The MLB Field of Dreams Game won’t be played in 2024, but a game with a similar format at a historic venue will be contested on Thursday between the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals. It will be played at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Ala., the oldest existing ballpark in the United States.
“MLB at Rickwood Field: A Tribute to the Negro Leagues” is what Major League Baseball named the game, and it has taken on even more meaning in the days leading up to it. That’s because Rickwood Field is close to the childhood home of Alabama native Willie Mays, who started his pro career with the Birmingham Black Barons in 1948, which counted Rickwood Field as its home ballpark. Mays, who spent most of his career with the Giants, died on Tuesday at the age of 93. This game was originally created as a tribute to Mays, to the Negro Leagues and as a commemoration of Juneteenth, which is one day prior.
