- With an official game now in the books, Birmingham has both the newest AND the oldest professional baseball stadiums in America. Regions Field is obviously brand new, but the Barons still play one game a year at Rickwood Field (Wikipedia page) which opened in 1910 and housed both the Birmingham Barons and the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro League. All former Black Barons players who could make it were part of the opening ceremonies and recognized individually before the game. The oldest was Oliver Son Ferguson, age 92, who played for the team in 1938.
- Below is the view from the right field stands with the skyline of Birmingham's City Center beyond the 3rd-base dugout. What's interesting about that? The original design had the stadium oriented South-North with the skyline beyond the outfield. But that put Red Mountain, atop which rests the largest cast iron statue in the world of Vulcan, Roman God of the Forge, and the campus of UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) behind the stadium. The city wanted both views accessible during games and they wanted home plate to face East. Problem? Yep. That orientation is not allowed by Major League Baseball because it puts the setting afternoon sun right in the eyes of fielders. So the architects had to work with MLB and prove that every possible position of the setting sun as the year progresses is covered above a safe angle by the now multi-story press box before the league granted a waiver.
Birmingham's Regions Field full coverage: articles, pics, vids, etc.
This is the intended-to-be-iconic entrance:
Here is the view of the City Center skyline from right field:
