East-West Major League Baseball Classic

Soon after the assassination of Martin Luther King, a number of major league players wrote to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), asking what they could do to honor the memory of King. In November 1968, Joseph Peters, the sports project director for the SCLC, wrote to William Eckert, then the Commissioner of Baseball: Initially meant to held in 1969, the game was postponed to 1970 at the request of the SCLC to allow for more time to prepare and organize. It was announced that the game would be held in Dodger Stadium, with each of the 24 Major League Baseball teams sending out two players. Further, teams were to be divided by Eastern and Western divisions. The proceeds from the game would go to programs of the SCLC and The King Center being established in Atlanta. The "East-West Classic" was revived in 2024, with the MLB aiming to make it an annual fixture. The 2024 exhibition was hosted at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, New York; the East won the game 5-4. In 2025, the classic is to be played on Juneteenth at Birmingham, Alabama's Rickwood Field. == Game ==

Pre-game ceremonies The game was held on March 28, 1970. During the pre-game ceremonies, a recording of King's "I Have a Dream" speech was played over the Dodger Stadium loudspeakers and remarks were made by Reverend H. H. Brookins, president of the SCLC West, SCLC president Reverend Ralph Abernathy, and by Commissioner Bowie Kuhn. Pitcher Mudcat Grant sang the national anthem and Coretta Scott King threw the first pitch. == Box score ==

Hitting Pitching :Note: All future Hall of Famers are listed in bold. == See also ==