ST. LOUIS – Baseball fans will have the chance to view a massive baseball card of Satchel Paige this weekend at Busch Stadium, as a tribute to the Negro Leagues leading up to the St. Louis Cardinals game at Rickwood Field next month.
The baseball card measures 24 feet tall, 16 feet wide, and weighs 8,000 pounds. It is one of six traveling trading cards that will tour the country in anticipation of the upcoming Rickwood Field game.
Rickwood Field, located in Birmingham, Alabama, is America’s oldest-standing professional ballpark and was the former home of the Negro Leagues’ Birmingham Black Barons.
The Cardinals will be facing the San Francisco Giants at Rickwood Field on June 20. This matchup will honor the Negro Leagues and their greatest living player, Willie Mays, who spent some seasons with the Barons before embarking on his Hall-of-Fame MLB career with the Giants.
The game, scheduled just one night after Juneteenth, will feature various activities connecting baseball with the observance, while also celebrating the impact of the Negro Leagues and the achievements of Black baseball players.
The giant Satchel Paige baseball card will be positioned near the northwest entrance of Busch Stadium outside the main Cardinals team store on Friday. Fans can take photos with and of the giant baseball card starting at 4:30 p.m.
Paige is widely regarded as one of the greatest pitchers in Negro Leagues history. Following his time in the Negro Leagues, he played in parts of six Major League Baseball seasons, including three seasons with the St. Louis Browns from 1951-1953.
The six traveling trading cards are part of Topps’ “MLB at Rickwood Negro League Collection”, highlighting Negro Leagues icons such as Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, Larry Doby, and Monte Irvin.
Former MLB player Micah Johnson sketched the player portraits on the cards using only his fingers, charcoal sticks, an eraser, and a paint roller to bring the trading cards to life.
Copies of the giant baseball cards are now available as baseball cards on Topps.com.
The Rickwood Field Game will be televised on FOX 2 at 7 p.m. CT. For more information on the game and events, click here.
