The thing that was most shocking about speaking with those Negro Leaguers and some of the stories they told, some are very dark, and they never lost their love for the game, and they never lost hope for what America could become.

So it gave me the idea and the feeling that maybe you should continue to hold on to hope

that America can be a better place.

A few years ago, after the success of the Field of Dreams game, they're in Dyersville, Iowa.

I had a lot of baseball fans reach out to me,

and they were wondering, I guess you could say out loud, if Major League Baseball might consider doing something similar to honor the Negro Leagues.

And naturally, I thought it was a great idea.

Wasn't sure if this would pick up any traction or not.

But Major League Baseball heard the pleas of his fans about this historic opportunity.

And man, did they ever deliver in a major way?

For close to two years, I was very honored to be part of a planning committee to work on

Major League Baseball's tribute to the Negro Leagues at Rick Woodfield, that of course

was held on Thursday, June 20th of this year, an epic game between the St. Louis Cardinals

and the San Francisco Giants, aka the St. Louis Stars versus the San Francisco

Sea Lions, as both teams wore the uniforms of those former Negro League teams.

And it was indeed epic.

And when we go back and we think about Rick Woodfield, those hollow grounds, or as I like to say, it is truly a baseball cathedral.

It is the oldest active professional ballpark in the country.

So it is older than Finway,

and it is older than Rickley. And as many of you have probably heard on this program,

it just happens to be the place that a 17-year-old kid by the name of Willie Mays began his illustrious professional baseball career.

Rick Woodfield was built for the Birmingham Barons in 1910 by team owner Alan Harvey Rick Woodward,

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