Throughout the early and mid 1900s, Asheville was home to a thriving Negro Baseball League.

One of the league's most successful teams? The Asheville Blues, who operated during the 1940s and 1950s. The Blues' legacy — which includes back-to-back Negro Southern League Championships in 1946 and 1947 — will be honored at McCormick Field throughout the Asheville Tourists' 2023 season, which kicks off Thursday, April 6.

As part of this season-long honor, the Blue's championship flag will fly over the stadium. Asheville company Sunrise Studios has also recreated the team's logo and printed it onto special Blues-themed uniforms, which the Asheville Tourists will wear for one game during the 2023 season.

Want your own Blues t-shirt? They're for sale online. Bonus: All proceeds support youth development program My Daddy Taught Me That.

Read more about the history of the Blues in The Urban News' reflection on the Negro Baseball League and in Mountain Xpress'' "Revisiting Asheville's Black baseball history."