The Fort Bragg Game was a
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
(MLB) game played between the
Miami Marlins
The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park.
The franc ...
and
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...
of MLB's
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
at Fort Bragg Stadium in
Fort Bragg, North Carolina
Fort Bragg is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 54,000 military personnel. The military reservation is located within Cum ...
, on July 3, 2016. The game was broadcast on ''
Sunday Night Baseball
''Sunday Night Baseball'' is an exclusive weekly telecast of a Major League Baseball game that airs Sunday nights at 7:00 p.m. EDT on ESPN during the regular season.
The games are preceded most weeks by the studio show ''Baseball Tonight: ...
'' on
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
. The game was the first regular season professional sports event ever held on an active military base, and the first MLB game played in North Carolina. The Marlins defeated the Braves, 5–2. After the game, the
grandstand
A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators. This includes both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap a ...
s were removed, and the field became a multi-use sporting ground.
Background
![2016 MLB at Fort Bragg 160703-A-AP748-180](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/2016_MLB_at_Fort_Bragg_160703-A-AP748-180.jpg)
In 2015,
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
(MLB) approached the
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...
with an idea to host a regular season MLB game at a military base.
[ The following March, MLB ]Commissioner
A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something).
In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...
Rob Manfred
Robert Dean Manfred Jr. (born September 28, 1958) is an American lawyer and business executive who is serving as the tenth Commissioner of Baseball, commissioner of Major League Baseball. He previously served as MLB's chief operating officer. Man ...
publicly announced that the Miami Marlins
The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park.
The franc ...
and Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...
would play a regular season game at Fort Bragg
Fort Bragg is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 54,000 military personnel. The military reservation is located within Cum ...
on July 3, 2016, the day before Independence Day
An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Man ...
, to honor the nation's military. MLB and the MLB Players Association
The Major League Baseball Players Association (or MLBPA) is the union representing all current Major League Baseball players. All players, managers, coaches, and athletic trainers who hold or have held a signed contract with a Major League club ...
spent $5 million to convert an unused golf course on the base into a stadium with a capacity of 12,500. Tickets for the game were free to military personnel and their families through a lottery system.
The Fort Bragg Game became the first regular season professional sporting event to ever be held on an active military base, and the first MLB regular season game ever held in the state of North Carolina. The game aired on ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
as part of their ''Sunday Night Baseball
''Sunday Night Baseball'' is an exclusive weekly telecast of a Major League Baseball game that airs Sunday nights at 7:00 p.m. EDT on ESPN during the regular season.
The games are preceded most weeks by the studio show ''Baseball Tonight: ...
'' coverage. Dan Shulman
Daniel Shulman is a Canadian sportscaster with Sportsnet as well as the American network ESPN.
Shulman serves as a play-by-play announcer for select Toronto Blue Jays telecasts on Sportsnet and during 2018 and 2020 he hosted the baseball-the ...
provided play-by-play
In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...
, while Jessica Mendoza
Jessica Ofelia Mendoza (born November 11, 1980) is an American sportscaster and former softball player. Currently, she serves as a color commentator and analyst for ESPN's coverage of Major League Baseball and Los Angeles Dodgers coverage on S ...
and Aaron Boone
Aaron John Boone (born March 9, 1973) is an American baseball manager and former infielder who is the manager of the New York Yankees in Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for 13 seasons from 1997 through 2009. As a player, ...
served as analysts and Buster Olney
Robert "Buster" Olney (born ) is an American sports journalist for ESPN, ''ESPN: The Magazine'', and ESPN.com. He previously covered the New York Giants and New York Yankees for ''The New York Times''. He is also a regular analyst for the ES ...
as a game reporter. ESPN also distributed the game on ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...
, ESPN Deportes
ESPN Deportes (, ''ESPN Sports'') is an American multinational Spanish-language pay television sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (whi ...
, and ESPN Deportes Radio
ESPN Deportes Radio was an American Spanish language sports radio network created and produced by Disney-owned ESPN. Programming included call-in talk shows and commentary from hosts about a full range of sporting events, including soccer, Ameri ...
.
Before the game, players visited the Womack Army Medical Center
Womack Army Medical Center (WAMC) is a United States Army-run military hospital that is located on Fort Bragg near Fayetteville, North Carolina. The facility is named for Medal of Honor recipient Bryant H. Womack. It contains 138 beds, with a ...
. Manfred, Joe Torre
Joseph Paul Torre (; born July 18, 1940) is an American professional baseball executive, serving as a special assistant to the Commissioner of Baseball since 2020. He previously served in the capacity of Major League Baseball's (MLB) chief baseb ...
, and MLBPA Director Tony Clark
Anthony Christopher Clark (born June 15, 1972) is an American professional baseball player and executive. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman from 1995 to 2009 and is the sixth executive director of the Major League Baseball P ...
visited the local Fisher House. A baseball clinic for over 200 children was held on July 2. After the game, the grounds was converted into a softball field and multipurpose recreational complex for active duty personnel.
Game
MLB allowed each team to carry an additional position player on their active roster; the Braves called up Ronnier Mustelier
Ronnier Mustelier Soler (born August 8, 1984) is a Cuban former professional baseball player. He played in the Cuban National Series, and in Minor League Baseball within the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves organizations. Listed at and Must ...
from the Triple-A Gwinnett Braves
The Gwinnett Stripers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They play their home games at Coolray Field in unincorporated Gwinnett County, Georgia (with a Lawrencevil ...
, while the Marlins called up Yefri Pérez from the Double-A Jacksonville Suns
The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They are located in Jacksonville, Florida, and are named for shrimp caught in the area. The team pla ...
. Neither player appeared in the game and Mustelier never played in a game in Major League Baseball.
Recap
The Braves served as the home team, while the Marlins were the visitors. Adam Conley
Adam Michael Conley (born May 24, 1990) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Miami Marlins from 2015 to 2019 and the Tampa Bay Rays in 2021.
Career Miami Marlins
Conley was drafted ...
was the starting pitcher
In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...
for Miami, and Matt Wisler
Matthew Robert Wisler (born September 12, 1992), nicknamed Wis, is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He was drafted by the San Diego Padres out of high school in the seventh round of the 2011 Major League Baseball dra ...
started for Atlanta. The game was scoreless through four inning
In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other team ...
s. In the fifth inning, Adeiny Hechavarria
Adeiny Hechavarría Barrera (born April 15, 1989) is a Cubans, Cuban professional baseball shortstop for the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Miam ...
hit a triple
Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble":
Sports
* Triple (baseball), a three-base hit
* A basketball three-point field goal
* A figure skating jump with three rotations
* In bowling terms, three strikes in a row
* ...
and scored on a run batted in
A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...
(RBI) single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
by J. T. Realmuto
Jacob Tyler Realmuto ( ; born March 18, 1991) is an American professional baseball catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). Between 2014 and 2018, he played in MLB for the Miami Marlins.
Realmuto was born in Del Ci ...
. Realmuto scored after singles by Martín Prado
Martín Manuel Prado Torcate (born October 27, 1983) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, Arizona Diamondbacks, New York Yankees and Miami Marlins. During h ...
and Christian Yelich
Christian Stephen Yelich (born December 5, 1991) is an American professional baseball left fielder for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Miami Marlins.
The Marlins selected Yelich in the first r ...
. The Braves had the bases loaded
B backdoor breaking ball
:A breaking pitch, usually a slider, curveball, or cut fastball that, due to its lateral motion, passes through a small part of the strike zone on the outside edge of the plate after seeming as if it would miss the p ...
in the fifth inning, but failed to score.[
The Marlins scored three more runs in the final innings; Realmuto scored on an RBI single by Prado in the seventh inning, ]Giancarlo Stanton
Giancarlo Cruz-Michael Stanton (born November 8, 1989), formerly known as Mike Stanton, is an American professional baseball designated hitter and outfielder for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2010 a ...
hit a triple in the eighth inning and scored on a sacrifice fly
In baseball, a sacrifice fly (sometimes abbreviated to sac fly) is defined by Rule 9.08(d):
"Score a sacrifice fly when, before two are out, the batter hits a ball in flight handled by an outfielder or an infielder running in the outfield in fair o ...
hit by Derek Dietrich
Derek Richard Dietrich (born July 18, 1989) is an American professional baseball second baseman and outfielder who is currently a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Miami Marlins, Cincinnati Reds and Texas Rangers. ...
, and Realmuto hit a home run
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...
in the ninth inning. The Braves scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning when Erick Aybar
Erick Johan Aybar (born January 14, 1984) is a Dominican professional baseball shortstop who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Atlanta Braves, Detroit Tigers and San Diego Padres. ...
had an RBI double
A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another.
Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to:
Film and television
* Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character
* Th ...
that scored Tyler Flowers
Cole Tyler Flowers (born January 24, 1986) is an American former professional baseball catcher. Flowers was drafted by the Braves in the 33rd round of the 2005 MLB draft. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox from 20 ...
, and A. J. Pierzynski
Anthony John Pierzynski (; born December 30, 1976) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Minnesota Twins (1998–2003), San Francisco Giants (2004), Chicago White Sox (2005–2012) ...
hit a sacrifice fly that scored Jeff Francoeur
Jeffrey Braden Francoeur (; born January 8, 1984), nicknamed "Frenchy", is an American former professional baseball right fielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals ...
, but were unable to narrow the gap further. The win increased Miami's win–loss record to 43–39 ( winning percentage
In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...
), games behind the Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...
in the National League East
The National League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. Along with the American League Central it is one of two divisions to have every member win at least one World Series title.
The division was created when the National Leag ...
and games out of a wild card slot. The loss dropped the Braves to 28–54 (), the worst record in MLB.[
]
Line score
Box score
Pitching
Pitching
Zack Hample controversy
Zack Hample, a baseball collector who is not active duty military personnel, sought a ticket to the game on social media
Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
, offering to pay up to $1,000 for a ticket. After he came under widespread criticism for taking a ticket to a game that was meant for military personnel, Hample quickly announced that he would donate $100 for every ball he collected to a charity for military veterans. Hample claimed to have caught 11 balls and claimed he would donate $1,100 to AMVETS
American Veterans (AMVETS) is a non-partisan, volunteer-led organization formed by World War II veterans of the United States military. It advocates for its members as well as for causes that its members deem helpful to the nation at large. The g ...
. He posted a lengthy apology on Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
, which CBS sportswriter Mike Axisa stated "boils down to 'I'm sorry but I ''really'' wanted to go.'"
See also
* List of neutral site regular season Major League Baseball games played in the United States and Canada
References
External links
*
*
{{Major League Baseball on ESPN Radio
Major League Baseball games
2016 Major League Baseball season
2016 in sports in North Carolina
July 2016 sports events in the United States
Fayetteville, North Carolina metropolitan area
Atlanta Braves
Miami Marlins
Nicknamed sporting events