Birmingham, AL — On July 3, Major League Baseball unveiled the official logo and name for the first MLB game at the oldest professional baseball park in the United States: MLB at Rickwood Field: A Tribute to The Negro Leagues.

Rickwood Field was built in 1910 and is known for being a historic park that housed famous Negro League players, and the big show is finally coming to Birmingham, Alabama. 

On June 20, 2024, the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants will play a game at the illustrious field.

“We can’t wait to welcome the Cardinals, the Giants, as well as the entire world to Birmingham,” Mayor Randall Woodfin said during the historic announcement.

The Major League game will be preceded by a Minor League game between the Birmingham Barons and the Montgomery Biscuits, scheduled for June 18, 2024. Renovations will begin on October 23 to prepare the stadium relic for an unforgettable week. 

“This is a seminal moment in Negro Leagues and Black baseball history to have Major League baseball come to Birmingham to Rickwood Field where so much baseball history was made,” Negro Leagues Baseball Museum President Bob Kendrick said. 

“When we literally throw this back in time, this is going to be a watershed moment for Negro Leagues history.”

The Barons played in the Southern Association until 1961. The stadium also served as the home of the Birmingham Black Barons in the Negro Leagues between 1924 and 1960.

“We are proud to bring Major League Baseball to historic Rickwood Field in 2024,” said Commissioner of Baseball Robert D. Manfred, Jr. in a statement. “This opportunity to pay tribute to the Negro Leagues as the Giants and Cardinals play a regular season game at this iconic location is a great honor. The legacy of the Negro Leagues and its greatest living player, Willie Mays, is one of excellence and perseverance.” 

Mays patrolled center field for the Barons at just 17 years old before making his debut in the Majors at 20 on May 25, 1951 with the New York Giants. He went on to become one of the best all-around players in the Majors. He won 12 Gold Glove Awards, hit 660 home runs, is a member of the 3,000-hit club and won four stolen base titles. Mays missed two full seasons during the prime of his career while serving in the military. 

The unveiling was a spectacle with history buffs, former players and MLBbros such as MVP Ryan Howard, Cy Young winner C.C. Sabathia, All-Star Randy Winn, current MLB Network analyst Harold Reynolds, who emceed the event, and Ron “Papa Jack” Jackson in attendance for the news. The former athletes took time to speak on the meaningfulness of the game.

“The Negro Leagues was so important to the history of this ballgame,” Winn said. We have to focus on the history of this game. This game was built on the backs of the people that played this game before us. … I didn’t play one out, one pitch here in the Negro Leagues, but that’s my beginning.”

The stands are expected to be brimming with passionate Black and brown fans. However, as the historic event unfolds, there remains a concern over the lack of representation of MLBbros on the playing field, which could cast a shadow over the festivities. 

Both the Giants and the Cardinals currently house just one MLBbro each, LaMonte Wade Jr. and Jordan Walker, respectively.

To truly capture the essence of this experience, it is crucial for these teams to make strides toward adding more African-American players to their rosters. 

The post MLB Celebrates Announcement of First MLB Game at Rickwood Field  appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.

* This article was originally published here

It should have happened before the trade deadline.

The Chicago White Sox should have traded shortstop Tim Anderson somewhere, anywhere, before it got to this.

The former batting champion was ejected, and will serve a lengthy suspension, for his role in an on-field fight this past Saturday between the White Sox and Cleveland Guardians that lasted roughly 15 minutes.

Tim Anderson was angry. After verbally getting into it with Gabriel Arias earlier in the game, he was late with his tag on Jose Ramirez as he legged out a RBI double in the sixth inning. 

Ramirez said Anderson put the tag on harder than necessary and it escalated from there.

TA getting leveled by Ramirez was symbolic of how the last couple of seasons have gone in the Windy City.

Since his top-10 finish in the MVP voting following the 2020 season, he’s struggled to stay healthy, and in turn, productive. As of Sunday morning, Tim Anderson had appeared in 338 of a possible 496 games (.681) for Chicago.

His batting average has dropped each year since he posted a career-best .339 average in 2019 to .244 this season. Anderson has only batted below .250 once before, back in 2018. 

He has just one home run and only 14 extra base hits in more than 350 at-bats. For comparison, he had 22 in 2020 while playing in 49 games with 208 ABs during that Covid-shortened campaign. 

With Anderson on the field, the White Sox were a contender, with back-to-back playoff appearances and an AL Central title in 2021. Now the franchise has plummeted to fourth place, falling 14 games out of first place. 

Now, we have the sight of Anderson falling to the dirt after taking one right on the chin. 

It can’t be fixed on the South Side.

The fan base has no confidence in the ownership or the direction of the team. Next year, the team will likely have its fifth manager in five seasons. Executive Vice President Ken Williams’ job could also be on the line. 

The White Sox are short on talent and time. 

It’s beyond the expiration date of this relationship. One of the game’s top young talents and brightest personalities has transformed into a sullen and angry underperformer. That’s not good for Tim Anderson or Major League Baseball.

This offseason, either the White Sox or Anderson, or perhaps both, will have to accept that the opportunity for a peak return has passed. Hopefully, there will be an acceptable team and city that allows Tim Anderson to return to form.

Not Too Late For Tim To Regain Old Form

A Tim Anderson that isn’t hitting or dynamic on the basepaths is just another ballplayer. His glove has been adequate, but his value at the plate is what made him unique.  At age 30, it’s not too late for Anderson to put together some quality seasons that will once again place him on the short list of those who cause sleepless nights for opposing pitchers. 

It is, however, too late for that rebirth to happen with the White Sox. 

Saturday night was proof positive.

The post Time For Tim Anderson To Depart Chicago appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.

* This article was originally published here

Nurses at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) went on an unfair labor practices strike on Friday, Aug. 4 — and have remained on the picket lines as their representatives from United Steelworkers (USW) Local 4-200 contend that management is refusing to negotiate on key issues.

USW LOCAL 4-200 represents over 1,700 nurses at RWJUH in New Brunswick. Their demands are for the hospital to set safer staffing ratios on floors, increase salaries, and freeze workers’ insurance premiums.

“Our members remain deeply committed to our patients,” Local 4-200 President Judy Danella said in a statement. “However, we must address urgent concerns, like staffing. We need enough nurses on each shift, on each floor, so we can devote more time to each patient and keep ourselves safe on the job.”

Nurses complain that they are often working understaffed and that, on average, they find themselves taking care of six patients per shift in a hospital that prides itself on being able to treat the state’s sickest patients.

This is the first time USW LOCAL 4-200 nurses have gone out on strike since 2006. The union began negotiations with hospital management for a new contract in April. After their contract expired on June 30, it was extended through July 21. But since then, the standstill in negotiations led to a July 24 notification that workers were ready to strike.

RWJUH is one of the 12 hospitals that make up RWJBarnabas Health, New Jersey’s largest healthcare provider. The Associated Press noted that the hospital has contracted with an outside firm to have replacement nursing staff cover the assignments of striking nurses while labor protests continue.

The hospital also acknowledged on Aug. 8 that it had enlisted the aid of 1,000 nurses from across the country to cover for its striking employees: “Simply put, if we do not have enough nurses, we cannot deliver the complex, high acuity care that our institution is known for. We cannot save lives,” said Dr. Anthony Altobelli III, the associate chief medical officer, in a video statement.

RWJUH remains open and continues to accept patients during the nursing strike.

Hospital spokesperson Wendy Gottsegen said in a statement: “Even after we extended a new offer on Wednesday that would have further addressed their staffing concerns, it was met with silence. We are awaiting a response from the union and are questioning why we are in this position instead of at the table, negotiating.”

USW LOCAL 4-200, though, said it wants to continue bargaining but wants its main concerns to be dealt with in a fair manner.

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* This article was originally published here