MLB Introduces First “Civil Rights Game”

Okay, so it’s not a rumor, and won’t have a monumental affect on your team necessarily, but this needs to be reported. MLB will have a "Civil Rights Game" on March 31st in an effort to continue honoring the African-American community and its tremendous impact on baseball. The Cards and Indians will play an exhibition game at AutoZone Park in Memphis, the city where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1963.

"This game is designed to commemorate the civil rights movement, one of the most critical and important eras of our social history," MLB Commissioner Bud Selig said. "I am proud of the role that Major League Baseball played in the movement, beginning with Jackie Robinson’s entry into the big leagues on April 15, 1947, and very pleased that we have this opportunity to honor the Movement and those who made it happen."

Let me take this opportunity to congratulate baseball on another step in the right PR direction. The induction of Negro League players this past summer was long overdue, but it happened nevertheless. Then MLB and the MLBPA agreed on a new CBA nearly 2 months before the current one expired. Tremendous. Now they are continuing to change their image in the wake of the Steroid Era. Kudos to Bud Selig for being commissioner and obviously having a huge say in all of these events.

The game will be televised nationally on ESPN, and Spike Lee will make a documentary for the game’s festivites.

Tickets for the game will go on sale Dec. 5, and will be available at Indians.com, stlcardinals.com and memphisredbirds.com. Tickets will also be available on MLB.com and at the AutoZone Park box office beginning Dec. 6. If you are able to go, it should be an amazing experience.

Quotes and this story came from an article on mlb.com by Barry M. Bloom

by Chris Hurst