Rickwood Field

Park Name: Rickwood Field

Tenants: Birmingham Barons (Southern League) {Alternate Field}


Opened: 1910

Address: 1137 Second Avenue West, Birmingham, Alabama 35204

Dimensions: 321' (L), 393' (C), 332' (R)


Former Tenants:

Birmingham Barons (Southern Association) 1910-1961

Philadelphia Phillies (Major League Spring Training) 1911

Pittsburgh Pirates (Major League Spring Training) 1919

Philadelphia Phillies (Major League Spring Training) 1920

Birmingham Black Barons (Negro Southern League) 1920-1924

Birmingham Black Barons (Negro National League) 1925-1926

Birmingham Black Barons (Negro Southern League) 1926

Birmingham Black Barons (Negro National League) 1927-1930

Birmingham Black Barons (Negro Southern League) 1931-1936

Birmingham Black Barons (Negro National League) 1937,

Birmingham Black Barons (Negro Southern League) 1938-1939

Birmingham Black Barons (Negro National League) 1940-1948

Birmingham Black Barons (Negro American League) 1949-1960

Birmingham Barons (Southern League) 1964-1965

Birmingham Athletics (Southern League) 1966-1975

University of Alabama Birmingham Blazers (NCAA Division I) 1979-1983

Birmingham Barons (Southern League) 1981-1987

The view from behind home plate at Rickwood Field.

The view from down the first base line at Rickwood Field.

The view from down the third base line at Rickwood Field.

The grandstand at Rickwood Field as seen from the right field corner.

The rooftop gazebo was once home to the pressbox, where infamous Birmingham commissioner Bull Connor once called Barons games.

The modern pressbox inside the grandstand behind home plate.

An open area in the stands behind home plate acts as a bandstand for throwback games at Rickwood Field.

Box seats wrap around the grandstand, closest to the field and out of reach of the roof above.

Bleacher seating makes up most of the grandstand, underneath the steel girders of the roof. Rickwood was the first concrete and steel ballpark built for minor league use.

The majority of the seating runs straight along the foul lines, as the park once hosted football games as well, but the last section of seats in the right field corner curves back toward home plate.

Outfield bleachers and an auxiliary scoreboard in the right field corner.

The light standards are mounted on the roof, and extend out over the box seats.

Rickwood Field was opened in 1910, making it the oldest ballpark structure still being used for professional baseball.

The entrance pavilion and ticket windows inside the main gate at Rickwood Field.

The lineup board features pictures and artifacts from the history of baseball in Birmingham. On days when there are no games, the park is open as a museum for fans to explore.

The outer concourse at Rickwood Field.

Banners on the stadium facade celebrate championships won by the Birmingham Barons and Birmingham Black Barons, the two longest tenured tenants of the park. Rickwood Field is one of the few former Negro League parks still in use.

The playing field slopes slightly downward behind the plate, creating a small hill leading down to the backstop.

The hand turned scoreboard in left field, featuring period "out of town" scores, and vintage ads on the outfield wall.

More vintage ads on the right field wall, and the home bullpen in foul territory.

The original outfield wall stood a cavernous 470 feet from home plate, and the concrete wall that was erected in 1920 still stands behind the current outfield fence.

The Birmingham Barons on the field during the 14th Annual Rickwood Classic. The Barons moved out of Rickwood Field in 1988, but in recent years have returned once a year for a throwback game to celebrate their classic park and the history of baseball in Birmingham.