On June 20, 2024, MLB will host a daily season recreation between the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals at Rickwood Area, the oldest ballpark in America. Per an MLB press launch, “The regular-season recreation at Rickwood Area pays tribute to the Negro Leagues and to baseball’s best residing participant: Corridor of Famer, Giants legend, Birmingham native and Birmingham Black Barons star Willie Mays.”
Many collectors will likely be excitedly watching for brand new Topps playing cards that includes this recreation, its throwback uniforms, and its views of the historic stadium, however what about present playing cards with photographs taken at Rickwood?
Listed here are a number of of the very best playing cards to start your Rickwood Area assortment:
1992 Tuff Stuff Traditional Baseball Stadiums #30
That is the one card on TCDB completely of Rickwood Area.
Sadly, the again info was incorrect, even in 1992, because the Birmingham Barons had moved away to the Hoover Met in 1988.
1991 R.D. Retort Enterprises Negro League Legends, Sequence 1, #1 Otha Bailey
This postcard set options 100 Negro League Gamers with Bailey’s card exhibiting a really placing background of the long-lasting Rickwood Area handbook scoreboard. This scoreboard will likely be a returning presence on this article.
1983 TCMA Birmingham Barons Crew Set
This TCMA group set has the entire participant photographs in entrance of gold fold down seats, with inexperienced benches within the higher rows. Assuming that the photographs had been taken at a Barons dwelling recreation, the date means that these photographs had been taken at Rickwood. The stadium seating matches these backgrounds.
1985 Solar Belt Press Birmingham Barons Crew Set #NNO Gordon MacKenzie
Nearly all of the photographs on this set present a cloudy sky with no stadium options, however a number of of the playing cards give a peak of the long-lasting stadium lights over the participant or supervisor’s shoulder. A few the playing cards have blurry snippets of stadium wall sponsors, however the mild towers are the very best clue.
1987 Finest Birmingham Barons Crew Set
The entire playing cards on this set have a pleasant view of the rooftop press field to match the intense crimson borders. In 1987, Rickwood was seen as a dilapidated wreck, with the Barons set to maneuver to a brand new dwelling in close by Hoover, Alabama. An attention-grabbing observe is that at present, the rooftop press field and the entire stadium exterior, is darkish inexperienced.
2009 Grandstand Birmingham Barons
A few the photographs for this group set had been seemingly taken on the 2008 “Rickwood Traditional,” an annual throwback recreation between the Birmingham Barons and a Southern League opponent.
The Prime Prospects card has a implausible photograph of seven gamers in entrance of the long-lasting scoreboard. A tiny little bit of the classic ads could be seen within the photograph as nicely.
The cardboard of Power and Conditioning Coach Raymond Smith reveals him strolling in entrance of the aforementioned and now pale crimson/inexperienced seats, and the big “NO BETTING IN THIS PARK” signage close to the dugouts. Each are nice additions to the Rickwood PC.
2016 Grandstand Birmingham Barons Jordan Guerrero
This ode to 1986 Topps has the scoreboard within the background, however throws us a twist with Guerrero carrying a inexperienced and grey Birmingham A’s uniform. The A’s performed at Rickwood underneath the possession of Birmingham-born Charlie Finley, proprietor of the Kansas Metropolis/Oakland A’s.
2019 Grandstand Birmingham Barons
Three playing cards of the group set had been once more taken on the 2018 Rickwood Traditional. Zack Burdi is proven in entrance of the scoreboard.
Nate Nolan offers us a slice of the batting follow constructing/shed in left discipline, a nook of outfield wall signage, and a leg of sunshine tower.
Richard Dotson, sitting in a folding chair, offers us our first view of the roof high mounted cantilever mild towers that Rickwood is understood for. The gorgeous blue sky, classic wall ads, and the smile on his face, trace at a magical day of baseball within the “Magic Metropolis.”
2016 Topps Professional Debut #35 Tim Anderson
This card is a Rickwood Area honorable point out. Tuscaloosa, Alabama, native Tim Anderson appears marvelous in his 2015 Rickwood Traditional throwback uniform. There is just one downside, there are zero Rickwood discipline options seen on this photograph. The inexperienced blur background may very well be something, or nothing.
Additional analysis determines that the credit score for this picture could be discovered at “4 Seam Pictures” with the photograph taken by Mike Janes, on Might 27, 2015. It is a nice aid to the creator, as a result of this card is notable as THE ONLY TOPPS CARD SHOWING AN IMAGE FROM RICKWOOD FIELD that I can discover. That’s till June 20, 2024 hopefully…
There are different playing cards that includes snips and slices of Rickwood Area, both with gamers sitting on high of the outdated tiny dugouts, or photographs taken on the identical day as playing cards talked about right here, and so on., however these are the highlights that I’ve discovered to this point. I hope you benefit from the upcoming MLB recreation and the playing cards that normally observe.
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