11th Annual 4th of July Throwback Baseball Game, in Historic Springfield

Originally constructed in 1912, rebuilt in 1936, and recognized on the National Registry of Historic Places as Joseph E. Durkee Athletic Field. This historic park was the home of Negro League Baseball in Jacksonville, where the greats Jackie Robinson, Satchel Paige, and James Weldon Johnson all played. In 1953, Samuel Wolfson purchased a franchise and reorganized the team as the Jacksonville Braves, an A affiliate of the Milwaukee Braves MLB Club. Racial Integration was one of the major changes Wolfson Introduced. Three African American players from the Braves farm system – Hank Aaron, Horace Garner, and Félix Mantilla – came to Jacksonville, making the Braves one of the first integrated teams in the South Atlantic League and in Florida.
Our General Manager, Benjamin "The Mighty Oak" has played in the game for the past two years at catcher and first base.