The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday approved spending up to $900,000 for Rickwood Field improvements to make it more accessible for the disabled in time for the return of another Major League Baseball event on June 19.

“We want folks who are physically disabled or otherwise to be able to participate,” said Birmingham City Council President Darrell O’Quinn. The contractor is A.G. Gaston Construction Co.

Built in 1910 and America’s oldest surviving ballpark, Rickwood Field will host the East-West Classic, an exhibition game tribute to the Negro Leagues’ All-Star Games, on Juneteenth. The teams will feature former Major League stars. General admission tickets are on sale now at mlb.com/rickwood.

Last year’s East-West Classic was put on by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, N.Y.

This year, many of the same players will make the trip to the oldest professional ballpark in the United States and former home of the Birmingham Black Barons. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. Central on June 19. The game will last five innings or two hours, whichever comes first.

MLB Network will be on the scene to film and produce an all-access program of the festivities to air on Sunday, June 29, at noon Central.

C.C. Sabathia, who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 27, is expected to return after participating in last year’s inaugural event. He’ll headline a West roster that includes Dellin Betances, Mike Cameron, Prince Fielder, Matt Kemp, Denard Span, BJ Upton and Adam Jones, who won last year’s pregame home run derby.

The St. Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants played a regular season Major League game at Rickwood Field on Thursday, June 20, 2024. The Cardinals beat the Giants 6-5 in a game that counted in the standings.