BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — In a tribute to the Negro Leagues, Major League Baseball will use an all-Black umpire crew for the first time in history for Thursday’s game between the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals at Rickwood Field.
Adrian Johnson will be crew chief for a team that also includes Alan Porter, CB Buckner, Malachi Moore and Jeremy Rehak. They will also wear a patch honoring Emmett Ashford, the first black official to serve on the varsity team in 1966.
This will be the first MLB game in the 114-year history of Rickwood Field, where the Birmingham Black Barons played and where Hall of Fame great Willie Mays began his professional career.
The idea of an all-Black umpire panel was initiated by Rob Field, senior manager of global events, and was quickly supported by MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and vice chairman Michael Hill.
The umpires were asked in January if they would be willing to officiate the Rickwood Game between the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals, but all readily agreed, with Johnson and Porter initially scheduled to sit out.
Follow every MLB game: Latest MLB scores, stats, schedules and standings.
Moore, a groundskeeper at the MLB Youth Academy in Compton, California, was the first graduate of the Compton Youth Academy to serve as an umpire in the major leagues. He wears the number 44 in honor of baseball’s first black crew chief and mentor, Kerwin Danley.
“I’m so proud of him,” Danley told USA Today Sports last year. “You never know what’s going to happen. Look at Malachi. I didn’t know anything about him. I just saw a young black boy, a baseball player who came from a neighborhood like me and someone who had the desire to continue playing.”
“He’s got a long future in the game.”
Said Moore: “I remember trying so hard to be head groundskeeper for the Dodgers or Padres, which would have been great, but to be a major league umpire is such a blessing. This was God’s plan that started in Compton, and it’s come full circle to this.”
“I’m really thankful for Compton Academy and the Referee School. Believe me, all I can do is inspire others. I love helping. I love the feeling of helping others. There are so many people who have impacted my life.”
“It would be embarrassing if I couldn’t inspire other people.”
Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale
