Rickwood Field

Exterior of Rickwood Field, Jul-2004.

A look at the seating bowl, from right field.

Some outfield advertising signs have either been retained or restored.

Chronological Tour: Stop 396

• Location: 2nd Ave North at 12th St West, Birmingham, Ala. (map it using Google Maps)
• Opened: 1910
• Closed: 1987 (but see below)
• Home teams: Birmingham Barons, Southern Association (1910-61), Southern League (1964-65, 1981-87); Birmingham A’s, Southern League (1967-75); Birmingham Black Barons, Negro Southern League (1920-24, 1926, 1931-36, 1938-39), Negro National League (1925, 1927-30, 1937, 1940-48), Negro American League (1949-60); spring training, Philadelphia Phillies (1911, 1920), Pittsburgh Pirates (1919); Miles College Golden Bears, Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (some games)
• Friends of Rickwood Web site: www.rickwood.com

Rating: 4 baseballs

Through 2019, Rickwood Field was the oldest baseball park still standing in the United States that was still used for professional baseball. Even though the Barons moved to suburban Hoover in 1988 and are now playing at downtown Regions Field, the organization Friends of Rickwood sponsored a single game each year between the Barons and one of their Southern League opponents at Rickwood, usually in late May or early June.

Sadly, the series came to an end after 2020, when Major League Baseball dictated that facilities used for Minor League games must meet current standards. This precluded the use of parks like Rickwood for “special” games. Fortunately, in recognition of the historic nature of the ballpark as host to both Minor League and Negro League ball, MLB opted to hold both a Minor League and Major League game here in 2024, bringing the field surface and dugouts up to MLB standard and bringing in temporary lights and a video board. In an ironic note, the announcement came during the 2024 Minor League game that Willie Mays, the Alabama native who broke into professional ball with the Black Barons in 1948, had died that afternoon.

In many seasons, the park also hosts high school games, local amateur tournaments, and, on occasion, a Division II college team from nearby Fairfield.

Site visitor Larry Jones advises that, according to a conversation he had with Birmingham GM Glen West in 1975, the right-field stands are seats that were removed from the Polo Grounds in upper Manhattan prior to its demolition following the 1963 season.