BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—Brendan Donovan hit a two-run home run, a double, and a single Thursday night as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the San Francisco Giants 6–5 in the Negro Leagues tribute game at historic Rickwood Field.
The 114-year-old Rickwood Field is the oldest professional ballpark in the United States and former home to baseball Hall of Famer Willie Mays and the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues.
The first Major League Baseball game played at the ballpark was meant to honor Mays and many other Negro Leaguers, and it took on a more sentimental meaning when Mays, the electrifying Giants center fielder who left an enduring mark on baseball, died at age 93 on Tuesday.
Tributes to Mays continued throughout the week in Birmingham, including a ceremony before Thursday’s game.
Plenty of other Negro Leagues greats were honored, including 99-year-old former Black Barons player Bill Greason, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch. The game also featured the first all-Black umpire crew in major-league history.
Donovan, who grew up in Alabama, blasted a 1–1 pitch from Giants starter Keaton Winn (3–8) for his seventh home run of the season in the first inning. He finished 3 for 3, with a double in the third inning and an RBI single in the sixth.
“What a special night,“ Donovan said. ”I mean, this is something that we should celebrate. This right here is pretty amazing. And to do it in Alabama. I’ve got some friends and family in the stands. It’s like playing summer ball again.”
Alec Burleson had two singles and Masyn Winn reached twice for the Cardinals (37–37), who stopped a two-game losing streak.
Andre Pallante (3–3) pitched 5 1/3 innings for the win, allowing three runs and seven hits. He struck out five and walked three.
San Francisco center fielder Heliot Ramos hit a tying three-run home run, his 10th of the season, off Pallante in the third, but the Cardinals retook the lead on Nolan Gorman’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning.
“Any time you play center field for the San Francisco Giants, you think about Willie Mays,“ Giants Manager Bob Melvin said. ”We’re down three. Then all of a sudden, we’re tied up with one swing of the bat. And he’s been doing that for a while now.”
Winn struggled through 2 2/3 innings, surrendering five hits and five runs with two strikeouts and a walk. He was replaced in the third by Randy Rodríguez, who allowed an inherited runner to score on a wild pitch against his first batter.
Patrick Bailey went 4-fot-5 for the Giants, who cut into a three-run deficit with a two-run sixth. Matt Chapman led off the inning with a double, then came around to score on Wilmer Flores’ single to center. Jorge Soler later scored on Nick Ahmed’s sacrifice fly.
St. Louis closer Ryan Helsley got the final three outs for his 24th save.
“It was fun,“ Cardinals Manager Oliver Marmol said. ”The pregame ceremony was incredible. I got emotional, just knowing where you’re standing. Just the overall feel of the tribute to Willie Mays, the impact he had on people that he met, but also people he never met.
“That’s when you know you’ve done it right.”
Both teams wore throwback uniforms with Mays’ No. 24 on them. Over 23 major league seasons, mostly with the Giants in both New York and San Francisco but also including one in the Negro Leagues, Mays batted .301, hit 660 home runs, totaled 3,293 hits, and scored more than 2,000 runs. He was the National League Rookie of the Year in 1951 and most valuable player in 1954 and 1965.
“One-of-a-kind type of place to play,“ Melvin said of Rickwood. ”You look around and kind of can feel what transpired here a long time ago and the players that played on the field. It’d be nice to win the game, but pretty cool experience.”
