JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Duval County Public Schools rivals William M. Raines High School and Jean Ribault High School will play in an exhibition game on Friday at VyStar Ballpark.
The student-athletes from both schools will wear customized Jacksonville Red Caps uniforms to honor the Negro Leagues team that was in Jacksonville from 1938-42.
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The game, brought by the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, will feature historical references to Negro Leagues players and teams. The winner will take home the A. Philip Randolph Cup, commemorating the civil rights activist who moved to Jacksonville in 1891.
“Every year, the High School Heritage Classic celebrates the extraordinary history of the Negro Leagues in Jacksonville and honors the many Negro Leagues players who laid the foundation for our entire industry,” Jumbo Shrimp executive vice president/general manager Harold Craw said. “I want to thank Duval County Public Schools and the students and faculty of both Raines and Ribault High Schools for continuing this integral tradition to the Jumbo Shrimp’s annual Black History Month celebration. We hope this special game will help encourage all fans to continue to learn about the extraordinary Negro Leagues players who complete the history of the sport we all love.”
The first pitch will be Friday at 6:30 p.m. at VyStar Ballpark. General Admission Seating Bowl tickets are available for $7 per person here.
Raines won the first two matchups 8-4 in 2020 and 16-5 in 2021. Ribault won the next two, 4-2 in 2022 and 8-3 in 2023. The teams tied 5-5 in 2024.
The Red Caps played their games at Durkee Field, now known as J.P. Small Park and Hank Aaron Field on Myrtle Avenue in Durkeeville. The city of Jacksonville recently renovated it.
“The Red Cap is our Sleeping Car Porters that were here working in Jacksonville on the train in the depot sometime back,” Craw said. “When they would break on the weekends, they would have the opportunity to go and play baseball as a team, and obviously had the opportunity to don those red hats when they were on the field.”
He said the game is a way for the players to appreciate those who came before them.
“If you’re younger, you can see somebody that looks like you that’s taking advantage of an opportunity to play baseball and then being able to do it on the field, and hopes to be able to grow up and play in the future, or who knows where that may lead them, because baseball is a game of character,” Craw said.
The Tampa Bay Rays and the Jumbo Shrimp have worn Red Caps throwback uniforms to celebrate Florida’s only Negro Major League team. They are also honored in the museum at Hank Aaron Field in Durkeeville.
“Hopefully we can continue to bring nationwide notoriety to this game in hopes of maybe other communities that have the opportunity to do this will take it and run with it, whether it’s communities that maybe have had a Negro League team or not,” Craw said.
