Today is Alabama’s first ever annual observance of Juneteenth. That’s the date back in 1865 when enslaved blacks in Texas learned that the Civil War was over and slavery had ended. Baseball fans in Birmingham will also mark the day with an annual negro league legends game. Here’s how both of these subjects come together.
The state and federal holiday known as Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Texas learned they were free. Union troops delivered the news when they landed in Galveston Bay.
“I think it's just a day of remembrance,” said Anthony Williams. He’s the director of the Negro Leagues Museum in Birmingham, Alabama. And there’s a reason we asked him about Juneteenth…
“And then when you go forward to the integration of baseball, it's just a these are just touch points in American history that shouldn't be forgotten, because they kind of represent how far we've come, and still how much further we have to go as a nation,” he said.
The East-West Classic was once the crown jewel of Negro Leagues baseball. It was an All-Star showcase that drew tens of thousands to Chicago’s Comiskey Park. The game is now alive again in Birmingham. But, it’s here that we have to be careful…
“There is no comparison, except in name,” said Major League Baseball official historian John Thorn. He says there’s a difference between the East West Classic and the Negro Leagues East-West All Star game.
“All Star game was an entirely Negro Leagues affair,” Thorn recalled. “It was racially segregated, not because the Negro Leagues wished it to be so, but because Major League Baseball wished it to be so.”
The east-west classic game in Birmingham today is in honor of African American baseball players who pioneered the sport.
"It's, it's the result of hundreds of years, decades, I would say, of of history,” said Anthony WIlliams of the Negro League Museum. We met him earlier. Williams says hosting the event in Birmingham is significant.
“Not only do we have the civil rights history here, but our rich baseball history when you start with Rick Woodfield and the Birmingham Black Barons and the regular barons and just Rick Woodfield is the oldest professional ball field in the nation,” he observed
Williams says this year’s game features retired MLB stars, blending past and present in a five-inning showcase.
“A lot of the players that are playing have retired, but their names are still celebrated. They're still celebrated figures, and they're coming from all around the country.”
Birmingham is home to the famous Black Barons. That’s one of the first eight teams in the Negro Southern League. That made the Magic City the cradle of Negro League culture.
“In a perfect world, I think that having the East West classic every year in Birmingham would be just the right thing to do,” said Gerald Watkins, President of the Friends of Rickwood Field where the game will be played.
“To highlight our old ballpark and to highlight the history of the Negro League players, and to celebrate that, that holiday,” he said.
Although the game is a celebration, it’s also an opportunity to reflect on America’s not-so-distant history of racial division, as John Thorn put it.
“And while there is a ceremonial aspect to that celebration and to this one, the important thing is to recognize that it is not so long ago that America was racially divided,” he said.
We gave Anthony Williams of the Negro League Museum the final word..
“Birmingham is beginning to take its place as even though we're a small town and we don't have a major league team, we have Major League history,” said Williams
At Rickwood Field, history and baseball remain inseparable. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m. but fans can also catch a home run derby featuring Adam Jones at noon. Tickets are on sale now for $12.
