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BARONS OFF TO HOOVER, RICKWOOD SAT EMPTY FOR YEARS. THEN IN 1996, A TRADITION BEGAN BRINGING BASEBALL FANS FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO BIRMINGHAM. PLAYERS DECKED OUT IN THROWBACK UNIFORMS. IT REALLY GAVE YOU THE FEEL OF THE WAY BASEBALL USED TO BE PLAYED AT THE PARK. THE MAJOR LEAGUE GAME THAT WILL BE PLAYED AT RICKWOOD GETS ALL THE HEADLINES AND RIGHTFULLY SO. YEAH, BUT FOR US LOCALLY, THE BIGGER NEWS MIGHT ACTUALLY BE THE POTENTIAL OF THE RETURN OF THE RICKWOOD CLASSIC IN 2020, CHANGING SAFETY PROTOCOLS IN THE COVID PANDEMIC PUT THE CLASSIC ON ICE UNTIL THIS MONTH. �������� 13 JOHN PAPP HAS A LOOK AT THE EARLY DAYS OF THE RICKWOOD CLASSIC AND WHAT THE FUTURE MAY HOLD FOR RICKWOOD FIELD. JONATHAN NELSON GOT HIS START IN BASEBALL AS AN INTERN WITH THE BARONS IN 1993, AND JUST HIS SECOND YEAR, HE GOT A TASTE OF JUST HOW UNPREDICTABLE THE MINOR LEAGUES CAN BE. A CERTAIN BASKETBALL PLAYER NAMED MICHAEL JORDAN PLAYED WITH THE BARONS, JORDAN’S TIME WITH THE BARONS WAS A HIT NEVER IN HIS WILDEST DREAMS COULD NELSON IMAGINE WHAT WOULD COME. JUST TWO SEASONS LATER, THE BARONS ANNOUNCING THE FIRST GAME OF WHAT WOULD BECOME A YEARLY TRADITION KNOWN AS THE RICKWOOD CLASSIC. THE RICKWOOD FIELD MEANS SO MUCH TO OUR COMMUNITY FOR SO MANY DIFFERENT GENERATIONS OF BASEBALL FANS. AT THE TIME, AMERICA’S OLDEST BALLPARK HAD NOT HOSTED A MEANINGFUL GAME SINCE THE BARONS SPLIT. FOR THE HOOVER MET EIGHT YEARS PRIOR. ANY POTENTIAL RETURN TO RICKWOOD WOULD HAVE TO GET SEVERAL STAMPS OF APPROVAL, AND IT WAS QUITE A WORK TO ALSO GET MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL TO SIGN OFF ON IT AS WELL, BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY WHEN YOU WHEN YOU PLAY A GAME AT A DIFFERENT LOCATION, YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE TO GET ALL THE PARTIES INVOLVED. THE SOUTHERN LEAGUE, CHICAGO WHITE SOX MANAGEMENT AND ANY VISITING TEAM WOULD ALSO HAVE TO GIVE THE OKAY. ON JUNE 12TH, 1996, RICKWOOD DOORS OPENED TO BARONS FANS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN NEARLY A DECADE. THAT DAY, 10,000 PEOPLE CRAMMED INTO THE BALLPARK TO WATCH THEIR TEAM DEFEAT THE MEMPHIS CHICKS. WE SKIRTED AND DODGED A BULLET WHEN IT CAME TO RAIN IN A SIGNIFICANT THUNDERSTORM. EVEN SO, A NEW TRADITION WAS BORN THE LAW OF THE GAME ONLY GREW AS BASEBALL FANS MADE IT A POINT TO TRAVEL TO BIRMINGHAM FOR A ONE OF A KIND EXPERIENCE. PLAYERS, UMPIRES, VENDORS, EVEN FANS DRESSED TO THE NINES IN THEIR MID 1900S BEST FROM TEXAS, FROM THE CAROLINAS, FROM MINNESOTA, FROM AGAIN ALL ACROSS AMERICA, BECAUSE THEY HAD HEARD ABOUT THE REPUTATION IAN ABOUT THE PILGRIMAGE, ABOUT COMING TO AMERICA’S OLDEST BALLPARK AND CELEBRATING THE NATIONAL PASTIME IN ITS PUREST SENSE. THE TRADITION WOULD LAST MORE THAN 20 YEARS. THEN, IN 2020, THINGS TOOK A TURN. FIRST THE COVID PANDEMIC, FOLLOWED BY MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL TAKING OVER THE MINOR LEAGUES. THE CLASSIC SUDDENLY CAME TO AN ABRUPT END. IT WAS DISAPPOINTING. GERALD WATKINS IS THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF THE FRIENDS OF RICKWOOD. HE SAYS THE LOSS OF THAT ONE GAME TOOK A MAJOR TOLL AND THE FUN ASPECT, BUT ALSO FINANCIALLY BECAUSE IT WAS OUR BIGGEST FUNDRAISER THEN OUT OF THE BLUE CAME A FINANCIAL BOOST FROM A BUNCH OF BASEBALL OUTLAWS. ENTER THE SAVANNAH BANANAS, THE RAGTAG BUNCH PLAYED A FEW GAMES AT RICKWOOD IN 2022 AND 2023. YOU KNOW, THAT PROBABLY COULD HAVE HAPPENED EVEN IF THE RICKWOOD CLASSIC HAD CONTINUED. BUT FINANCIALLY, IT REPLACED THE RICKWOOD CLASSIC AND WE WERE ABLE TO KEEP GOING AND KEEP DOING WHAT WE DO NOW. THE ATTENTION TURNS TO THE BARONS RETURN TO RICKWOOD. FOR FANS, THERE’S JUST ONE QUESTION WHEN IS THE CLASSIC BACK FOR GOOD? WE’RE CONTINUING TO PLAN MOVING FORWARD IN 2025. WE LOOK FORWARD TO RESUMING THE TRADITION OF THE RICKWOOD CLASSIC, WHICH IS GOOD NEWS FOR NELSON WATKINS AND BASEBALL FANS ACROSS THE NATION. IAN IN ANY GREAT NAME IN THE HISTORY OF BASEBALL PLAYED HERE, BABE RUTH, JACKIE ROBINSON, TY COBB, SATCHEL PAIGE TO RECOGNIZE JUST THE HALLOWED GROUNDS OF SO MANY GREAT PLAYERS, TEAMS, PERSONALITIES THAT CAN CONTRIBUTE TO TO THE UNBELIEVABLE LEGACY OF AMERI