Alabama

• Capital: Montgomery, AL
• Largest City: Birmingham, AL
• Area: 52,423 sq mi
  • Rank: 30
• Population (2010): 4,779,736
  • Rank: 23
• Admission to Union: December 14, 1819
• Time Zone: Central

Alabama is a state in the southeastern United States, bordering on the Gulf of Mexico and the states of Georgia to the east and Mississippi to the west, among others. Major League Baseball had never been played in Alabama up until the Rickwood Field Game between the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals on June 20, 2024, but the state has a long and rich tradition of minor league baseball with the cities of Birmingham, AL, Montgomery, AL and Mobile, AL being long-time fixtures of various leagues such as the Southern League and the South Atlantic League. There have also been an Alabama-Tennessee League, Alabama-Florida League and Georgia-Alabama League.

Alabama also has a history of black baseball, with the Birmingham Black Barons being a key franchise in the development of the Negro Leagues, and two of the greatest players of all-time, Hank Aaron and Willie Mays, having been born in the state.

Further Reading

• Doug Wedge: Baseball in Alabama: Tales of Hardball in the Heart of Dixie, The History Press, Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, SC, 2018, ISBN 9781467138789