Atlanta Braves to Make Professional Sports History With Fort Bragg Game, July 3rd 2016
By Dan Horton
Major Professional Sports History Will Be Made by Atlanta Braves on July 3rd, 2016; The Fort Bragg Game
The Atlanta Braves made an announcement today that will make history. This afternoon, MLB, MLBPA, and Fort Bragg, NC, home to the 82nd Airborne Division, announced it will host a regular season game. For the first time in professional sports history, a game will be played on a United States Military Installation; The Fort Bragg Game.
This announcement, for me, hits very close to home. This announcement makes me proud to be a Braves fan, Major League Baseball fan, and if I couldn’t be any more proud, but proud to be an active duty member of the United States Army.
The game will be aired on ESPN as part of Sunday Night Baseball. Originally, the schedule had this as a 5:00 PM start time in Atlanta. Obviously, that has now changed.
As soon as the news broke, Internet sites, Facebook, and Twitter blew up about it. Practically everyone I saw commenting about it had nothing but praise and applause for MLB and the MLBPA, from fans, military members, and people all over; myself included.
Obviously, the players are pumped up for this historical experience. However, I can promise you, the active duty, retirees, and veterans, along with their families are even more stoked. Trust me on this one.
I expressed that this news had me torn, on a friends’ post on Facebook. My response to why I felt torn was simple and selfish: “I love that MLB is doing this, I love that it’s the Braves who get this honor (maybe I should say “get to give this honor”). BUT, I’m green with envy because I’m not stationed there …”
The premise of this is to give back, give back to those who provide the ability to do what MLB players do every summer.
“That’s what you do this for because those guys are the real heroes with what they do to protect us and our way of life every day. It will be pretty amazing.” – Braves Catcher, A.J. Pierzynski
In an article from John Schlegel of MLB.com, he talks to players and coaches about the opportunity. Both Braves and Marlins alike are excited to do this. When many of those fans normally tune in to see those players battle it out on the diamond, it will be the troops’ turn to be the center of attention.
“We’re going to put the spotlight on the service men and women. We’re going to be playing, but the whole purpose of this is to shed some light on everything they do, and kind of honor them”, said Marlins pitcher Tom Koehler.
Braves skipper, Fredi Gonzalez, shared the sentiment, “This is a unique and exciting chance to play in front of some of our military troops and their families … We have tremendous respect for what they do and it is an honor for us to have this opportunity.”
While details are still coming to light, there are few things that need to be known. I guess you could call this the “bad news”. If you’re a season ticket holder (this is a home game), then you aren’t getting into this game. Sorry.
When events like this take place on active military installations, they aren’t opened to the public. The only source that I have seen confirming my speculation, is from the website fayobserver.com. Drew Brooks, Military Editor for the site, says tickets will not be available to the public. This much I knew.
I know this for a fact. I have witnessed people get turned around at the main gate for things like this, such as concerts, celebrity visits, etc.
Believe me, there is no getting around this. If you do not have a government issued, Department of Defense ID card, you won’t (can’t) get on post for the game. This game is for Fort Bragg Soldiers and their families, DoD Civilians, and retirees/veterans.
The crowd size will be a large one, so capacity limits will most definitely be observed and enforced. Security will be at an all time high. If you don’t have a DOD issued ID or a clearance, you don’t get in.
With only 12,500 seats, you wouldn’t be able to get a seat anyway. With any special event like this, it is standard operating procedure. The Braves have not made an announcement as to how to reimburse those who have season tickets or single game tickets to that particular game.
Overall, I think the compensation will be standard to a rain out or postponed game. But, what else is interesting about this awesome event, is that there’s one small problem. You kind of need a place to play. Yep, the small stadium isn’t even built yet.
In four months or less, there is going to be a 12,500 seat stadium on top of a golf course that hasn’t been in operation since 2009. An Army friend of mine, who is stationed at Fort Bragg had this to say about the site where the stadium will go; “So I’m still unsure of how they’re going to build this stadium in less than four months…over a golf course that is so grown over you could probably hunt on it…”.
As the service member and fan, I’m very appreciative for MLB and the MLBPA’s agreement to do this, to give back to those who give more, and don’t make nearly the figures these athletes do, and I applaud all parties involved for making this happen.
Next: Are Braves About to RSVP for Sarasota?
Regardless of how the Braves season turns out, this game will be a win-win, there will be no losers. July 3rd, 2016 won’t be about the people in uniform, in the field, it will be about the people in uniform, in the stands.