The Hoover Met



Exterior of Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, Aug-2007.

The seating bowl, as seen from down the right-field line.

A look at the view from behind home plate.

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Quick Facts: Rating: 3 baseballs
Rickwood Field in Birmingham hosted both the Barons and the Black Barons for over 75 years, but eventually time passed it by. The old stadium is still in place and is used for amateur games and one Barons game a year, but in 1988 it was replaced for everyday use by this more modern facility in a suburb south of the city.

The Hoover Met, as it’s often called, was built around the same time, and to similar specifications, as Lackawanna County Stadium outside Scranton, Pa. One advantage this park has, however, is that it never had artificial turf, despite the fact that Hoover High School plays football here.

The night I went, Friday the 13th of August 1993, they sold over 8000 tickets, and they weren’t about to issue that many rain checks when a torrential downpour attacked the field 10 minutes before game time. After a 2½-hour rain delay, the fans got to see the game, along with The Famous Chicken.

I returned to the site over Fourth of July weekend in 2004, and while the Barons were on a road trip, a club employee let me in to take some park photos. Finally, in 2007, I was able to return to the park and get some actual game shots. By then, the park had acquired a naming sponsor, for the first time in its 20-year history.

Metropolitan Stadium, known as Regions Park from 2007-12, is out of professional baseball effective with the 2013 season, as the Barons have built a new downtown park and Regions Bank has transferred their sponsorship to the new facility. This stadium will continue to host amateur events.


Game Date League Level Result
90 Fri 13-Aug-1993 Southern AA BIRMINGHAM 5, Huntsville 3
886 Fri 17-Aug-2007 Southern AA BIRMINGHAM 10, Mobile 6
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This page updated 8-Jan-2013