When base-stealing phenom Chandler Simpson was promoted in late May from the Rays’ Class-A Bowling Green team to Double-A Montgomery, he had plenty of things to learn and adjust to.
Then a couple weeks ago he discovered another: the chance to be part of baseball history.
Simpson and the Biscuits will play Tuesday night at Birmingham’s legendary Rickwood Field against the White Sox’s Barons squad, live on MLB Network (7:15 p.m.) as part of an industry-wide tribute to the Negro Leagues.
Their game is a prelude to Thursday’s big-event matchup between the big-league Giants and Cardinals, showcasing the oldest professional ballpark in the United States and the former home of the Negro League Birmingham Barons.
“It’s pretty cool,” Simpson said. “It’s something I’ve been looking forward to, just to be a part of as a Black player and get to carry on the legacy of what the players before me left and how they paved the way for me and my peers. So I’m definitely excited for it.”
The games and accompanying activities around the Juneteenth celebration are being staged as a tribute to the Negro Leagues and greatest living player, Hall of Famer Willie Mays, a Birmingham-area native who started his career in 1948 with the Barons. (Mays, 93, announced Monday that he won’t be able to attend Thursday; 1948 Barons teammate Bill Greason, 99, is expected.)
Once Simpson, 23, learned of the upcoming event, he started to look into the past.
“I’ve always been fascinated with Black players and the past, but in terms of the Negro Leagues it was just watching movies like 42 (The Jackie Robinson Story), and things like that, and just diving into Black history in general,” Simpson said.
“But I’ve started to do more research and dived into some more things.”
Though the Atlanta native played college ball for two seasons in Birmingham with UAB (before transferring to Georgia Tech and being drafted by the Rays in 2022), he has never been to Rickwood, which adds to his excitement.
The Biscuits have featured Simpson prominently in the leadup to the game, having him do a photo shoot modeling the uniforms they will wear Tuesday representing the Montgomery Gray Sox, a Negro Southern League team from 1920-32. (The Biscuits also will host a weekend tribute to the Gray Sox in Montgomery, wearing different uniforms that have been modeled by reliever Keyshawn Askew.)
Simpson said he was comfortable in the spotlight.
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Explore all your options“I was honored honestly, just the fact that they wanted me to be the ‘quote-unquote’ poster child for this event and to represent Negro ballplayers of the past and the present,” he said. “It’s an honor, and I’m going to carry that weight.”
Minor-league teams have played at Rickwood previously, with the Birmingham team hosting an annual game — the Rickwood Classic — for 20-plus years. That tradition ended in 2019, with the Biscuits, playing as the industrial league Montgomery Climbers, facing the Birmingham Coal Barons.
When the teams played then, the field was pretty much in as-is condition, with no real dugouts or locker rooms, a makeshift wood fence in front of the original outfield brick wall, and an uneven playing surface.
Current Rays outfielder Josh Lowe played in the 2019 game and said it was memorable for many reasons.
“It was definitely interesting,” Lowe said. “I led off that game and I remember walking up to the plate and when you got around the dirt area you actually walked up a little hill to hit.”
On a dare from teammates, Lowe said he went to the plate in an old-style stance and took the first pitch, and the umpire played along with an back-in-the-day type “Strrriiikkkeeee One” call.
Chris Adams-Wall, the Rays’ current pre-/post-game radio host, called the 2019 game for Montgomery radio and considers it “one of the coolest things that I did.”
Lowe said he and the other Biscuits didn’t necessarily grasp the historical perspective then, but having since been to other iconic venues such as Fenway Park and Wrigley Field, has a much better appreciation.
“Thinking about it now, it’s pretty cool to think about people that played games on that field, and that it was like a major-league field in that timeframe,” Lowe said.
For this year’s games, MLB has done massive upgrades to the facility, similar to how it staged the Field of Dreams games in Dyersville, Iowa, and earlier this month in London.
Rickwood upgrades include a new MLB-quality playing surface and outfield wall, temporary expansive clubhouse and training facilities, fan amenities and portable lights.
When the Biscuits were invited to play — in somewhat of a trial run for Thursday’s big event — team executives were quick to say yes.
“It’s just an awesome experience for our guys to be able to get to play on this historic field and be a part of not only the history of Rickwood Field, but also kind of the magnitude of the event when Major League Baseball puts all of its efforts behind it,” said Biscuits general manager Michael Murphy.
“We’re really looking forward to it. And I know our guys are really looking forward to it as well.”
Murphy and staff have been trying to educate their players on the history of the Negro Leagues and significance of the stadium, where more than 100 Hall of Famers have played. The Biscuits will get a chance to learn from some former Negro League players directly, with a meet and greet planned for Tuesday afternoon.
Simpson said he is excited about both the past and future implications.
“It’s an honor that I get to be an influence on the young Black players that are in baseball, and encourage young African Americans of the world to influence them to play baseball as well,” he said. “So I’m definitely looking forward to it, and hopefully I can continue to motivate and inspire the younger generation.”
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