Brandon Crawford is looking forward to facing his former team in the 2024 MLB season.
After signing a one-year contract with the St. Louis Cardinals, the longtime Giants shortstop will face off against his old team for the first time on June 20 at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama for a special matchup to honor The Negro Leagues for the Juneteenth holiday.
Crawford joined KNBR 680's "Tolbert & Copes" on Wednesday, where he was asked about the special game and how quickly after signing with the Cardinals he looked at the team's schedule to see when he would face the Giants.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
"It's very cool. I had kind of forgotten about that game," Crawford said. "I know when it was scheduled last year there was a little bit of publicity about it, but obviously not knowing what was going to happen to me this season, didn't really think a whole lot about it."
"But I did look at the schedule right away when I agreed to terms with the Cardinals and saw that was the first game we were going to be playing against the Giants and I thought that was really cool. The history with Willie [Mays] playing there and being able to hang around him and listen to his stories and listen to him talk for so many years. It would be really cool if he's going to be out there, but obviously with his health and stuff like that who knows? But it'll be cool to get out there and see all the guys again too."
Rickwood Field was home to the Birmingham Black Barons, Mays' Negro Leagues team before the Giants legend began his Hall of Fame MLB career.
The game, for multiple reasons, has special meaning to Crawford, who is looking forward to reuniting with his Giants teammates in Alabama.
