The Holy Grail of Baseball

Birmingham, Alabama was one of the fiercest battlegrounds of the Civil Rights Movement. But in order to understand the struggle, you don't have to look any further than Rickwood Field, the oldest baseball stadium in the country. Across more than 113 years, it's hosted Negro League baseball, a women's suffrage event, a Klan rally and eventually, the first integrated sports team in Alabama.

On June 20, Major League Baseball will host a regular season game at Rickwood. Leading up, host Roy Wood Jr. returns to his hometown Birmingham to tell the story of this ballpark. In the first episode, we learn how Rickwood uplifts Black and white communities from the beginning, while also enforcing segregation.

This episode was written and produced by Ben Dickstein and hosted by Roy Wood Jr.

Our executive producer is Alana Schreiber and our senior producer is Ben Dickstein. Our producers are Jonah Buchanan and AL.com's Cody D. Short. Mixing and sound design by Joaquin Cotler and story editing by Ryan Vasquez. Artwork by Xavier Murillo. Original music composition by Squeak E. Clean Studios. Voice tracking by Alt Mix Studio.

Special thanks to Paul Maassen, The Friends of Rickwood Field, Birmingham Public Library archives, AL.com and WBHM.

For more stories on Rickwood Field, check out https://www.al.com/rickwood-field/

This podcast is produced by WWNO and WRKF. Distributed by the NPR network. Support from Major League Baseball, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Explore St. Louis.

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