For all the attention that was drawn to Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, on Thursday night, it was easy for the actual game to get lost in the shuffle.
The San Francisco Giants were playing the St. Louis Cardinals at the oldest ballpark in America, honoring the storied history of the Negro Leagues. The former home of the Birmingham Black Barons was recently refurbished and prepared to host its first MLB contest in its 114 years of existence.
Willie Mays' death on Tuesday night became one of the key talking points surrounding the event, as he played for the Black Barons in 1948. A mural of The Say Hey Kid was unveiled in his hometown of Birmingham on Wednesday, and his iconic No. 24 was painted behind home plate on Thursday.
Throughout the broadcast, announcers, panelists and guests alike shared their favorite memories of Mays, as well as their thoughts on the legacy of the Negro Leagues and its greatest players.
Again, though, there was an actual game being played amid all of the celebrations.
The Cardinals struck first, highlighted by a two-run home run from Alabama native Brendan Donovan in the first. Giants center fielder Heliot Ramos answered in the third, crushing a three-run blast that tied the score.
St. Louis chased Keaton Winn off the mound after adding a run in the fourth, only for reliever Randy Rodriguez to let another man come across on a wild pitch. Donovan then drove in two more runs on a single up the middle to stay hot in the fifth.
San Francisco staged a bit of a comeback in the sixth, cutting the gap to one following an RBI single and a sacrifice fly. However, the scoring ended there, and the two sides combined for just one hit in their next 19 at-bats.
Despite the Giants getting two men on base in the bottom of the ninth, the Cardinals held on to win 6-5.
The Cardinals and Giants will take Friday off, then resume their three-game series up in St. Louis on Saturday. The pomp and circ*mstance won't be quite as prevalent as it was Thursday, but the matchup of the two historic franchises will still hold plenty of importance in the NL Wild Card race.
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