I could feel the weight of baseball history as I toured historic Rickwood Field alone one sunny afternoon. Rickwood opened in 1910 and is the oldest professional baseball stadium still in use. It was the home of the Birmingham Barons and the Birmingham Black Barons, who won four Negro League titles.

According to Major League Baseball, 181 Hall-of-Famers played at Rickwood Field. Baseball legends Willie Mays, Satchel Page, Mule Suttles, and Piper Davis called Rickwood their home field. Baseball icons Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Stan Musial, Dizzy Dean, Honus Wagner, and Shoeless Joe Jackson also played here as it was often a stop for teams, like the Yankees, coming for exhibitions or traveling though after spring training (this information and more at the Rickwood Field site).

Rickwood Field was the site of the 2024 St. Louis Cardinal vs. San Francisco Giants “Field of Dreams” game: MLB at Rickwood. The game was played the week the Birmingham-born legend, the “Say Hey” kid Willie Mays passed away. Rickwood Field was the stadium where his professional career began.

Rickwood has earned its legendary status. Those who love baseball history, will savor time slowly walking around the warning track, through the dugouts, and into the classic seating of the stands.

Visit Recommendations

Admission and parking is free. You can park near the entrance or pull into the chain link fence if it is open. The iconic entrance is a great first photo spot and the appearance will start you on the mental time machine.

To enter the museum in the main building, look for a sign behind the ticket building inside of the chain link fence that points to the small museum and gift shop. Inside there is a lot of memorabilia from the history of the park and staff passionate about the stadium to answer your questions.

The museum will probably only take 20-30 minutes. Exit the museum and explore the old ticket and concession sections, noting the pictures and memorabilia presented there. From there take a ramp into the stadium and admire the seating area and, if it is locked, look in the windows into the press box and imagine the fedora-topped baseball writers chewing on stogies and cranking out stories.

Make your way down to the field and visit the dugouts. Sit on the bench or stand leaning on the bar and stare into the field imagining the great plays witness from this spot. When I was visiting, I could walk on the warning track but not on the actual field or the pitcher’s mound. Enjoy a slow walk around the outfield fence, stop to admire the classic scoreboard, then exit through the left field bullpen.

Walk out through the back of the bullpen and you will visit the field beyond the field. The outfield fence that you walked around is the “new” fence, surrounded by the original fence. Along the concrete fence there are historical markers that you will want to read.

I recommend returning to the stadium through the bullpen and spend time re-visiting the parts of the field and the stadium and enjoying the journey into the past.

Finally, go back to the museum and gift shop and pick up some great memorabilia to celebrate your visit and support this iconic piece of baseball history.

Enhance your visit

There are some great educational materials to help you appreciate Rickwood Field and populate your imagination as you tour the stadium:

• This is my favorite book on Rickwood Field: Rickwood Field: A Century in America’s Oldest Ballpark by Allen Barra. It is exceptionally well written and I’ve read it twice. Kindle Hardcover

• Rickwood Field newsletters

• A more recent book: Rickwood: How America’s Oldest Ballpark Forged Baseball’s Legends by Tim Whitt and Joe Mock: Kindle Hardcover Paper Back

• Visit the Negro Southern League Museum before visiting Rickwood Field. Although you can visit them in either order, I think the educational presentation at the NSLM will enhance your enjoyment of the stadium.

Know before you go

Visit the Rickwood Field site for the most current information on hours of operation, maps, and historical information.