A baseball field in a racetrack? MLB’s Speedway Classic makes history
BRISTOL Tenn AP Cincinnati manager Terry Francona noticed the sheer size of Bristol Motor Speedway rising up from the mountains as the Reds arrived Saturday on their buses The best way to describe the speedway Huge Big enough in fact to place not one but two baseball diamonds Francona s Reds need only one for the MLB Speedway Classic against the Atlanta Braves on Saturday night in the infield at Bristol Motor Speedway also called The Last Great Colosseum Francona approves of all the hard work When you get outside of the field it s definitely pretty cool Francona mentioned The way the stands kind of all face in the ones they re using it looks pretty cool The MLB Speedway Classic was first informed nearly a year ago as part of Commissioner Rob Manfred s push to take MLB to places where baseball isn t played every day live MLB played a battle at the movie site in Iowa in both and Alabama North Carolina and Pennsylvania too Now it s time for Tennessee which has teams in the NFL NBA NHL and MLS but no MLB squad even as a group chases an expansion franchise for Nashville This battle mixes the rich racing history of both Bristol which hosts a pair of NASCAR races each year and Tennessee When you walk up to Bristol Motor Speedway much like countless of our venues you know you re at a big iconic sports location revealed Jeremiah Yolkut MLB s senior vice president of global events You feel it You walk into Wrigley Field Fenway Park you feel it And that s what Bristol Motor Speedway is for NASCAR Before the gates opened fans got to enjoy a -foot Ferris wheel The fan zone also featured race cars painted in MLB gang colors with food trucks live music pitching tunnels and batting cages a chance for photos with the Commissioner s Trophy and Clydesdales Merchandise also was available for anyone wanting to commemorate this spectacle unlike any other Inside the diamond is nestled inside the bullring s half-mile track Honestly my first thought I can t believe they did all this for one championship Braves first baseman Matt Olson reported of his first visit to Bristol To be able to set all this up get a playing surface ready set the stands up in order to have the proper viewing it s pretty incredible The Reds chasing an NL wild-card berth split the first two games in this series with Atlanta The rubber match will be a part of history as the first Major League Baseball match played in the state of Tennessee Pitcher Andrew Abbott presented up Saturday afternoon at Bristol wearing a cut-off version of a NASCAR race suit Born in Lynchburg Virginia Abbott stated he demanded something to wear in for a special challenge I grew up around NASCAR Abbott reported Just went on eBay and ascertained a couple options and luckily that was the one that arrived in time I had a couple of backups I know who Rusty Wallace is too so I definitely do know the backstory behind it These teams will play before the largest crowd ever to see an MLB regular-season challenge too More than people might not create the noise the usual race cars do but Atlanta manager Brian Snitker noted there s a big bag of ear plugs available in the Braves clubhouse I don t know if I ve ever been around this a multitude of people Snitker declared MLB didn t try to sell every ticket inside the speedway that drew for the Battle of Bristol college football encounter in The track with a racing limit of could host or more even with sections blocked off Bureaucrats revealed Monday more than tickets had been sold topping the previous paid attendance of set Sept when Cleveland Stadium hosted the New York Yankees Once the time comes for fans to move inside Bristol the schedule features a pre-game concert with Jake Owen joining stars Tim McGraw and Pitbull A flyover by Navy jets and a pair of Hall of Famers in Atlanta s Chipper Jones and Johnny Bench of the Reds will handle the ceremonial first pitch A batter will have to clear feet to hit anything out of center field in the alleys and down each base line Pulling a ball down the line raises the prospect of a ball bouncing off the racetrack beyond the outfield wall Olson wouldn t mind that being a first for him We want to win the match but it d be cool to hit one where you ve never hit one Olson explained Josh Woods grew up in Ohio a fan of the Reds before moving to Georgia and becoming a Braves fan His seat with friends is behind left field The layout isn t stopping him from hoping for a well-hit ball to the stands Hitting something even close would be like absolutely magical Wood mentioned Obviously we re not in a spot to get any foul balls so a smacked homer would be the thing AP MLB https apnews com hub MLB and AP auto racing https apnews com hub auto-racing Source
