Video above: Previous coverageMajor League Baseball returned to Birmingham Thursday to spend its second straight Juneteenth at America’s Oldest Ballpark.Despite some rain to start the event, players like CC Sabathia, who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 27, and Ryan Howard wowed crowds at the second annual East-West Classic. Sabathia, a legend in his own right, was thankful for the baseball greats who walked the field before him and helped make the day possible.”This community has so much rich history with baseball, it just feels good to be able to come down here and play a game,” he said. “You know, there’s a direct connection between this field and all of us because we wouldn’t be able to play the game if it wasn’t for some of the guys that paved the way that played on this field. This won’t be the last time we’re down here.”Last year’s inaugural event was hosted by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, N.Y. to help usher in its new exhibit, “Souls of the Game: Voices of Black Baseball.”This year’s event continued to highlight history, bringing major league action back to the Magic City one year after MLB’s Tribute to the Negro Leagues game which ultimately coincided with the death of Willie Mays.The profound importance of spending another Juneteenth at the Say Hey Kid’s original home field, hallowed ground of the Birmingham Black Barons, was not lost on Birmingham native Roy Wood Jr., the event’s emcee.”I think, to be celebrating the past, present and future of Blacks in baseball on Juneteenth is as American as baseball itself, because black people have always been a part of this sport, and they’ve always been great at this sport. Even in the time when segregation existed,” said Wood. “To celebrate Blackness in baseball on a day like this is just a cherry on top,” he continued.Blackness in baseball was celebrated in another part of Jefferson County on Thursday as well. Ahead of the event, MLB Together and community figures unveiled a newly restored baseball and softball field at Willie Mays Park in Fairfield.“We never saw our time there as a one-time engagement for our sport, that’s why we’re excited to have this current opportunity right in front of us right now,” said April Brown, MLB’s senior vice president of social responsibility. “Right in the town where the great Willie Mays grew up, at a field that was named in his honor in 1985. A field that — after a few decades of wear and tear and use — could use a little love.”Roy Wood Jr. hopes that events like these continue to help baseball in Birmingham grow, and not just for the entertainment or economic value. “I think that something as simple as having an extra place for kids to play baseball gives them more opportunities to consider it as a viable opportunity, not just to go professional, but to have a way to not be on the streets and not be in the streets,” he said.”We’re proving that we’re a baseball town and that baseball matters. And when you have a field like this, you have kids seeing that they can actually achieve this, he continued.”Stay updated on the latest sports stories with the WVTM 13 app. You can download it here.

Video above: Previous coverage

Major League Baseball returned to Birmingham Thursday to spend its second straight Juneteenth at America’s Oldest Ballpark.

Despite some rain to start the event, players like CC Sabathia, who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 27, and Ryan Howard wowed crowds at the second annual East-West Classic.

Sabathia, a legend in his own right, was thankful for the baseball greats who walked the field before him and helped make the day possible.

“This community has so much rich history with baseball, it just feels good to be able to come down here and play a game,” he said. “You know, there’s a direct connection between this field and all of us because we wouldn’t be able to play the game if it wasn’t for some of the guys that paved the way that played on this field. This won’t be the last time we’re down here.”

Last year’s inaugural event was hosted by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, N.Y. to help usher in its new exhibit, “Souls of the Game: Voices of Black Baseball.”

This year’s event continued to highlight history, bringing major league action back to the Magic City one year after MLB’s Tribute to the Negro Leagues game which ultimately coincided with the death of Willie Mays.

The profound importance of spending another Juneteenth at the Say Hey Kid’s original home field, hallowed ground of the Birmingham Black Barons, was not lost on Birmingham native Roy Wood Jr., the event’s emcee.

“I think, to be celebrating the past, present and future of Blacks in baseball on Juneteenth is as American as baseball itself, because black people have always been a part of this sport, and they’ve always been great at this sport. Even in the time when segregation existed,” said Wood.

“To celebrate Blackness in baseball on a day like this is just a cherry on top,” he continued.

Blackness in baseball was celebrated in another part of Jefferson County on Thursday as well. Ahead of the event, MLB Together and community figures unveiled a newly restored baseball and softball field at Willie Mays Park in Fairfield.

“We never saw our time there as a one-time engagement for our sport, that’s why we’re excited to have this current opportunity right in front of us right now,” said April Brown, MLB’s senior vice president of social responsibility. “Right in the town where the great Willie Mays grew up, at a field that was named in his honor in 1985. A field that — after a few decades of wear and tear and use — could use a little love.”

Roy Wood Jr. hopes that events like these continue to help baseball in Birmingham grow, and not just for the entertainment or economic value.

“I think that something as simple as having an extra place for kids to play baseball gives them more opportunities to consider it as a viable opportunity, not just to go professional, but to have a way to not be on the streets and not be in the streets,” he said.

“We’re proving that we’re a baseball town and that baseball matters. And when you have a field like this, you have kids seeing that they can actually achieve this, he continued.”

Stay updated on the latest sports stories with the WVTM 13 app. You can download it here.