Rickwood Classic

This is the last game we'll see on this trip. It's the Rickwood Classic which I described in yesterday's blog post. The pregame ceremonies included speeches by the mayor of Birmingham and Hall of Famer, Harmon Killebrew. There were also intorductions of several players from the Negro Leagues who were in attendance. Here's a link to the preview and another to the following day's report from the Birmingham News.

Birmingham, Alabama

The rain was pouring down with lightning flashing above as we rolled into town. We're here for two games between the Birmingham Barons and the visiting Tennessee Smokies tonight and tomorrow afternoon.

Tonight's game was played at Regions Park in suburban Hoover, Alabama. The Barons have been playing there since 1987. From 1910 through 1986, the Barons played at Rickwood Field which is now the oldest pro baseball park in the United States. Rickwood Field opened two years before Fenway Park in Boston and four years before Wrigley Field in Chicago. The Barons return to Rickwood Field once per year for a throwback game known as the Rickwood Classic and that's what we'll see tomorrow.

Ancestral home of James K. Polk

While on the highway between Nashville, Tennessee and Huntsville, Alabama we spotted a sign inviting us to visit the home of James K. Polk, the eleventh president of the United States. All we had to do was take the next exit and travel about ten miles off the highway to the town of Columbia, Tennessee.