Your favorite MLBbros will take the field during the third annual East-West Baseball Classic, a celebration of the Negro Leagues All-Star Games played from 1933-1962, on Juneteenth.
MLBbro Celebration: East-West Baseball Classic Comes To Legendary Rickwood Field Stadium
CC Sabathia and Chris Young lead teams and battle for the second straight year on June 19 in Birmingham, Ala. at Rickwood Field, where Black legends like Willie Mays played.
The rosters were unveiled on MLB Network on Wednesday. Former MLB stars such as Prince Fielder, Matt Kemp, Dee Strange-Gordon, Justin Upton, BJ Upton, Mike Cameron and Jose Contreras take the field again. The East and West split the first two games of the East-West Classic.
Negro League heroes Jackie Robinson, Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson and Buck Cooper played in the All-Star Games at Chicago’s Comiskey Park that inspired the East-West Classic.
“We truly appreciate the opportunity to go back to Birmingham on Juneteenth,” Young said. “The East-West Classic shows that baseball is all about fun, community, and bringing people together. There’s no better place to do exactly that than Rickwood Field, where we can honor the legends who helped build the foundation of our game.”
Here are the star-studded rosters.
East
Manager – Jerry Hairston Sr.
- Chris Young (captain)
- Edwin Jackson
- Jeremy Jeffress
- Jeremy Guthrie
- Tony Sipp
- Larry Pierce
- Jerry Hairston
- Dee Strange-Gordon
- Micah Johnson
- Xavier Scruggs
- Josh Barfield
- Justin Upton
- Pedro Álvarez
- Ben Francisco
- Dexter Fowler
- Lewis Brinson
- Aaron Hicks
West
Manager – Jesse Barfield
- CC Sabathia (captain)
- Dellin Betances
- Jose Contreras
- Scott Kazmir
- JC Romero
- Jason Kendall
- Miguel Montero
- Prince Fielder
- Orlando Hudson
- Bill Hall
- Brandon Watson
- BJ Upton
- Jemile Weeks
- Denard Span
- Nick Swisher
- Matt Kemp
- Scott Hairston
- Mike Cameron
The Home Run Derby will start at 12pm CT, and the East-West game begins at 1 pm and will last five innings or two hours, whichever comes first.
Adam Jones (2024) and Prince Fielder (2025) won the first two Home Run Derbys. Jones was a 5-time All-Star and 1-time Silver Slugger, while Fielder was a 6-time All-Star and 3-time Silver Slugger.
2006 NL MVP Ryan Howard, a 2008 World Series champion, won MVP in the 2024 classic after a 3-run, game-winning home run.
Tickets are $12 for general admission and now available.
Rickwood Field, opened in 1910, is the oldest professional baseball ballpark in the country and was home to the Birmingham Black Barons from 1924-1960. The 2013 film “42” highlighted the life of Jackie Robinson and was shot at Rickwood Field.
“It’s a lot of emotions when we take the field,” said Edwin Jackson, a 17-year big-league pitcher who is on this year’s East team. “The greatest of the great Negro League players to play on that field. For us to go out there and put that uniform on & relive what they did, it’s amazing.”
