Words by Flobo Boyce
We’re now a few days removed from the second East-West Classic that took place in Birmingham, Alabama on Juneteenth. And while this year’s event was my first, I hope to see many more Classics in the future. The yearly salute to the Negro Leagues is sorely needed as the story of the Negro Leagues is not only important to baseball history, but American history as well. Fans were treated to a relaxed atmosphere, a thoroughly entertaining pre-game Home Run Derby, and a main event exhibition game that featured some of Major League Baseball’s most notable alums.
I, along with both Cheats and AllAboutApril of the Black Baseball Mixtape’s “Monday Crew” braved the rain delays and mud-caked walkways outside of Rickwood Field to catch the whole experience. Rickwood as a ballpark is seemingly getting a lot more love in the historic vein of Wrigley and Fenway these days and it’s a delight to see. Constructed in 1910 and renovated in 2024, Rickwood Field has an old-school charm that’s pretty unique in contrast to today’s retro-modern and contemporary ballpark designs. And as I sat in the Rickwood Field seats, watching this year’s East-West Classic, I couldn’t help but imagine how all the parties involved could run this back bigger and better next year, if it’s the plan. Here are three ways I think the future East-West Classics could truly pop.
Lean Into the Old School – Sunday’s Best Contest
I can’t stress how important it is to keep the heroes and stories of the Negro leagues alive. Future generations need to have continued access to not only the history of this period in baseball but also the societal causes that led to this period in baseball. The thing about history though is that it can get pretty stodgy to future generations. I bet we all remember when we were kids and an older relative was trying to tell us something about what happened back in the day and you couldn’t care less. This may sound like a gimmick, but history has to be presented as “living” to encourage younger fans to ask more questions. Just check your local Renaissance Faire for a case in point.
In the mid-20th century, going out to a ballgame was an event to see and be seen. Folks turned up to the park, wearing their Sunday best to catch a game. Instilling a hard dress code outright would be a horrid idea, but what if the East-West Classic organizers took a cue from San Diego-Comic Con and offered a “masquerade” costume contest? Let fans know ahead of time that the best dressed at the event could win a prize and watch the willing players compound year over year. Eyes are instantly drawn when fashion meets fanfare, take a look at the Met Gala or the Kentucky Derby. My proposed contest can even have categories that could reward historical accuracy, more modern, avant-garde designs, or maybe pieces that lend themselves to that year’s theme.
An East-West Classic Citywide Takeover
Hospitality in sports has been growing by leaps and bounds over the past couple of years. It’s been the perfect storm of certain sports growing in profile, more locations and nations bidding for high-profile events, and the drive to create unique experiences has opened the floodgates for people for a new wave of “fan immersion.” A single game on a Thursday afternoon (as was the case with this year’s East-West Classic) is incredibly tough, but now there was a significant swath of fans that came into town just for the game.
Rickwood Field isn’t exactly located in the modern Birmingham, so there are plenty of opportunities to have activations to drive fans to experience various parts of town. I think player appearances, receptions, and throwing up some branded batting cages are some of the more tried-and-true methods here, but you can also get wild with unique ideas. Off the top of my head, I would’ve loved to experience a “walk-through” museum pop-up of how it must’ve felt like for ballplayers to perform in a town like Birmingham back then. I would have loved to go to a sponsored concert or festival that had local artists performing so I could have just but a slice of the Alabama music scene during my visit. I’ll even go straight to the point and ask for a giant Superstore of all the hats, pins, pennants and jackets that have become synonymous with merch. In fact, it was the lack of available merchandise for purchase at this year’s game that inspired this whole article. Sure, going to the game was great, but I needed to bring home something to brag to my friends I was somewhere they weren’t. And it can’t be that hard to execute. I am a big fan of the professional wrestling company, WWE. And when WWE comes into town, they have almost everything branded with the name of the show you’re attending PLUS the date of the event with the tagline “I Was There.” It truly is the little things.
Let The Kids Play
What I loved about the East-West Classic being played in such an intimate ballpark was that the fans that were in attendance were right up close to see baseball legends like CC Sabathia, Prince Fielder, Curtis Granderson, and Thursday night podcast co-host Lewis Brinson – among others. Seeing so many guys who are MLB alums still being able to go was amazing. When I flew home to Los Angeles, I went looking at my local rec league to see if there were any spots left open for me to try my third tour as a lefty third baseman. I thought if I was inspired to play, I wonder about the future fans of the sport.
I’m not sure how it would work, but I would love for future rosters to have 1-3 players who are either in high school, college, or in other words in the dawn of their careers. Not quite a Futures Game, but these hand-selected players could give a glimpse of who to root for in the future. And I bet having say a 16-year-old pitcher relieving Sabathia would be life-altering.
On the podcast, “Black Diamonds,” host and President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Bob Kendrick used to share stories on how a young Willie Mays played for the Birmingham Black Barons at the age of 17. (Because of his age, Mays only played home games so that he could focus on school). Having these “Willie Mays Picks” for the Classic would honor another aspect of Black baseball history. It would be both authentic and a way to pay it forward.
As of this writing, details are still pending on the next edition of the East-West Classic. I truly hope it does come back and does so in such a way it becomes an unmissable event on the American baseball calendar.
