The St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants met on Thursday for a matchup at Rickwood Field, the oldest ballpark in the United States and the home of the Negro League's Birmingham Black Barons between 1924-60. Before Thursday's game, Major League Baseball paid tribute to the Negro Leagues and its storied history: The original Negro Leagues players are here at Rickwood Field 👏 pic.
twitter.com/A2YiDflPK6 Former Indianapolis Clowns 2B, Reggie Howard, tells @Ken_Rosenthal about reuniting with some friends from the Negro Leagues at Rickwood Field 👏 pic.twitter.
com/fyFzs7E0BB The National Anthem at Rickwood Field.Pure chills.#MLBatRickwood pic.
twitter.com/BiAJksSxoz "Today feels like it's a little bit bigger than baseball." - Masyn WinnThe @Cardinals and @SFGiants are ready for #MLBatRickwood.
pic.twitter.com/8Ddjh6wIeZ Today's Rickwood Field game features the 1st all-black umpiring crew in AL/NL history 🙏 pic.
twitter.com/SPrHepWfoz One of the coolest moments was seeing former Black Barons' pitcher, Bill Greason, throw out the first pitch: 99-year-old Bill Greason, a former Birmingham Black Baron and St. Louis Cardinal, delivers the first pitch.
#MLBatRickwood pic.twitter.com/aIZTGYKrJH MLB legend Willie Mays—who died this week at the age of 93—started his professional career with the Black Barons in 1948 before going on to become arguably the greatest all-around player in MLB history.
Major League Baseball had already planned to pay tribute to Mays before the gam.
