There was really nothing NOT to love about FOX’s broadcast of the first-ever MLB Game from historic Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, Thursday night, from the intense game itself to their special graphics packages to the hard-hitting interviews before, during, and after the game.
And yeah, even the Junks, curmudgeonly as they can be sometimes, thought MLB and FOX did ‘an outstanding job’ honoring their history, and the history of the Negro Leagues, last night.
“Willie Mays grew up two miles from Rickwood, and started his career by playing for the Birmingham Black Barons while a high school junior. Think about that: a high school junior playing in the Negro Leagues,” Cakes said. “Just a really amazing event honoring the people who weren't allowed to play in the major leagues at that point.”
“Think about Mays when he came into the Bigs in 1954; he made the All-Star team every single year that he was in the league and won 12 Gold Gloves, and the only reason he only won 12 is because they didn't start voting on Gold Gloves until his 12th year,” Bish said. “He would’ve won 24 Gold Gloves if they were voting for it. But that’s incredible.”
Mays did that even after missing two years to serve in the military after winning Rookie of the Year in 1951, so he didn’t miss a beat in winning the MVP in 1954 – but there were many, many more in the Negro Leagues who were all-time greats but never got the same MLB chance as Mays.
“I was always sort of fascinated by just the legend of it; you can just imagine these guys that were ballers, local legends that just didn't get the appreciation that they deserved and the opportunity that they deserved,” EB said.
The guys then played the audio of Reggie Jackson explaining to the FOX panel all the racism he endured when he played at Rickwood and elsewhere while coming up, and that’s coming from Mr. October, an inner circle Hall of Famer and baseball legend.
So, imagine what it was like for all of them.
“When we interviewed Doug Williams for Table Manners and sat him down, he told some incredible stories about playing baseball on Louisiana, that he endured a lot of nonsense,” EB remembered. “The grace and the class that he was able to kind of deal with it with blew me away. We goof on him sometimes, but he is an impressive, classy human being.”
“Nobody does it better than Major League Baseball and tying their sport into the history of the game and honoring those that came before them, both the good and the bad,” Drabby added. “Last night wasn't necessarily all great feels, but bringing out some of the players that are still alive out on the field, guys in wheelchairs, 95 years old, at the 100-year-old stadium, they did a half inning in a 1954 broadcast style…they just do a really great job selling it and honoring it, so props to them.”
Listen to the entire segment above!
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