Home Overview History Games Photographs Programs Tickets Schedules Media Guides Miscellaneous Roster		Birmingham Barons Southern League Rickwood Field

Team and League History

???, 1885
The first year of the Birmingham Coal Barons. Games were played at the Slag Pile (West End Park).

Tennessee Coal and Iron (TCI), which owned the land, would only grant one 60-day lease at a time.

The Barons would also play in East Lake.

???, 1901
The Southern Association was formed, with franchises in Birmingham, Selma, New Orleans, Shreveport, Little Rock, Memphis, Nashville, and Chattanooga.

???, ???

	Manager Carlton Molesworth

The Barons hire Carlton Molesworth to be their manager.














???, 1910

	Photo Needed
	Owner A. H. "Rick" Woodard

The Barons move to Rickwood Field. Rickwood is the first concrete and steel ballpark in the minor leagues.

Owner A. H. "Rick" Woodward consulted Philadelphia's legendary manager Connie Mack on building the 12.7 acre park. Woodward used Philadelphia's Shibe Park and Pittsburgh's Forbes Field as models.

The name of the park originated from Woodward's first name and the first part of his last name.

April 16, 1921
A tornado rips through Rickwood Field, destroying the wooden outfield fence and the bleachers, causing $30,000 in damages.

???, 1944

	Owner G. J. "Gus" Jebeles

The Barons are now owned by G. J. "Gus" Jebeles.

February 30, 1944
Southern League owners meet in Nashville to discuss upcoming season. Also on the agenda is the possibility of the Southern Association starting their own professional football league.














November 4, 1947
Barons general manager Eddie Glennon announces that the Barons will operate the new Class-C Cotton State League Natchez club beginning next year. The Barons purchased a majority of the Natchez stock. Last season, Natchez was in the Class-D Evangeline League and had a working agreement with the Barons.

December 4, 1947
Fred Walters is hired as the Barons player-manager for the 1948 season.

Walters is fairly new to the managing end of a ball club. Walters began his managing career in 1946 when he  became the manager of the Louisville Colonels after Harry Leibold was suspended for "umpire difficulties" during the season. Last year, he was the player-manager of the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Barons also announce they have agreed to become a farm club of the Boston Red Sox.



???, ???

	Manager Fred Walters

Fred Walters is named the Barons manager for 1948.













April 1949

	1949 layout of Rickwood Field

???, ???

	Manager Mike Higgins

Mike Higgins is announced as the new Barons manager.














???, ???

		xxx		xxx
	Co-owner Al DeMent		Co-owner Rufus Lackey		Co-owner Albert Belcher

New owners for the Barons are Al DeMent, Rufus Lackey, and Albert Belcher.

November 26, 1951
While at the Southern Association's winter meetings in Tampa, owner Albert Belcher announces that the Barons will not operate in 1962.

League directors have asked Belcher to play against integrated teams in Rickwood Field and he has refused. The city of Birmingham has an ordinance that prohibits the mixing of white and black baseball players in competition and Belcher said has been told by some of the other teams in the league that they would be playing black players next season.

The league then asked Belcher to move the team but he has refused. "The league directors wanted me to move the franchise to another city, but I refused. Birmingham is my home town and I plan to remain here," Belcher said.

In addition, the Barons' working agreement with the Detroit Tigers has been cancelled. Belcher has asked the league to allow him to retain the franchise on an inactive basis and the league directors have agreed.

???, 1952

	Manager Albert Vincent

Albert Vincent is named manager.













???, 1953
The Barons have an agreement with the New York Yankees.

	Manager Phil Page

???, 1957
Agreement with Detroit Tigers reached.












???, 1959

	Manager Lamar "Skeeter" Newsome

	Manager Frank Skaff

???, 1964
The Barons establish an agreement with the Kansas City Athletics.

	Owner Albert Belcher

???, 1964

	Manager Haywood Sullivan

The Barons name Haywood Sullivan as manager. This will be his first time in the manager position.

A product of the University of Florida, Sullivan began his major league career with the Boston Red Sox in 1955. After playing for the Red Sox and numerous minor league affiliates of their system, Sullivan was acquired by the Kansas City Athletics in 1961. He stayed with the Athletics organization until last season.

	Rickwood Field

???, 1964
The Southern League is formed, comprised of members of the Southern Association and the South Atlantic League.








???, ???

	Manager John McNamara

John McNamara is named the new Barons manager.

A native of Sacramento, California, McNamara was originally signed by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1951. In 1960 he became player-manager at Lewiston, Idaho. They won a pennant in 1961. Last season in Dallas was McNamara's first year as a non-playing manager.











April ??, 1966
The city of Birmingham purchases Rickwood Field from Belcher.

Epilogue
It took two years, but baseball returned to the city in the form of the Birmingham Athletics, a member of the Southern League. The A's played in Birmingham for nine years before the team was moved to Chattanooga.

This time, it took three years before baseball returned. In 1978 the upstart Freedom Baseball League's Alabama Barons began play at Rickwood Field. The league would fold after five games, and the undefeated Barons were deemed champions.

After another three year span without baseball, Art Clarkson brought the Southern League back to town in 1981 when he purchased the Montgomery Rebels and moved them here to become the Birmingham Barons.

Both the Birmingham Barons and the Southern League are still active to this day.

Champions of the Southern Association
Year	Team	Year	Team	Year	Team
1901	Nashville Baseball Club	1922	Mobile Bears	1943	Nashville Vols (7th)
1902	Nashville Baseball Club (2nd)	1923	New Orleans Pelicans (6th)	1944	Nashville Vols (8th)
1903	Memphis Egyptians	1924	Memphis Chicks (2nd)	1945	Mobile Bears (2nd)
1904	Memphis Egyptians (2nd)	1925	Atlanta Crackers (5th)	1946	Atlanta Crackers (8th)
1905	New Orleans Pelicans	1926	New Orleans Pelicans (7th)	1947	Mobile Bears (3rd)
1906	Birmingham Barons	1927	New Orleans Pelicans (8th)	1948	Birmingham Barons (8th)
1907	Atlanta Crackers	1928	Birmingham Barons (4th)	1949	Nashville Vols (9th)
1908	Nashville Vols	1929	Birmingham Barons (5th)	1950	Nashville Vols (10th)
1909	Atlanta Crackers (2nd)	1930	Memphis Chicks (3rd)	1951	Birmingham Barons (9th)
1910	New Orleans Pelicans (2nd)	1931	Birmingham Barons (6th)	1952	Memphis Chicks (4th)
1911	New Orleans Pelicans (3rd)	1932	Chattanooga Lookouts	1953	Nashville Vols (11th)
1912	Birmingham Barons (2nd)	1933	New Orleans Pelicans (9th)	1954	Atlanta Crackers (9th)
1913	Atlanta Crackers (2nd)	1934	New Orleans Pelicans (10th)	1955	Mobile Bears (4th)
1914	Birmingham Barons (3rd)	1935	Atlanta Crackers (6th)	1956	Atlanta Crackers (10th)
1915	New Orleans Pelicans (4th)	1936	Birmingham Barons (7th)	1957	Atlanta Crackers (11th)
1916	Nashville Vols (2nd)	1937	Little Rock Travelers (2nd)	1958	Birmingham Barons (10th)
1917	Atlanta Crackers (3rd)	1938	Atlanta Crackers (7th)	1959	Mobile Bears (5th)
1918	New Orleans Pelicans (5th)	1939	Nashville Vols (3rd)	1960	Little Rock Travelers (3rd)
1919	Atlanta Crackers (4th)	1940	Nashville Vols (4th)	1961	Chattanooga Lookouts 2nd)
1920	Little Rock Travelers	1941	Nashville Vols (5th)
1921	Memphis Chicks	1942	Nashville Vols (6th)

	Years local team participated

Champions of the Southern League/Double-A South
Year	Team	Year	Team	Year	Team
1964	Lynchburg White Sox	1985	Huntsville Stars	2006	Montgomery Biscuits
1965	Columbus Confederate Yankees	1986	Columbus Astros (2nd)	2007	Montgomery Biscuits (2nd)
1966	Mobile Athletics	1987	Birmingham Barons (2nd)	2008	Mississippi Braves
1967	Birmingham Athletics	1988	Chattanooga Lookouts	2009	Jacksonville Suns
1968	Asheville Tourists	1989	Birmingham Barons (3rd)	2010	Jacksonville Suns (2nd)
1969	Charlotte Hornets	1990	Memphis Chicks	2011	Mobile BayBears (3rd)
1970	Columbus Astros	1991	Orlando Sun Rays	2012	Mobile BayBears (4th)
1971	Charlotte Hornets (2nd)	1992	Greenville Braves	2013	Birmingham Barons (6th)
1972	Montgomery Rebels	1993	Birmingham Barons (4th)	2014	Jacksonville Suns (3rd)
1973	Montgomery Rebels (2nd)	1994	Huntsville Stars (2nd)	2015	Chattanooga Lookouts (2nd)
1974	Knoxville Sox	1995	Carolina Mudcats	2016	Jackson Generals
1975	Montgomery Rebels (3rd)	1996	Jacksonville Suns	2017	Chattanooga Lookouts (3rd)   Pensacola Blue Wahoos
1976	Montgomery Rebels (4th)	1997	Greenville Braves (2nd)	2018	Jackson Generals (2nd)
1977	Montgomery Rebels (5th)	1998	Mobile BayBears	2019	Jackson Generals (3rd)
1978	Knoxville Sox (2nd)	1999	Orlando Rays	2020	Season cancelled: COVID-19
1979	Nashville Sounds	2000	West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx	2021	Mississippi Braves (2nd)
1980	Charlotte Orioles	2001	Huntsville Stars (3rd)   Jacksonville Suns (2nd)	2022	Pensacola Blue Wahoos (2nd)
1981	Orlando Twins	2002	Birmingham Barons (5th)	2023	Tennessee Smokies (2nd)
1982	Nashville Sounds (2nd)	2003	Carolina Mudcats (2nd)
1983	Birmingham Barons	2004	Mobile BayBears (2nd)   Tennessee Smokies
1984	Charlotte Orioles (2nd)	2005	Jacksonville Suns (3rd)

	Years local team participated

			Teams of the                            Southern Association
xxx		xxx		xxx		xxx		xxx		xxx
	NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO
	Atlanta Atlantas 1886; 1894		Atlanta Bluebirds 1894		Atlanta Colts 1898		Atlanta Crackers 1895 to 1896; 1903 to 1961		Atlanta Firemen 1902
	NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO
	Atlanta Firecrackers 1892		Atlanta Windjammers 1893		Augusta ??? 1898		Augusta Browns 1886		Augusta Electricians 1893
			NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO
	Birmingham Barons 1901 to 1961		Birmingham Bluebirds 1896		Birmingham Blues 1893		Birmingham Grays 1892 to 1893		Birmingham Reds 1898
	NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO
	Charleston Seagulls 1866; 1893 to 1894; 1898		Chattanooga Chatts 1892		Chattanooga Lookouts 1886; 1901 to 1902; 1910 to 1961		Chattanooga Warriors 1893; 1895		Columbus Babies 1896
	NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO
	Columbus River Snipes 1896		Dallas Scrappers 1899		Evansville Black Birds 1895		Knoxville Smokies 1931 to 1944		Little Rock Travelers 1895; 1901 to 1909; 1915 to 1958; 1960 to 1961
	NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO
	Macon ??? 1886		Macon Central City 1892 to 1893		Macon Hornets 1893 to 1894		Macon Peaches 1961		Memphis Chickasaws 1912 to 1960
	NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO
	Memphis Egyptians 1901 to 1908		Memphis Fever Germs 1893		Memphis Giants 1892; 1894 to 1895		Memphis Grays 1886		Memphis Lambs 1895
	NEED LOGO				NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO
	Memphis Turtles 1909 to 1911		Mobile Bears 1918 to 1930; 1944 to 1961		Mobile Blackbirds 1892 to 1893; 1896; 1898 to 1899		Mobile Bluebirds 1894 to 1895		Mobile Marines 1931
	NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO
	Mobile Sea Gulls 1908 to 1917		Montgomery Billikens 1911		Montgomery Black Sox 1903		Montgomery Climbers 1909 to 1910		Montgomery Colts 1893
	NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO
	Montgomery Grays 1895		Montgomery Lambs 1892		Montgomery Rebels 1912 to 1914; 1943; 1956		Montgomery Senators 1896; 1898 to 1899; 1904 to 1908		Nashville Americans 1886
	NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO
	Nashville Seraphs 1895		Nashville Tigers 1893 to 1894		Nashville Volunteers 1901 to 1961		New Orleans Pelicans 1892 to 1896; 1898 to 1899; 1901 to 1959		Pensacola ??? 1893
	NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO
	Savannah ??? 1886; 1898		Savannah Electrics 1893		Savannah Modocs 1894		Savannah Rabbits 1893		Selma Christians 1901
	NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO		NEED LOGO
	Shreveport Giants 1901 to 1903		Shreveport Pirates 1904 to 1907		Shreveport Sports 1959 to 1961		Shreveport Tigers 1899

			Teams of the                             Southern League
xxx		xxx		xxx		xxx		xxx		xxx
	NEED LOGO						NEED LOGO
	Asheville Tourists 1964 to 1965		Birmingham Barons 1964 to 1965		Charlotte Hornets 1964 to 1965		Chattanooga Lookouts 1964 to 1965		Columbus Confederate Yankees 1964 to 1965
	NEED LOGO
	Knoxville Smokies 1964 to 1965		Lynchburg White Sox 1964 to 1965		Macon Peaches 1964		Montgomery Rebels 1965

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Last update: March 22, 2024