Thursday at Rickwood Field was a storybook night for Brendan Donovan.

Or, as the Cardinals’ utility player and Alabamian put it, a “special night.”

Donovan, who grew up in Enterprise and played baseball at the University of South Alabama, went 3-for-4, including a two-run home run in the first inning, for the Cardinals against the Giants in the game Major League Baseball dubbed “MLB at Rickwood Field: A Tribute to the Negro Leagues.”

“What a special night. This is something that we should celebrate,” Donovan told Fox’s Tom Verducci in a postgame interview.

“To do it in Alabama — and I got family and friends in the stands — it’s pretty cool,” Donovan said.

Playing left field and third base on Thursday night, Donovan became the only Alabamian to ever play an in-season Major League Baseball game in the state of Alabama in the league’s 155 years of existence.

Donovan said he never got a chance to play at Rickwood during his youth in Alabama.

Reflecting on his first-inning homer, Donovan said, “They always told me it’s a big yard. so I’m glad they brought the fences in.”