Author name: skjwatkins

For a more detailed history of the Birmingham Black Barons, please see the late Christopher Fullerton’s book entitled Every Other Sunday, available on this website. And for a spectacular view of the history and players of the Leagues, please visit the Negro Southern League Museum in Birmingham.

Rickwood Field is not only the oldest baseball park in America, it is also revered as the oldest remaining park that was home to a Negro League ballclub, the legendary Birmingham Black Barons. The Black Barons, forged from players from the local industrial leagues (primarily ACIPCO), rented the ballpark on Sundays when their white counterparts

  Andrew “Rube” Foster was a baseball player, manager, and creator of the Negro National League. On February 13, 1920, Foster convinced a group of businessmen to invest in a negro baseball league so black teams could organize and become successful in their own right. Thus was born the Negro National League; the first negro

George “Mules” Suttles began playing baseball for the Birmingham Black Barons (BBB) in 1923. He was known as a gentle, laid back man, but when he played ball, he could hit a baseball like no other. Someone once remarked that Suttles was “strong as a mule” and his teammates started referring to him as “Mule.”

The great Satchel Paige played for the Birmingham Black Barons from 1927 – 1931. Paige became one of the greatest players of his time. Paige was immensely popular and began drawing such large crowds that R. T. Jackson, owner of the team, and Paige agreed to rent Paige out to other teams to boost their

No narrative about the Negro Leagues in Birmingham is complete without lauding the exploits of Lorenzo “Piper” Davis, player and manager for the Birmingham Black Barons. Piper played for the Birmingham Black Baron’s from 1942 – 1948 and was noted as a an all-around great player. He could play shortstop, first base, second base, and

Willie Howard Mays, Jr. was born in 1931 in Westfield, Alabama just west of Rickwood Field. Mays started playing for the Birmingham Black Baron’s when he was still in high school, but his father would not let him join the team until he graduated. In 1948, he played 13 games for the Black Barons and