Current:Home > InvestRickwood Field game features first all-Black umpire crew in MLB history -FutureFinance
Rickwood Field game features first all-Black umpire crew in MLB history
View
Date:2025-04-13 20:09:46
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Major League Baseball, in a tribute to the Negro Leagues, has an all-Black umpiring crew Thursday for the first time in history at Rickwood Field between the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals.
Adrian Johnson will be the crew chief, for a group that includes Alan Porter, C.B. Bucknor, Malachi Moore and Jeremie Rehak. They will also wear patches in honor of Emmett Ashford, the first Black umpire in 1966.
It's the first MLB game at Rickwood Field in its 110-year history where the Birmingham Black Barons played, and where Hall of Fame great Willie Mays opened his professional career.
The idea of an all-Black umpiring crew came from Rob Field, the senior manager of global events, which was immediately supported by MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and vice president Michael Hill.
The umpires were asked in January if they wanted to work the Rickwood Game with the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals, with Johnson and Porter originally scheduled to be off, and all readily agreed.
Follow every MLB game: Latest MLB scores, stats, schedules and standings.
Moore, who used to be a groundskeeper at MLB’s Youth Academy in Compton, Calif., is the first graduate from the Compton Youth Academy to make it to the big leagues as an umpire. He wears No. 44 in honor of Kerwin Danley, baseball’s first Black crew chief, and his mentor.
“I’m so proud of him," Danley told USA TODAY Sports last year. “You never know what can happen. Look at Malachi. I didn’t know anything about him. I just saw a young Black kid, a baseball player who came from the same kind of neighborhood I came from, and someone who had a desire to stay in the game.
“He’s going to have a long future in this game."
Said Moore: “I remember being hell-bent on being the head groundskeeper for the Dodgers or Padres, which would have been just fine. But, man, being a big-league umpire, what a blessing. This was God’s plan starting in Compton, coming full circle, and now this.
“I owe the Compton Academy and umpires school so much, believe me, the least I can do is try to inspire others. I love to help. I love the feeling of helping others. So many people impacted my life.
“Shame on me if I don’t impact others, too."
Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale
veryGood! (9)
Related
- Charges tied to China weigh on GM in Q4, but profit and revenue top expectations
- FDA gives safety nod to 'no kill' meat, bringing it closer to sale in the U.S.
- Dying to catch a Beyoncé or Taylor Swift show? Some fans are traveling overseas — and saving money
- Too many Black babies are dying. Birth workers in Kansas fight to keep them alive
- NFL Week 15 picks straight up and against spread: Bills, Lions put No. 1 seed hopes on line
- Mindy Kaling Reveals Her Exercise Routine Consists Of a Weekly 20-Mile Walk or Hike
- Texas Gov. Abbott announces buoy barrier in Rio Grande to combat border crossings
- Scarlett Johansson Recalls Being “Sad and Disappointed” in Disney’s Response to Her Lawsuit
- Behind on your annual reading goal? Books under 200 pages to read before 2024 ends
- Hoda Kotb Recalls Moving Moment With Daughter Hope's Nurse Amid Recent Hospitalization
Ranking
- Stamford Road collision sends motorcyclist flying; driver arrested
- IRS says $1.5 billion in tax refunds remain unclaimed. Here's what to know.
- Justice Department unseals Donald Trump indictment — and reveals the charges against him
- Climate Forum Reveals a Democratic Party Remarkably Aligned with Science on Zero Emissions
- Travis Hunter, the 2
- Deli meats and cheeses have been linked to a listeria outbreak in 6 states
- Roberta Flack announces she has ALS
- How banks and hospitals are cashing in when patients can't pay for health care
Recommendation
What do we know about the mysterious drones reported flying over New Jersey?
As Amazon Fires Burn, Pope Convenes Meeting on the Rainforests and Moral Obligation to Protect Them
African scientists say Western aid to fight pandemic is backfiring. Here's their plan
Meeting abortion patients where they are: providers turn to mobile units
Chuck Scarborough signs off: Hoda Kotb, Al Roker tribute legendary New York anchor
A SCOTUS nursing home case could limit the rights of millions of patients
Today’s Climate: August 3, 2010
Today’s Climate: August 13, 2010