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The Rickwood Field MLB game will feature a historic all-black umpire crew. Led by Adrian Johnson, the four on-field umpires and replay assistant will all be black. This is the first time in MLB history that the entire crew will be.
Throughout baseball history, only 11 umpires have been black. The first was in 1966, and now the league has enough to make a full crew. The game is being played at Rickwood to honor the Negro Leagues, and the umpiring crew is a nice addition.
Johnson said via the Athletic:
“The fact that we have enough guys to form a whole crew and have a replay guy as well, that says a lot. It’s been a long time coming. And it makes me very happy... To a man, immediately, we all said yes. Myself and the other guys, we were honored to be asked to work this game.”
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It will be a historic event for many reasons, and the umpire crew is one of them. Jeremie Rehak, the youngest umpire of the group, added:
“We’re more than happy to go down there to do this. It will be special, a cool moment.”
The game is slated for June 20 at 7:15 EST. There will be a tribute to the late Willie Mays, who died just two days before the game. His San Francisco Giants will take on the St. Louis Cardinals.
Rickwood Field crew chief talks Negro Leagues umpire
The crew chief for the Rickwood Field game is very knowledgeable about the Negro Leagues. Adrian Johnson visits the museum every year if his schedule brings him to Kansas City.
Once, he met Bob Motley, a longtime and iconic umpire for the Negro Leagues. Via the Athletic, he said:
“He was a character. He never talked about the racial overtones or anything like that. It was just the players. There were so many stories about how the players were actual characters. It seemed like it was a really, really fun time to work.
He admitted that the antics Motley pulled were definitely out of a different era, but noted that it was all about entertainment. To that end, Motley succeeded and made himself a remembered figure for Johnson and others.
