It might have seemed like an unlikely place to host Metro Boomin, Lil Rey Howery and Barry Bonds in the same weekend, but Birmingham’s Rickwood Field was embraced by athletes, entertainers and fans alike last week as MLB celebrated baseball’s history in a decidedly forward-looking way.
The FOX Sports broadcast of “MLB at Rickwood Field” earned an average of 2.3 million viewers, a multi-year high for a Thursday night, regular season telecast. And the broadcast did not just net strong viewership numbers. It sparked thoughtful reflection about the country’s legacy of racism after Hall of Fame slugger Reggie Jackson shared his experiences playing in the Deep South in the 1960s. Sports Media Watch called it “Emmy-quality.” And it served as a powerful memorial for Willie Mays, perhaps the greatest baseball player ever, who served as a living bridge between the Negro leagues and MLB up until his death just two days earlier.
The broadcast was the successful result of a $5 million renovation led by the City of Birmingham to expand the 104-year-old Rickwood Field for major league play as well as a multi-million dollar investment into the event’s operations by MLB. But this was just one high-profile aspect of a multifaceted embrace of Negro leagues history from MLB this season, one that is as focused on growing the sport into the future as it is on embracing an aspect of its history that had been largely overlooked.
“We believe it is critically important that the next generation learns of the triumphs, innovations, struggles and overall legacy of our historic players who paved the way for the future generations of Black baseball stars,” Rob Manfred, MLB’s commissioner, told me. “We believe that our fans, especially our younger fans, will have a deeper appreciation for the Negro leagues players learning how they performed on the field while facing the extraordinary societal challenges of the time. We hope this appreciation leads to an even deeper connection between baseball and the African American community.”
In recent years, MLB has launched several initiatives to drive more young people toward baseball. After the Sports & Fitness Industry Association found a 14.5% decline in youth participation in the sport between 2009 and 2014, MLB’s Play Ball program, new marketing efforts and a slew of popular rule changes were introduced and seem to have reversed that trend.
Similarly, MLB faces historically low numbers of Black players in the majors and has launched several programs focused on encouraging Black youth specifically, including the DREAM Series and Hank Aaron Invitational. “MLB at Rickwood Field” was the most visible addition to that effort this season, but MLB’s growing focus has included the addition of Negro leagues statistics to MLB records and, most recently, a $500,000 grant from the joint MLB-MLBA Youth Development Foundation to the Negro Leagues Family Alliance (NLFA) made on Juneteenth.
“We know that our sport accomplishes great things when the league, our clubs and our players work together,” Manfred said of the joint effort to support NLFA, which focuses on preserving the legacy of former players and encouraging youth participation in baseball. “There are many shared interests in their mission, especially in growing the game at the youth level and ensuring that the history of the Negro leagues greats is remembered for generations to come.”
In addition to MLB’s latest programs, Manfred also highlighted a focus on the Negro leagues in recent editions of the “MLB The Show” video game, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City and the Negro Southern League Museum in Birmingham as avenues that will continue to highlight some of the game’s greatest players, moments and inspirations.
“Fans have a wealth of opportunities to connect our past to our present as we together build a diverse future for our game,” he said.