BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that Major League Baseball will hold its ‘Field of Dreams’ game at Rickwood Field next year.
While this isn’t yet confirmed by the mayor’s office, the Birmingham City Council did approve more than half a million dollars in improvements for the field on Tuesday.
Rickwood Field is the oldest professional baseball park in the country, built for the Birmingham Barons all the way back in 1910. Leaders say it’s not only a staple of our city, but our country.
“Well there have been 181 Hall of Famers that have played here, dating back to Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth and Satchel Paige and onto Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays, of course,” said Gerald Watkins, the Friends of Rickwood Field Executive Director and Chairman.
The best of the best have played ball at the field for more than a century. Watkins says it’s not only a baseball mecca, but a history mecca.
“It’s important because of the role it played with the negro league teams coming through here,” he said. “So many players were denied the ability to play in the major leagues at that time but they still came through here as stars in the negro leagues and that’s a rich part of our history.”
The half a million in renovations are set to begin this summer, according to Watkins. The first round of improvements are set to include concrete, steel, and wood repairs.
“Then in the fall, we’re going to have our turf redone,” he adds. “We’re going to have extended netting put up. We’re going to have the dugouts modified some and we’re going to have some padding put on the outfield walls and what this will do — it will make our park more safe for the fans and the players to come.”
Watkins says all improvements should be complete by next spring to help the field withstand many more years and many more ballgames.
“We had an event for many many years called Rickwood Classic and it was the Birmingham Barons against other Southern League opponents,” said Watkins. “That had to be stopped because the field wasn’t up to minor or major league standards so the renovation of the turf will make the concerns go away. Then, we can reinstitute the Rickwood Classic.”
Watkins says so far this year, visitors from 28 states, including Hawaii, and 8 different countries, including New Zealand, have experienced the sites and sounds of this historic marker.
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