Third Annual East-West Classic to Take Place on Friday, June 19th as MLB Returns to Historic Rickwood Field in Birmingham
Major League Baseball today announced that the third edition of the East-West Classic, a tribute to the Negro Leagues All-Star Games held from 1933-1962, will be held on Friday, June 19th at historic Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama. Public gates will open at 11:30 a.m. (CT) before the Home Run Derby at 12:00 p.m. (CT) and the East vs. West game at 1:00 p.m. (CT). General admission tickets for the event’s return to the iconic venue are available now for $12 at mlb.com/rickwood.
For the third consecutive year, MLB will celebrate Juneteenth with an event at Rickwood Field. Previous events included 2024’s Barnstorm Birmingham event and Fam Jam celebrity softball game; and last year’s East-West Classic, held at Rickwood for the first time. The two previous iterations of the revival of the East-West Classic included the East’s 5-4 victory at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, New York in 2024, and last year’s 3-0 West victory in the event’s Birmingham debut. The game will last five innings or two hours, whichever comes first. Prior to the contest, the third consecutive home run derby will take place between the Classic participants. Previous winners of the derby include five-time All-Star Adam Jones in 2024 and six-time All-Star Prince Fielder last year.
This year’s rosters will again be headlined by captains CC Sabathia (West), a 2025 Hall of Fame inductee, and 2010 All-Star, 13-year MLB outfielder and MLB Network analyst Chris Young (East). Their rosters are expected to feature former All-Stars and/or World Series Champions including Mike Cameron, Jose Contreras, Prince Fielder, Dexter Fowler, Jeremy Guthrie, Matt Kemp, Justin Upton, and others.
Young said: “We truly appreciate the opportunity to go back to Birmingham on Juneteenth. The East-West Classic shows that baseball is all about fun, community, and bringing people together. There’s no better place to do exactly that than Rickwood Field, where we can honor the legends who helped build the foundation of our game.”
This program is a key component of MLB Together, baseball’s social responsibility platform that mobilizes our Clubs, Players and Partners to invest in communities off the field, providing youth access to play baseball. Through continued collaboration with the City of Birmingham, Rickwood Field remains a national site for remembering and honoring the pioneers of the game. Adding another community element, MLB will host a special Juneteenth PLAY BALL event at the recently refurbished and rededicated Willie Mays Park in neighboring Fairfield. Over 150 participants from the Arthur and Eva Brown (AEB) Legacy Nike RBI and Ron ‘Papa Jack’ Jackson Nike RBI programs will have the opportunity to participate in the free diamond sports event, highlighted by East-West Classic players serving as volunteer coaches. Following the event, tickets to the Classic will be extended to the participating programs.
Rickwood Field is the oldest professional ballpark in the United States and former home of the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues, who called Rickwood Field home from 1924 through 1960. Still a teenager in 1948, Alabama native Willie Mays began his professional career with the Black Barons. Rickwood Field was the site of the final Negro League World Series game in October 1948, which saw Mays’ Black Barons falling to the Homestead Grays in five games. The Say Hey Kid played for his local team until beginning his legendary career with the New York Giants in 1951.
The Friends of Rickwood and the City of Birmingham worked with MLB to renovate and maintain Rickwood Field in 2024, transforming the National Historic Site before hosting a Major League game between the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals. Following his passing on June 18th, 2024, MLB at Rickwood Field: A Tribute to the Negro Leagues served as a national remembrance of Mays and his legendary life and career. In its Year-End Awards for 2024, the Sports Business Journal named MLB at Rickwood Field as its Best New Event.
The Negro Leagues East-West All-Star Game debuted in 1933 at Chicago’s Comiskey Park and was played annually through 1962, including several years that featured multiple games. Hall of Famer Bill Foster was the winning pitcher in the inaugural East-West All-Star Game and several future Hall of Famers starred in the game throughout the years, including Cool Papa Bell, Ray Brown, Andy Cooper, Leon Day, Martín Dihigo, Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, Minnie Miñoso, Satchel Paige, Jackie Robinson and Willie Wells.