Birmingham, AL

Park # 29

What I Remember

I remember the rain pouring down. Metropolitan Stadium in the Birmingham suburb of Hoover was one of the largest and newest stadiums in the Southern League and the Barons vied with Charlotte for the attendance crown in those days. But when we pulled into the parking lot on a soggy Wednesday afternoon the Barons were still finishing yp a series in Charlotte and we knew that. But the rain was forecast to continue the next day too and so we did some filming in case the game we were supposed to see the following night got rained out. The decision ended up getting us one fewer rained out game because the following day we stayed in Jackson, Mississippi and saw a game there when the Barons ended up getting rained out.

I got rained out at “The Met” again in 2003 but I did see a game in the Southeast Conference baseball tournament there in 2002. The Barons moved back to downtown Birmingham in 2013 where they had moved from in 1988. Not seeing the oldest park in professional baseball, Rickwood Field in downtown Birmingham was one of the few disappointments about our Excellent Adventure but I did catch the Rickwood Classic there in 2003.

The Game(s)

Greenville Braves @ Birmingham Barons ppd.-rain

The Box (Click on the arrows to see more images)

The Trip