Birmingham Black Barons & Negro Southern League mark 100th

Willie's Boys: The 1948 Birmingham Black Barons, The Last Negro

Baseball - Birmingham Black Barons

Rickwood Field: Grand Lady of Baseball - ALABAMA HERITAGE

The Board Birmingham Negro Southern League Museum

How baseball and the Hall of Fame come to grips with past inequities

A Look at the Top Five Black Players in Barons History

History: The Birmingham Black Barons joined the original Negro National League in 1928. After that circuit's demise they became charter members of the Negro American League. In 1948 they defeated the Monarchs for the pennant with a 15 year-old Willie Mays in the outfield.

Ebbets Field Flannels Birmingham Black Barons 1945 Home Jersey

Black History Month: Negro Leagues

Rickwood Field: Grand Lady of Baseball - ALABAMA HERITAGE

History: In 1948, the Black Barons featured a precocious teenage outfielder named Willie Mays, who had already made a name for himself as a multi-sport star at Fairfield Industrial High School in nearby Fairfield, Alabama. Mays played for the Chattanooga Choo-Choos during the 1947 season but opted to play closer to home in Birmingham for the 1948 season, and helped the Black Barons defeat the mighty Kansas City Monarchs to claim the 1948 Negro American League pennant.

Ebbets Field Flannels Birmingham Black Barons 1948 Road Jersey

Bittersweet Goodbye: The Black Barons, the Grays, and the 1948