Topps launches MLB Rickwood Field Collection, special exhibit for Negro Leagues celebration

Major League Baseball will honor the Negro Leagues and Negro League stars with a special MLB game (Giants vs. Cardinals) at historic Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Ala. on June 20.

To kick off the festivities, Fanatics Collectibles and Fox Sports have launched a special tour starting Thursday at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City.

The tour will feature a giant 8,000-pound, 24-by-16-foot trading card featuring former Negro League stars Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays.

Also See: Celebrating Willie Mays with his top baseball cards 

The traveling exhibit will also be on display at Busch Stadium in St. Louis (May 24); Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia (June 1); Fox Plaza in New York (June 7-12); and at Rickwood Field in Birmingham (June 18-20), with one stop still to be determined.

In conjunction with the tour, Fanatics is releasing regular-sized cards celebrating the partnership. The Topps MLB Rickwood Field Collection (May 23) features cards of six Negro League legends that will be released over four weeks at Topps.com, followed by a full six-pack of cards on June 20.

Also See: Jackie Robinson cards tell story of baseball icon, American hero

The cards being released include:

• May 23-29: Satchel Paige ($15).

• May 30-June 5: Josh Gibson ($15).

• June 6-12: Jackie Robinson ($15).

• June 13-19: Willie Mays ($15).

• June 20: Rickwood Negro League 6-pack set featuring Paige, Gibson, Robinson and Mays, plus Larry Doby and Monte Irvin. ($49.99).

The cards feature portraits designed by artist and former MLB player Micah Johnson, whose dad grew up playing baseball in Arkansas in the 1960s and is a Dodgers fan because of Jackie Robinson. Micah Johnson collected baseball cards as a kid, especially players from his beloved Cubs.

Also See: Baseball cards of 15 black pioneers who followed Jackie Robinson

Topps has released Negro League cards in the past, including a 10-card insert set featuring Paige, Gibson, Buck Leonard and Coop Papa Bell in 2001 Topps Series 2. A Bowman Retrofractor card of Gibson was also featured in the 2023 Bowman Chrome set. 

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