Our First City Summer Adventure - The Rickwood Classic

  Not being a big baseball fan, but a huge fan of Birmingham, I’ve pined to see the Rickwood Classic for several years now with no means to do so. Fortunately for me and my newly acquired status as an unemployed person with free time on my hands, and being blessed with free tickets to the event, I was able to make it this year with no disappointment.

   My mother grew up in Birmingham city as a young girl, as did my grandmother. As I’ve grown, and also a resident of the city, I’ve heard magnificent stories of Birmingham’s history.  Tales of days gone by downtown, malt shops and hat shops, theater districts and the like, have been told to me since childhood. I love the see pictures of old Birmingham because of our family history and a love of this historic city. I think that’s where the appeal of the Rickwood classic came into play for me, personally. I looked forward to catching a glimpse of the days gone by that I’ve heard so much about. I’m not a baseball fan, and after 40 years of existence I’m just now getting into sports at all, but I’m one of those types that any live sporting event is really exciting. I learned a few weeks ago that I had access to tickets to the event, given that I just lost my 15 year job I’ve been tightening the belt a bit so the timing was perfect.

    On Wednesday June 1, 2011, My two daughters and I, along with two of their friends (those of you with kids understand the importance of a buddy to trim down on the boring factor), embarked on a journey through a once-very different section of Birmingham to Rickwood field.  The surrounding area leaves much to be desired, and is quite sad knowing what it “used to be like”, but then there stands the gem of the neighborhood. A baseball field trapped in time. The avocado green building and the old Rickwood Field sign above excited me. As we entered we saw a young boy in a vintage baseball cap and shorts selling newspapers for .10 cents, hollering “Get your paper here, Rickwood paper!”. Beside him was a beautiful early model Ford truck in candy-apple red. We felt zipped back in time, and even my teenage daughters were impressed. As we walked through the ticket window and entrance we were greeted with a smile and purchased traditional baseball score cards. I had no idea what to do with it, but its print was in the 1961 style, old adverts included, so I picked one up. As we continued into the entrance we saw the chalk board roster of all the players, and surrounding it are the pictures and articles of past players. People were gathered here making a list of players and learning some history of the park. Thousands of spectators were crowding in, so my MO at that point was getting a hot dog for the game, and what a hot dog it was! I wasn’t disappointed. I love hot dogs, and usually vendor hot dogs wrapped in aluminum foil make for a snack that merely satisfies to kill extreme hunger. Not this one, it was delicious! And rightfully so, at $4 a pop. I grabbed some nachos and cheese, enough to feed several in one serving, and we scampered through the crowd to find some seats. We were all so thrilled to see the old signage in the park. Advertisements from an older era adorn the field, separated by the old score board that is still manually operated. No really, you can see the people up there behind it putting up the scores!  The game started after being sung in by a jazz band, and the Birmingham Barons, in 1961 vintage blue and grey (they now wear black and white) and their opponents, The Chattanooga Lookouts in white, began a crowd pleasing baseball game. Kids and adults alike scrambled for foul balls, some going into the season holders sections and others rolling off of the famous Rickwood awning that covers most of the stadium seating. You could hear the loud THUD when a ball hit the awning, and a neighboring fan leaned over to me and said “You know you’ve been to a Rickwood game when you hear the thud on the roof!”  I won’t go into the stats, however I will say this…a tie in the 9^th, and in the 11^th inning our Barons knocked it out of the park for the winning score. The crowd went wild with a 4-3 victory!

   After the game the field was quickly occupied by enthusiasts and starry-eyed kids, walking the historic beautiful greens, tossing baseballs and taking pictures. Others were crowded around their favorite Baron’s team getting autographs.  Even for an ignorant sports fan such as myself, it was easy to see why this is America’s favorite pastime. This, coupled with the preservation of a Birmingham icon of Rickwood, made for a perfect day. . It couldn’t have been better!