The Birmingham Barons will play the Montgomery Biscuits at Rickwood Field on June 18, two days before Major League Baseball stages the marquee event between the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals.
In anticipation of professional baseball's return to the 123-year-old ballpark, the NPR stations in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, La., have produced a four-part podcast series about the ballpark, "The Road to Rickwood." It's hosted by comedian Roy Wood Jr., who grew up playing baseball in Birmingham, including high school games at Rickwood.
I listened to the first episode on the flight to Milwaukee, which covers the construction of Rickwood Field, and Rick Woodward's capitalistic approach to running it. He didn't seem to care who rented the field as long as they paid the bill, which meant that the Birmingham Black Barons could play on the same high-quality field as the Birmingham Barons. On the other hand, the KKK used it for a rally, and while nobody knew what he'd become later in life, apparently Bull Connor got his start as a public figure calling Barons games on the radio.
The next episode comes out on Tuesday, centering on the Birmingham Black Barons and the debut of Willie Mays, who is the most prominent reason why MLB chose to reinvigorate Rickwood after two years of games at the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa.
Charlotte 7, Worcester 5
- Colson Montgomery went 1-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts.
- Bryan Ramos was 2-for-4 with a double, sac fly and a strikeout.
- Luis Robert Jr. was 1-for-5.
- Zach DeLoach went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Adam Hackenberg singled twice, walked and struck out.
- Jonathan Cannon: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 1 HR, 1 WP, 57 of 95 pitches for strikes.
- Prelander Berroa: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 WP, 11 of 22 pitches for strikes.
Rocket City 2, Birmingham 1
- Terrell Tatum went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Jacob Gonzalez was 1-for-3 with a double, walk and strikeout.
- Brooks Baldwin went 1-for-4 with a K.
- Edgar Quero, 2-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Tim Elko was 0-for-3 with a walk and a K.
- Wilfred Veras, 1-for-3 with a strikeout, and he was picked off.
- Jacbo Burke was 0-for-3 with a K.
- Noah Schultz: 3.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K, 46 of 63 pitches for strikes.
Notes:
*The hit Schultz allowed was an infield single, and was immediately followed by a double play.
Winston-Salem 9, Hickory 6
- Eddie Park went 0-for-4 with a walk.
- Calvin Harris was 0-for-2 with two walks and an HBP.
- Wes Kath went 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.
- Loidel Chapelli was 2-for-5 with a strikeout.
Kannapolis 5, Columbia 2
- Rikuu Nishida went 2-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base.
- Ronny Henrandez was 0-for-2 with two walks and a strikeout.
- Seth Keener: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 52 of 83 pitches for strikes.
ACL Guardians 4, ACL White Sox 3
- Abraham Nunez went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Javier Mogollon doubled and struck out thrice.
- George Wolkow wore the collar and silver sombrero.
- Adrian Gil went 0-for-3 with a walk.
- Stiven Flores was 0-for-4.
- Yonny Chirinos: 4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K
