Baseball Hall of Fame to Honor Negro League East-West All-Star Game with Exhibition

The National Baseball Hall of Fame will honor the Negro Leagues during the 2024 season by hosting a legends exhibition game in recognition of the former East-West All-Star Game.

Bradford Doolittle of ESPN reported the game will take place on May 25, 2024, at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, New York, as part of the Hall of Fame Classic weekend. The museum will also open up a new exhibit called "The Souls of the Game: Voice of Black Baseball" at the same time.

Ken Griffey Jr. and Ozzie Smith will manage the legends game, while former All-Star pitcher CC Sabathia and outfielder Chris Young will be the team captains.

"The East-West All-Star Game was the annual showcase for the Negro Leagues, and we are privileged to be able to honor the legacy of those stars over Memorial Day Weekend in Cooperstown as part of the Hall of Fame's celebration of Black baseball," Sabathia said in a statement.

"As players, we are indebted to the pioneers who came before us, and recognizing the All-Stars of the Negro Leagues pays tribute not only to their playing ability but also to their courage and devotion to the game."

Brothers Scott Hairston and Jerry Hairston Jr. will also participate, which is notable because their grandfather, Sam, played in an East-West All-Star Game when he was in the Negro Leagues.

Other players expected to participate include Josh Barfield, Tim Beckham, Prince Fielder, Curtis Granderson, Adam Jones, Dontrelle Willis, Ryan Howard and Tony Gwynn Jr.

As Doolittle noted, the first East-West All-Star Game happened in 1933. It was played annually until the last Negro League ended following the 1962 campaign.

This isn't the only way baseball will honor the Negro Leagues during the upcoming season.

The San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals will face each other at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, on June 20, 2024. Rickwood Field is the former home of the Negro Leagues' Birmingham Black Barons.

Willie Mays, who is primarily associated with the Giants from his legendary career, played for the Black Barons as a teenager before his Hall of Fame career with the Giants. He will surely be a focal point of the game given his connection to one of the teams playing and the venue's history.

"I can't believe it. I never thought I'd see in my lifetime a Major League Baseball game being played on the very field where I played baseball as a teenager," Mays said in June, per David Adler of MLB.com.

"It has been 75 years since I played for the Birmingham Black Barons at Rickwood Field, and to learn that my Giants and the Cardinals will play a game there and honor the legacy of the Negro Leagues and all those who came before them is really emotional for me. We can't forget what got us here and that was the Negro Leagues for so many of us."