Birmingham Black Barons
MLB to stage Negro Leagues tribute game at Rickwood Field next June honoring Willie Mays
The stadium, opened in 1910, is the oldest professional ballpark in the U.S. and a National Historic Site. The game will honor Hall of Famer Willie Mays, a Birmingham native who began his professional career with the Birmingham Black Barons in 1948.
Former Birmingham Black Barons Pitcher Remembers ’48 Negro League World Series
This week marks the 70th anniversary of the Birmingham Black Barons’ appearance in what would become the last Negro League World Series ever played. The 1948 team was considered the greatest Black Barons team of all-time and was made up of legends like Bill Greason. Greason was a pitcher who broke the color barrier with the Oklahoma City Indians and later played briefly in the Major League. The 94-year-old tells WBHM’s Janae Pierre about that final Negro League World Series against the Washington Homestead Grays.
James “Jake” Sanders, Negro League Star
Segregation shut out ballplayers like James “Jake” Sanders from ballparks and the major leagues, but it didn’t quell his passion for the game. He attended the same high school in Fairfield as Willie Mays and went on to star in the Negro League. These days, Sanders travels the country telling the history of the league to school kids so the stories don’t get lost.
