By Barnett Wright
The Birmingham Times
Rickwood Field, opened in Birmingham in 1910 and is the oldest professional ballpark in America, could host Major League Baseball’s Field of Dreams Game in 2024, according to a published report.
The game could feature the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, with Rickwood Field holding a special place in Giants history: It was the home to the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues, which is the club where Willie Mays made his professional debut in 1948 and played a Hall of Fame career with the Giants.
Rickwood Field is the only home big-league ballpark where Mays played that still stands. Mays joined the New York Giants in 1951. The Giants and Cardinals would likely wear throwback uniforms, as with the Field of Dreams Games.
“I would love (wearing throwbacks), that would be really cool,” Giants first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. told the San Francisco Chronicle. “It’ll definitely give you the full effect of the game. I hope it is us who wears the jerseys for sure. That would be something to remember forever.”
The first two Field of Dreams Games were played in Dyersville, Iowa, on the same site the movie was filmed. That site is currently under construction and there is no game scheduled this year. Field of Dreams Games were played in 2021 (Chicago White Sox vs. New York Yankees) and 2022 (Chicago Cubs vs. Cincinnati Reds).
Rickwood Field is one of the two Negro Leagues parks still standing, along with the recently renovated Hinchliffe Stadium in Patterson, N.J. It is currently home to the Miles College baseball team and has been featured in films like “42” and “Soul of the Game.”
