Through the generosity of Major League Baseball and the Players Association, a regular-season game will be played in a ballpark in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. That barely scratches the surface of this story, though.
The game, which will be played on the eve of Independence Day, is a first for a variety of reasons. Not only is it the first time an MLB game has been played on an active military base, it’s also the first time a ballpark is being built simply for a single game — and then will be disassembled immediately afterwards. All that will be left behind is the playing field, which will then be used by the base’s recreation program.
Since I’ll be writing about this for USA Today Sports Weekly, I’m conducting interviews with some of the key people making this unique experience happen. As we get closer to the event, we will bring you their thoughts — from MLB (where the idea originated) to the designer of the one-time-use ballpark to the key figure at Fort Bragg coordinating the event. Then follow us on Twitter the night of the game to see what it all looks like.
Let’s start with Tony Petitti, the Chief Operating Officer of Major League Baseball.
Petitti said that the original idea for this game grew out of brainstorming in MLB headquarters. “Our Special Events, Marketing and Communications Departments had been kicking around ideas of bringing the game to places where they don’t traditionally get to see the game,” he explained. A number of locations were suggested, but one stood out: Fort Bragg. They got in touch with officials at the base as well as other contacts within the Department of Defense. “We received a reaction of ‘Wow, this is out of the blue, but really exciting!’ When we (then) talked to the Players Association, they immediately saw the value in this and wanted to partner with us to make this happen.” Read More