For one day this summer, Major League Baseball will be played in the state of North Carolina for a regular season game. The Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins will face each other at Fort Bragg, North Carolina in the first Fort Bragg Game on July 3, 2016.
The game, announced today by MLB, will be designed to honor the servicemen and servicewomen of the United States. ESPN will air the game for its Sunday Night Baseball selection at 8:00 p.m. eastern (ESPN Radio will provide coverage as well).
Braves-Marlins to play regular season game in celebration of US servicemen & servicewomen at Fort Bragg, NC on 7/3. pic.twitter.com/Ar7KWPSFZM
— MLB Communications (@MLB_PR) March 8, 2016
Fort Bragg is one of the largest United States Army posts in the world, so we should be witness to quite a unique scene this summer. The timing of the game, of course, ties right into the July 4 festivities as well. Fort Bragg was established in 1918 during World War I as an artillery training ground and it is still in use today. But where will they play? Glad you asked.
Major League Baseball is building a stadium right in that open spot you see in this image…
Zoom in for your before shot…
… and the after shot (artist rendering)…
[Cue the outrage about building a baseball stadium on an army base]
According to a release from Major League Baseball, the stadium will seat 12,500 fans. After the game, the stadium will then be converted to a softball field and multi-purpose facility. That seems like a suggestion this will be a one-year deal, which is sort of a shame. While it will be nice to see the stadium converted for other purposes for those committing to defend our nation, it may also have been good to see MLB bring other teams in for a one-game event and make this an annual tradition.
Of course, doing so would become baseball’s next best equivalent to the NFL sending teams across the Atlantic Ocean to play a game in London. Making such a trip for a one-game event can be cumbersome for big league clubs, and it can be a logistical nightmare.
Considering all of the minor league franchises in the state of North Carolina, maybe Minor League Baseball can get some time on the field as well before the park is retrofitted for softball and other fields. The three closest teams to Fort Bragg are the Carolina Mudcats (high-A affiliate of the Braves), Durham Bulls (AAA affiliate of the Rays), and Myrtle Beach Pelicans (high-A affiliate of the Cubs).
[MLB]
