Uniforms unveiled for ‘MLB at Rickwood’
The San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals will square off in “MLB at Rickwood Field: A Tribute to the Negro Leagues” on June 20 at the historic Birmingham ballpark. But the National League teams won’t wear their usual uniforms for the game.
On Wednesday, Major League Baseball announced, in keeping with the theme of the contest, the Giants would wear throwback uniforms of the San Francisco Sea Lions and the Cardinals would wear uniforms modeled on those of the St. Louis Stars.
The Stars were a mainstay of the original Negro National League from 1920 through 1931 and featured Alabama native and National Baseball Hall of Fame member Mule Suttles among their top stars.
The Sea Lions were members of the West Coast Negro Baseball League and a barnstorming team in the 1940s.
MLB described the uniforms as “modern redesigns” of the originals. The Sea Lions uniforms retain the original – and confusing — patch of a bear cub. The uniforms had the patch because the Sea Lions obtained them when the San Francisco Cubs went out of business.
The uniforms have been used previously by the Giants and Cardinals for throwback and Negro League tribute games.
St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado enters the dugout before a National League game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sept. 9, 2022, at PNC Park in Pittsburgh wearing a uniform modeled on one used by the St. Louis Stars. The Cardinals will wear a similar uniform when they play the San Francisco Giants on June 20 in “MLB at Rickwood Field: A Tribute to the Negro Leagues.”(Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images)
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.