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  From Factory to Field: The Dream of Baseball in Birmingham
April 1st – October 3rd, 2010

Linn-Henley Gallery, Vulcan Park and Museum
Entrance included with admission to Vulcan Park and Museum

www.visitvulcan.com
 

 
 

In celebration of Rickwood Field’s 100th Anniversary, Vulcan Park and Museum is proud to present From Factory to Field: The Dream of Baseball in Birmingham.

This fascinating exhibition, which recounts the rise of baseball in Birmingham’s sandlots and company towns and takes visitors through the heyday of professional baseball with the Barons and Black Barons, will be on view from April 1 – October 3, 2010, in Linn-Henley Gallery located inside Vulcan Center Museum. Entrance is included with general admission to Vulcan Park and Museum. Adults $6 (plus tax); Seniors $5 (plus tax); Children 5 – 12 $4 (plus tax); under 4 free.

From Factory to Field features rarely seen archival photos that will introduce visitors to unknown industrial and Negro league players and Birmingham’s baseball luminaries. Highlights include an autographed photo of baseball legend Willie Mays and a 1915 TCI League Championship team photo that hung in the breezeway at Rickwood Field for decades and was salvaged after the 1961 season.

Vintage equipment, uniforms and souvenir promotional materials from the private collections of Joe Holley, Lamar Smith, Clarence Watkins, and others are also on view. Featured items include a 1960 Rickwood Field 50th Anniversary Souvenir Scorecard, a Birmingham Black Barons fans cap, an early 1900s Reach “Burley” bat, and a 1920s Industrial League team jersey.

Baseball has been a presence in Birmingham almost since the city’s founding in 1871. In the last decades of the 1800s, as the iron industry fueled the building of early Birmingham, amateur teams dotted the city and sporadic attempts to field a professional team were made. In 1906 – the year the city’s icon, Vulcan, was placed at the Alabama State Fairgrounds – the Birmingham Vulcanites captured its first Southern League pennant. The year 1910 marked milestones for both the city and the sport: Birmingham’s annexation of eight incorporated cities and ten unincorporated towns secured its identity as an industrial metropolis and the construction of Rickwood Field gave professional baseball a home to rival parks in other major cities.

From Factory to Field: The Dream of Baseball in Birmingham tells the story of a city through its relationship with the national pastime.

Photograph  Photograph  Photograph

 
     
 
 

New football in Magic City? Don't count on it

09/20/2009 - Birmingham News
By: Doug Segrest

     No one in Birmingham loves off-brand football more than Gene Crowley. He has a Web site devoted to Birmingham's checkered pro gridiron past.

     Crowley believes the World Football League, which preceded the USFL, made a splash, but the USFL had legs.

- Read full article -

   New football in Magic City? Don't count on it
09/20/2009 - Birmingham News
By: Doug Segrest

 
Save Our Sports: The Sad Decline of Pro Sports in Birmingham

04/14/2009 - Birmingham Weekly
By: Matt Hooper
   
 
     
 •  The Savannah Wildcats win the inaugural Continental Basketball League championship.   06/27/2010
 
Continental Basketball League logo        The Savannah Wildcats defeat the Wilmington Sea Dogs 96-86 to win the Continental Basketball League's first championship.
 
     
 •  The Birmingham Sabers begin play in the Continental Basketball League.   05/14/2010
 
Birmingham Sabers logo        The Birmingham Sabers will begin play in the Continental Basketball League as an in-season replacement for the Birmingham Steel.

The Sabers will be owned by Paul Smith and will play at Altamont School.

 
     
 •  The Birmingham Steel bolt the Continental Basketball League and join the World Basketball Association Exposure League.   05/11/2010
 
Birmingham Steel logo        Just two games into their inaugural season, the Birmingham Steel withdraw from the Continental Basketball League and join the World Basketball Association Exposure League.

The Steel will be taking the place of the WBA's Tupelo Rock & Rollers, whose franchise was suspended by the WBA.

The WBA will play a 16 game schedule that will go from May through July.

The Steel will still be owned and coached by Richard Ashmon.

 
     
 •  Will the Birmingham Steel become part of the Continental Basketball League?   03/05/2010
 
Birmingham Steel logo        The upstart Continental Basketball League claims the Birmingham Steel will be tipping off with the rest of the league in April of this year.

The CBL is a new, five team basketball league based in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. The league currently has franchises slated for Birmingham, Marietta (GA), Wilmington (NC), Fayetteville (NC) and Savannah (GA).

The CBL will play a 20 game schedule that will go from the middle of April through the end of June.

The Steel will be owned by Richard Ashmon, who played professional basketball in Europe and the U.S. minor leagues. Ashmon has also coached in the WBA, ABA and TPBL. He has also coached and worked with NBA players to help refine their skills. In his professional life, Ashmon owns and operates 52Sportsent, a company that assists basketball players in finding an agent. The company also manages professional musicians.

Ashmon will also be the team's head coach and general manager.

 
     
 •  The Birmingham Crusaders hire Terry Truax as their head coach.   01/16/2010
 
       Terry Truax, most recently head coach at Hagerstown Community College, was name the Birmingham Crusaders new head coach.

Truax is most known for his long stint at Towson State University, where he served as head coach for fourteen years.

Truax also served as an assistant coach at a number of NCAA basketball programs including the University of North Carolina, under Legendary Tar Heel head coach Dean Smith.

League play is scheduled to begin on April 7, 2010.

 
     
 •  The Birmingham Barons are swept 3-0 by the Jacksonville Suns in the 2009 Southern League playoffs.  09/12/2008

Birmingham Barons logo
 

 
 •  The city of Birmingham is seeking a refund of their contract with the Americas Basketball International.  09/03/2008


 

 
 •  What went wrong at the Freewill Games?   07/28/2009
 
       The Freewill Games was a huge flop for the Americas Basketball International.

"This was a real disaster. There's no money. There's no games. I feel ridiculous and frustrated," said the Venezuelan team technical director.

What went wrong?

And what does this mean for the future of the Birmingham Gladiators?

 
     
 •  Will the Alabama Blackbirds of the United National Gridiron League be based in Birmingham?   07/27/2009
 
       The United National Gridiron League announces two teams for their inaugural season in 2010.

Along with the Miami Scorchers, a team named the Alabama Blackbirds were named.

Could this team be based in Birmingham?

 
     
 
     
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Last Update: July 24, 2010