Birmingham is about to host its first-ever regular season Major League game at Rickwood Field. The San Francisco Giants will play the St. Louis Cardinals at Rickwood Field as a tribute to the Negro Leagues. But that doesn’t come without its challenges.

On this episode, host Roy Wood Jr. goes back to his hometown of Birmingham to explore some of the obstacles that prevent more Black youth from taking up America’s pastime. He talks to MLB executives, managers and a player about the importance of promoting this sport within Black communities across the country. Roy also speaks with Birmginham’s local baseball community — high school athletes, coaches, parents and even the current mayor — to learn how to reignite Black participation in baseball in the city that was once known for carrying the careers of Black baseball legends.

This episode was hosted by Roy Wood Jr. and written & produced by Ben Dickstein and Cody D. Short of AL.com, our partner for this episode.

Our executive producer is Alana Schreiber and our senior producer is Ben Dickstein. Our producers are Jonah Buchanan and AL.com's Cody D. Short. Mixing and sound design by Joaquin Cotler and story editing by Ryan Vasquez. Artwork by Xavier Murillo. Original music composition by Squeak E. Clean Studios. Voice tracking by Alt Mix Studio.

Special thanks to Paul Maassen, The Friends of Rickwood Field, Birmingham Public Library archives, AL.com and WBHM.

For more stories on Rickwood Field, check out AL.com.

This podcast is produced by WWNO and WRKF. This episode is produced in partnership with AL.com. Distributed by The NPR network in association with Major League Baseball.