MLB’s Rickwood Area recreation between the Giants and Cardinals final night time, which honored the historical past of the Negro Leagues, drew 8,332 followers to Birmingham, all of them “soaking within the ambiance of essentially the most magnetic factor Main League Baseball has performed in a very long time.” The Cardinals gained 6-5, however “the star of the night time was the sector itself and the historical past of the Negro Leagues.” The groups “wore throwback uniforms, the San Francisco Seals and St. Louis Stars, and Rickwood Area was bedecked, adorned and curated like a museum of baseball magic.” The sport additionally honored the late Baseball HOFer Willie Mays, which “was at all times a part of the plan” for MLB with this recreation. Mays’ loss of life “reworked Birmingham’s tribute to the Negro Leagues right into a nationwide spectacle.” And MLB “did all the things proper at Rickwood Area” (AL.com, 6/20).

The sphere “was stunning.” The handbook scoreboard “had the same look to the olden days,” and “the vibes have been excellent” (S.F. CHRONICLE, 6/21). It was “onerous to consider Mays wasn’t bodily current” at Rickwood, “however he was right here.” Mays’ son, Michael, “took the sector alongside Ken Griffey Jr. and Mays’ godson Barry Bonds moments earlier than the primary pitch.” Griffey yelled to the group, “Let him hear you!” and so they “obeyed and responded with a raucous, joyous applause that felt prefer it went on for a number of minutes.” The group “stored it going with chants of ‘Willie, Willie, Willie,’ inducing one other palpable wave of emotion” (FOXSPORTS.com, 6/20).

Dozens of residing Negro League gamers “took the sector earlier than the sport in a shifting ceremony”Mary DeCicco/MLB Images through Getty Pictures

From the second the Giants’ crew bus pulled into the stadium, “they took each alternative to honor” Mays. Gamers, coaches and workers members all “walked off the bus sporting duplicate grey jerseys, with ‘Birmingham’ on the entrance and the No. 8 on the again,” the identical uniform Mays wore when he debuted at 17 years outdated for the Birmingham Black Barons (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 6/20).

Dozens of residing Negro League gamers “took the sector earlier than the sport in a shifting ceremony.” The Giants and Cardinals “walked them onto the grass, some being pushed in wheelchairs.” The ceremony “introduced tears to the eyes of lots of the 8,000 followers in attendance” and “gave an early reminder that this was way over only a common season baseball recreation” (NBCSPORTSBAYAREA.com, 6/21).

MLB’s youth improvement basis on Wednesday introduced the Negro Leagues Household Alliance — a gaggle of households of former gamers “whose mission is to protect the leagues’ historical past and legacy” — with a test for $500,000 (WASHINGTON POST, 6/20).

Willie Mays’ loss of life “reworked Birmingham’s tribute to the Negro Leagues right into a nationwide spectacle”Daniel Shirey/MLB Images through Getty Pictures