Roy Wood Jr. on Rickwood Field and Growing up a Black Baseball Fan

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4.6 • 3.9K Ratings

🗓️ 19 June 2024

⏱️ 36 minutes

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Summary

The St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants will meet in a special ballgame at Birmingham, Alabama’s historic Rickwood Field tomorrow. That ballpark is 114 years old, the oldest professional field in America, and was the home to two teams named The Barons: one black and one white. And what happened on that field: a community gathering to cheer both squads, and the nation’s first integrated baseball game was a reflection of what happened in the city during the Civil Rights struggle. Today we are joined by Roy Wood Jr. Comedian, Daily Show veteran, baseball fan - who grew up in the shadow of Rickwood Field. He explains: what the city was like during his life, how ready Birmingham is for its spotlight, and how the lessons he learned on the diamond still carry weight in his life today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	So there's some difficult news tonight elsewhere in sports and specifically Major League Baseball.
0:17.0	Tonight we say goodbye to the Say Hey Kid.
0:20.0	Willie Mays has passed away at the age of 93 a two-time MVP
0:25.7	23 seasons in left fields
0:30.9	Just passed the left field foul poll at Rick Woodfield where I'm standing right now.
0:35.0	Is a building called the Willie Mays civilian.
0:39.0	It's exactly where I was sitting when I found out that the Say Hey Kid had passed and the vibe in here is
0:45.6	something beyond surreal. The man who made his professional debut as a 17 year old
0:50.9	with the team that played here the Birmingham Black Barons passed
0:55.9	away earlier today and Major League Baseball's efforts to honor his play in his career.
1:07.0	Now suddenly have the strange Paul of the passing of a man who legitimately changed America in so many different ways.
1:17.0	This baseball game will continue.
1:20.0	Rick Woodfield will hold his first ever Major League Baseball games tomorrow.
1:25.0	But America will never be the same.
1:29.0	And I don't think I will either.
1:30.0	And I don't think I will either. Here's today's episode. When I say Birmingham, Alabama, what do you think?
1:54.0	The civil rights struggle, police dogs, fire hoses, protesters marching for freedom in the face of
1:58.7	violence.
1:59.7	Yes, that happened in Birmingham.
2:02.3	But to understand all of it it you don't have to look
2:04.6	any further than a baseball field. That's Roy Wood Jr a comedian a veteran of the
2:11.1	Daily Show and a big baseball fan.
	...

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