Baseball’s Negro Leagues have been in the news a lot lately, now that Major League Baseball has officially agreed to add stats from those players to its historical records.
Billy Reid is also doing his part to recognize the league by refurbishing the gift shop at Rickwood Field, which opened in 1910 and is America’s oldest ballpark and former home of the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues. Rickwood Field will host a tribute to the Negro Leagues on Tuesday, a celebrity softball game on Wednesday and a regular-season game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants on Thursday.
Reid, an avid baseball fan, coach and resident of Alabama, volunteered himself and his team to revitalize the gift shop by creating unique visual merchandising.
To commemorate the occasion, Reid will throw a tailgate party at his Birmingham store on Wednesday in honor of Rickwood Field. Gerald Watkins, Rickwood’s executive director, will be in attendance and Johnny’s, a popular Birmingham restaurant, will serve a curated menu along with beer for the local Avondale Brewing company. Custom, limited-edition merchandise designed by Reid will be available for purchase, with a percentage of the sales donated to Friends of Rickwood to help in the efforts to preserve the field.
The Birmingham Black Barons played in Rickwood Field from 1924 to 1960. As a teenager, Willie Mays began his professional career with the Barons in 1948 before joining the Giants in 1951. Rickwood was also the site of the final Negro League World Series game in October 1948 when the Black Barons lost to the Homestead Grays in five games.