MLB TRADE NEWS: Several reports this evening state that the St. Louis Cardinals have formally signed Los Angeles Dodgers brilliant first baseman to a $195.8 million club record deal, as a result of the team’s injury issue.

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS SHORTSTOP MASYN WINN HAS PLAYED 110 GAMES IN HIS YOUNG MAJOR LEAGUE CAREER, BUT NONE WILL FEEL LIKE THIS ONE

The MLB at Rickwood Field: A Tribute to the Negro Leagues was the first of its kind, played in celebration and remembrance of Negro League players. Played at the oldest professional baseball stadium in America and the former home of the Birmingham Black Barons, the Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants wore the uniforms of their Negro League counterparts, the St. Louis Stars and the San Francisco Sea Lions. 99-year-old Bill Gleason, the oldest living Negro League alumni, threw

 

out the first pitch after a pregame performance by Grammy-nominated musician Jon Batiste who was accompanied by Brittney Spencer, Willie Jones and C.S. Armstrong, and a ceremony honoring the approximately 60 Negro Leaguers in attendance and Willie Mays, who passed away two days before.

“I don’t think I’ve ever walked around the field (before the game) since I’ve been up in the big leagues,” said Wynn, explaining how he explored Rickwood and the surrounding area, looking at all of the in-stadium displays of Negro League artifacts. “It’s super special to be here, to walk around and see the place… Being on the same field as so many historic people, so many legends… I’m going to be able to tell my grandkids that.”

Wynn scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning after drawing a walk to get on base. Giants centerfielder Heliot Ramos gave San Francisco the lead back with a three-run home run in the top of the third inning. Cardinals left fielder Brendan Donovan, an Alabama native, added to the scoring with a two-run home run in the fifth, giving the Cardinals the lead. St. Louis held on to win 6-5, in the first Major League Baseball game played in the state of Alabama.

“Obviously, there’s a lot of media attention around (this game), you make time for things like this, which are extremely important,” said Donovan postgame. “At the end of the day, we understand this ballclub’s (job) is to show up, prepare, play hard and win ball games.”

 

Former Kansas City Monarch Sam Allen was one of the Negro Leaguers who attended the game. “I played my last Negro League game here in 1959.” Allen told EBONY. “It’s great to see the field still here. It’s good for baseball… I’m happy (this game happened) because we got to get more young blacks in baseball. That’s what I want to see. More of us playing baseball. This is a good start, to get everyone excited about the game.”