BRISTOL, Tenn. — The occurrence took a downturn for Major League Baseball at Bristol Motor Speedway this past Saturday night.
The Speedway Classic matchup, showcasing the Atlanta Braves against the Cincinnati Reds, faced an interruption during its initial inning due to rainfall. The weather event dampened a record-setting assembly of spectators, gathered for what was to be the inaugural regular-season game held in the state of Tennessee. Current plans dictate that the game will resume Sunday at 1 p.m. Eastern Time.
The first pause at the well-known racetrack emerged following the ceremonial first pitch. This event featured baseball legends Johnny Bench and Chipper Jones, alongside NASCAR figures Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott. The second delay, happening with one out in the bottom of the first, led to a postponement of the game by a day, reminiscent of a red flag occurrence in motorsports.
Spectators, enduring an initial wait of 2 hours and 17 minutes, began making their way toward the exits before the official postponement announcement. At that time, the Reds were in the lead with a score of 1-0.
The situation presented an unwanted disruption for the carefully planned event designed to blend baseball and NASCAR fandom.
“We’ve made the call to put tonight’s game on hold. … Looking ahead, forecasts suggest improved weather prospects for tomorrow,” reported Michael Hill, MLB’s senior vice president for on-field operations, in a statement to Fox.
The rainfall created challenges for players even before the suspension. A bat slipped from TJ Friedl’s grip as he initiated the batting order for the Reds. Similarly, a pitcher appeared to falter while moving to cover first base.
The concept for the MLB Speedway Classic originated approximately a year prior, as part of Commissioner Rob Manfred’s broader ambition to showcase MLB in locations where live baseball is not a daily occurrence. Previously, MLB staged a game at the “Field of Dreams” movie location in Iowa, during both 2021 and 2022. Similar events have also taken place in Alabama and North Carolina.
Reds pitcher Andrew Abbott arrived at Bristol on Saturday sporting a modified version of a NASCAR race suit. A native of Lynchburg, Virginia, Abbott mentioned his desire to wear something unique for the occasion.
“Having been raised around NASCAR,” Abbott explained, “I looked on eBay and discovered some possibilities. Fortunately, this one reached me in time. I had a few alternatives lined up. And yes, I’m familiar with Rusty Wallace and the history associated with his name.”
Well before the rain caused the fans’ departure, they enjoyed features like a towering 110-foot Ferris wheel, food trucks, live musical performances, pitching practice zones, and batting cages. They also had opportunities to photograph the Commissioner’s Trophy and to see the Clydesdale horses outside the speedway.
Inside the venue, Tim McGraw delivered a musical performance, later joined by Pitbull.
In advance of the weather shift, players participated in a parade around the half-mile track, standing in the beds of pickup trucks decorated with their respective uniform numbers. Some players used their phones to capture the experience. For team introductions, both the Braves and Reds made their entrance between pairs of vehicles adorned in the teams’ colors.
The tarp was then deployed as the rain, which had been intermittent in Bristol for much of the day, intensified and led to the start delay.
The initial delay prompted the Braves to change their starting pitcher. Spencer Strider, who spent his childhood in nearby Knoxville, received a more enthusiastic response compared to Reds starter Chase Burns, who hails from Hendersonville and played for the University of Tennessee. Despite the delay, the Reds maintained their decision to start Burns.
Strider completed his warm-up routine. The Braves opted not to proceed with his third start under these conditions, given his history of recovering from a second elbow surgery.
After a period, the rain lessened sufficiently to allow the removal of the tarp and commencement of the game.
Michael Waltrip, a frequent racer at Bristol, opened the festivities with a well-known phrase made popular by his brother Darrell: “Boogity, boogity, boogity. Let’s play baseball boys!”
Atlanta was retired in order in the first inning’s top half. The game experienced a further rain delay after Austin Hays achieved an RBI single for Cincinnati in the bottom half.
MLB did not try to fill every seat inside the speedway, which had a record attendance of 156,990 for the Battle of Bristol college football game in 2016. With a racing capacity of 146,000, the track could host 90,000 or more, even with some sections closed off.
Officials had announced that more than 85,000 tickets had been purchased, exceeding the previous paid attendance of 84,587 established Sept. 12, 1954, when Cleveland Stadium played host to the New York Yankees.
A batter would need to hit a ball over 400 feet to clear center field, 375 in the alleys, and 330 down each baseline. A pulled ball could potentially bounce off the racetrack beyond the outfield wall.
Braves first baseman Matt Olson said this regarding his first time in Bristol, “I honestly can’t believe that they did all this for just one game. It’s quite remarkable to have set everything up, from the playing surface to the seating arrangements, to provide the optimal viewing experience.”
