Triple Play Baseball Club - Birmingham, Alabama

Montgomery native Lou Thornton is the July guest of the Triple Play Baseball Club of Birmingham.

The meeting is set for Thursday, July 29 at the Fish Market in Hoover on Highway 31. Please meet around 6:00 PM for dinner. The program will begin at approximately 6:30 or shortly after.

Lou Thornton was born on Friday, April 26, 1963, in Montgomery, Alabama. Thornton was 21 years old when he broke into the big leagues on April 8, 1985, with the Toronto Blue Jays. He played three seasons for the Toronto Blue Jays and part of two more for the New York Mets. The Blue Jays selected Lou in the 19th round (470th player taken) of the 1981 amateur baseball draft. He quickly moved up the Blue Jays farm system making his debut with Toronto in just under four years.

Lou is coming from Montgomery.

Please get the word out and invite a baseball fan who has not been to a Triple Play meeting. It would be great to have a nice crowd!

What: Triple Play Baseball Club Meeting

Who: Former major league baseball player Lou Thornton

When: Thursday, July 29, 2010 at 6:00 PM

Where: The Fish Market in Hoover on Highway 31

From Factory to Field: The Dream of Baseball in Birmingham

April 1st – October 3rd, 2010

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.


Clarence Watkins' New Book Baseball in Birmingham

			The Birmingham Barons were a charter member of the old Southern League in 1885. Built in 1910, Rickwood Field, long-time home of the Barons, is recognized as the oldest surviving, professional baseball park in the nation. The Barons now play at the newly remodeled Regions Park in Hoover, Alabama. In spite of the popularity of football in Alabama, Birmingham continues to be a leader in minor league baseball, winning the prestigious Bob Freitas Award in 2008. This award is given annually by Baseball America to the most outstanding franchise in each classification. Author Clarence Watkins is on the board of directors of the Friends of Rickwood, and he co-founded the Southern Association Baseball Conference with David Brewer. This conference is dedicated to the preservation of the history of Southern baseball. Watkins is also a member of the Triple Play Club and a collector of memorabilia related to the Southern League.


Ben Cook's New Book Good Wood: A Fan's History of Rickwood Field

			Author Ben Cook’s original title for his newest book was If These Walls Could Talk, which comes close to describing the daunting challenge he undertook in writing Good Wood. Built in Birmingham, Alabama in 1910, Rickwood Field is the oldest baseball park in America. If the walls could indeed talk, we would be captivated by the exploits of baseball’s greatest players, including Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Ted Williams and Birmingham’s own Willie Mays. Ben is a sportswriter by trade. But he is a baseball fan, and a son. Good Wood is a tribute to the ballpark where he learned to love baseball from his father. This is the story of Rickwood Field, a story that continues to this day. You can order your own copy of Good Wood by calling The Friends of Rickwood at 205-458-8161.