Major League Baseball (MLB) held a special game dedicated to the Black League (Nigro League) at its oldest stadium.
The MLB Secretariat held a regular season game between the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, on the 21st (Korea time).
Rickwood Field was home to the Birmingham Black Barons in the Black League, which was created by black people who were unable to play in the MLB due to racism in the United States. It opened in 1910, ahead of Wrigley Field, the oldest Fenway Park in the MLB.
It is also where MLB’s best-ever outfielder Willie Mays, who died at the age of 93 on the 19th, took his first step as a professional player.
Hank Aaron, the “home run king,” and Jackie Robinson, the first black player to make their MLB debut, are both from the black league.
Mays died two days before the special match was held after informing him that he could not go to Birmingham due to his old age.
The MLB Secretariat announced in June last year that it would hold a special game dedicated to the Black League at Rickwood Field. 에볼루션 바카라사이트
As a game to honor the black league, all five referees including the waiting list were composed of black people. It is the first time in MLB history that all of the referee groups are composed of black people.
A total of 11 African-Americans served as regular referees in the big leagues. All five African-American referees who are currently active were assigned to the game, and a patch was attached to commemorate Emmett Ashford, who became the first African-American referee in the MLB in 1966.
After New York Yankees legend Derek Jeter explained the meaning of the game, Ken Griffey Jr., Barry Bonds and Mays’ son came together to announce the start of the game.
Bill Grison, the oldest player from the Black League at 99 years old, threw the first pitch of the game. Meanwhile, the St. Louis Cardinals beat San Francisco 6-5.
