Negro League legend Bill Greason throws the ceremonial first pitch while Reggie Jackson watches, before the 2024 Rickwood game between the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals at Rickwood Field, Birmingham, Alabama, on Thursday. (Daniel Shirey/MLB/MLB Photos/Getty Images)
June 21, 2024 Story by: Editor
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — As the much-anticipated game at Rickwood Field arrived, baseball was almost an afterthought. An emotionally charged week in Jefferson County, Alabama, culminated in a fairly standard game in terms of its baseball elements. Yet, every player and spectator left Rickwood Field profoundly changed.
The atmosphere at the game offered a needed solemnity.
In a tribute to the Negro Leagues, the St. Louis Cardinals, representing the St. Louis Stars, edged out the San Francisco Giants, representing the San Francisco Sea Lions, with a 6-5 victory. Despite the close score, the focus was less on the game and more on the profound loss of Giants legend Willie Mays.
“Obviously devastating news. This event that record was really developed with Willie in mind,” said MLB chief baseball development officer Tony Reagins during the game on Thursday night. “I think what this event turned into was a celebration of Willie’s life. And I think we’re going to try to honor him in a way that hopefully his family is proud of. And Willie, you know, was 17 years old when he was here. And to have that backdrop, to have current major leaguers playing at Rickwood is exciting, but obviously, this is bittersweet not having him here.”
The week was indeed a poignant chapter in Mays’ life, beginning and ending in Birmingham. However, for many, this was far from a celebratory moment. Recognizing the achievements of past players was essential, but it also reopened old wounds from the traumas they endured.
“Coming back here is not easy. The racism when I played here, the difficulty of going through different places where we traveled,” Reggie Jackson shared live on FOX, responding to Alex Rodriguez’s question about his return to Rickwood Field. Jackson, who played for the Birmingham A’s in 1967, reflected on the harsh realities of his time in Alabama. “Fortunately, I had a manager and I had players on the team that helped me get through it, but I wouldn’t wish it on anybody.
“I said, you know, I would never want to do it again. I walked into restaurants and they would point at me and say, ‘the nigger can’t eat here.’ I would go to a hotel and they say, ‘the nigger can’t stay here.’ We went to [then-Athletics owner and Ensley, Alabama, native] Charlie Finley’s country club for a welcome home dinner. And they pointed me out with the N-word. ‘He can’t come in here.’ Finley marched the whole team out.”
It’s crucial to remember that racism was and remains a pervasive issue. The systemic white supremacy enshrined in law and societal norms deprived us not only of integrated sports but also of the humanity of those involved.
Seeing Jackson in Birmingham was a reminder of the past. During a conversation at the Southern Negro League Museum on Thursday, and later on Fox Sports’ pregame show, he seemed weighed down by the memories of his experiences. At a luncheon honoring Negro Leagues players’ families, Jackson recounted a moment with Bear Bryant, the famed Alabama football coach, who once told him that the Crimson Tide needed more players like him, using a racial slur. This, Bryant considered a positive memory.
The journey to integration in sports, particularly in the South, is fraught with complex history. Bryant’s realization came only after losing to integrated teams.
“Fortunately, I had a manager Johnny McNamara that said if I couldn’t eat in the place nobody would eat. We’d get food to travel,” Jackson recalled. “Had it not been for Rollie Fingers, Johnny McNamara, Dave Duncan, Joe and Sharon Rudy … I slept on their couch, three, four nights a week for about a month and a half. Finally, they were threatened that they would burn our apartment complex down unless I got out. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
“The year I came here. Bull Connor was the sheriff the year before and they took minor league baseball outta here, because in 1963, the Klan murdered four Black girls […] at a church here and never got indicted. … Life magazine did a story on them [the Klan] like they were being honored. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.” Source: ANDSCAPE
Jackson never played in the Negro Leagues, but his time in Alabama was marked by severe racism.
The palpable presence of racism in the American South, even today, is undeniable for Black Americans. While overt acts like cross burnings may be less common, the scars remain. Jackson’s candid reflections on live television served as a stark reminder of the ongoing struggle against racial injustice.
“Had it not been for my white friends, had it not been for a white manager and Rudy, Fingers and Duncan and Lee Meyers? I would have never made it,” Jackson said. “I was too physically violent. I was ready to physically fight someone. I’d have gotten killed here because I would have beat someone’s a–. And you’d have saw me in an oak tree somewhere.” His laughter carried a weight of shared pain and resilience unique to Black men of his generation.
The evening at Rickwood Field was marked by surface-level festivities. Willie Mays’ son, Michael, began the game with a heartfelt tribute, urging the crowd to honor his father’s memory. The game itself, enhanced by 1950s-style black-and-white footage, nostalgically highlighted Mays’ famous catch. But this moment happened far from Alabama, in New York, where Michael Mays now resides.
“Stand to your feet,” he told the crowd in a commanding Harlem accent. “Let him hear you, he’s listening.”
Despite the smiles and recognition, many attendees carried the weight of their past experiences. The week was a stark reminder that the game alone couldn’t heal deep-seated wounds. Only two Black players were on the field that night, underscoring ongoing disparities.
On a sweltering June night, Reggie Jackson reminded everyone to be cautious about their desires — because they just might come true.
