on June 18th, MLB at Rickwood Field: A Tribute to the Negro Leagues served as a national remembrance of Mays and his legendary life and career. In its Year-End Awards for 2024, the Sports Business Journal named MLB at Rickwood Field as its Best New Event.
The Negro Leagues East-West All-Star Game debuted in 1933 at Chicago’s Comiskey Park and was played annually through 1962, including several years that featured multiple games. Hall of Famer Bill Foster was the winning pitcher in the inaugural East-West All-Star Game and several future Hall of Famers starred in the game throughout the years, including Cool Papa Bell, Ray Brown, Andy Cooper, Leon Day, Martín Dihigo, Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, Minnie Miñoso, Satchel Paige, Jackie Robinson and Willie Wells.