'One of the best places to play': Negro Leagues legend Bill Greason's road to Rickwood Field
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Bill Greason wasn't native to Birmingham. He literally played his way here.
"I was in Asheville, North Carolina. During spring training, the Black Barons came to Asheville to play. Our star pitcher started the game that night, and they knocked him out after the second inning. My manager put me in. I pitched the next seven innings with no hits," Greason said.
Less than a week later, the Black Barons bought his contract, and he was on a bus to the Magic City, as historian Barry McNealy points out, the city that would become known as the most segregated city in the South.
"But to a person that lived in Birmingham in the 30s, 40s and 50s into the 60s, of course, that was just everyday life having to have a separate entrance from the street, having to sit in an area that's not as comfortable. So these kinds of things are so commonplace," McNealy said.
And Greason wasn't bothered.
"Well, when you live in separate areas, you make the best of what you have. We didn't worry about mixing. Just wanted to enjoy yourself," Greason said.
Apparently, white folks wanted to enjoy good baseball, too. The Baron's fan base was integrated, even if the team was not. America's pastime was strong in Birmingham 鈥� no matter who was playing.
"The Birmingham Black Barons drew a larger crowd and had a larger following than did the Birmingham Barons themselves," McNealy said, "because of the success that they had in winning three successive pennants. In Birmingham, the Black Barons were a source of pride for the community, and people would go to those games."
Greason said, "We never played against the white teams. It was a place where people congregated. Whenever we played at Rickwood, that park would be full."
Then came progress. Even as Birmingham had yet to integrate, baseball did. Talented players such as Willie Mays, Satchel Page, and Jackie Robinson got called up, and the Negro League's fandom cleared out.
"Once the Major Leagues were integrated a little bit by little bit, the cream of the crop, so to speak, were pulled into the Major Leagues," McNealy said. "And it's not going to be too long before the Negro Leagues are going to lose their popularity, and they're going to cease to function."
Greason became the first Black pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals. But he says a lot of his teammates weren't so lucky.
"You had to be exceptional to make it to the major leagues. You couldn't be equal with somebody. You gotta be up, we didn't have too many fellas who was major league quality, which is why some of them didn't go," Greason said.
>> 'The national pastime in it's purest sense': The history of the Rickwood Classic
Eventually, the Negro Leagues died, and the Birmingham Barons moved to the Hoover Met, then Regions Field. Still, Rickwood stands as the sport's grand dame of ballparks.
"One of the best places to play. I used to enjoy pitching there. I don't remember losing a game at Rickwood. I just thank God I had a chance to be there and be part of a great group of guys," Greason said.
McNealy calls Rickwood a shrine of American culture.
"And it exists right here in the city of Birmingham," McNealy said.
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