The Fort Bragg Game was a Major League Baseball (MLB) specialty game played between the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves of MLB's National League at Fort Bragg Stadium in Fort Bragg (now Fort Liberty), North Carolina, on July 3, 2016. The game was broadcast on Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN. 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 grandstands were removed, and the field became a multi-use sporting ground.
Before the game, players visited the Womack Army Medical Center. Manfred, Joe Torre, and MLBPA Director Tony Clark visited the local Fisher House.[7] A baseball clinic for over 200 children was held on July 2.[8] After the game, the grounds was converted into a softball field and multipurpose recreational complex for active duty personnel.[9]
Game
MLB allowed each team to carry an additional position player on their active roster; the Braves called up Ronnier Mustelier from the Triple-AGwinnett Braves, while the Marlins called up Yefri Pérez from the Double-AJacksonville Suns.[10] Neither player appeared in the game and Mustelier never played in a game in Major League Baseball.
Recap
Fort Bragg Stadium was built solely to host the Fort Bragg Game
The Marlins scored three more runs in the final innings; Realmuto scored on an RBI single by Prado in the seventh inning, Giancarlo Stanton hit a triple in the eighth inning and scored on a sacrifice fly hit by Derek Dietrich, and Realmuto hit a home run in the ninth inning. The Braves scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning when Erick Aybar had an RBI double that scored Tyler Flowers, and A. J. Pierzynski hit a sacrifice fly that scored Jeff Francoeur, but were unable to narrow the gap further. The win increased Miami's win–loss record to 43–39 (.524 winning percentage), 6+1⁄2 games behind the Washington Nationals in the National League East and 1+1⁄2 games out of a wild card slot. The loss dropped the Braves to 28–54 (.341), the worst record in MLB.[8]
Line score
Sgt. 1st Class Alex Burnett (left) and Arodys Vizcaíno(right)
Zack Hample, a baseball collector who is not active duty military personnel, sought a ticket to the game on social media, offering to pay up to $1,000 for a ticket.[11] Hample received a ticket from a military personnel that had a "plus-one" ticket and announced that he would donate $100 for every ball he collected to a charity for military veterans.[12] Hample claimed to have caught 11 balls and claimed he would donate $1,100 to AMVETS.[13] After he came under widespread criticism for taking a ticket to a game that was meant for military personnel, he posted a lengthy apology on Twitter, which CBS sportswriter Mike Axisa stated "boils down to 'I'm sorry but I really wanted to go.'"[14][13]
Formerly the Boston Red Stockings, Boston Red Caps, Boston Beaneaters, Boston Doves, Boston Rustlers, Boston Bees, Boston Braves and the Milwaukee Braves
