Stepping back in time

MLB this week announced plans to play at historic Rickwood Field in 2024, putting America's oldest ballpark back in the spotlight

(All photos from the iGeff)

On August 13, 2021, the night after the White Sox and Yankees played the first Field of Dreams Game at the movie site in Dyersville, IA, I threw out a question on a Marlins radio broadcast:

What other unique locations should Major League Baseball consider to stage future special-event games.

When the Marlins and Braves played a Fourth of July Weekend salute to the troops at Fort Bragg in 2016, MLB demonstrated it could build a pop-up ballpark—a grandstand, a press box and team clubhouse facilities—to host a regular season game virtually anywhere it chooses.

We saw it done spectacularly in a cornfield in Iowa both of the last 2 seasons.

And, in recent years, we’ve also seen neutral-site regular season games played at existing ballparks in Williamsport, PA (in conjunction with the Little League World Series) and in Omaha, NE (in conjunction with the Men’s College World Series).

When I answered my own question on that broadcast 2 years ago, I offered 6 suggestions, and I began with my clear favorite, historic Rickwood Field in Birmingham, AL.