Post by Craig Calcaterra / Redsky

Craig Calcaterra • Feed

In today's newsletter I talk about the idiotic Speedway Classic that, in addition to being pointless and serving seemingly no one, was poorly executed. A perfect encapsulation of MLB under Rob Manfred. www.cupofcoffeenews.com/cup-of-coffe...

Atlanta 4, Reds 2: This game – which MLB branded as the MLB Speedway Classic – took place at the Bristol Motor Speedway. It was supposed to happen on Saturday night but, despite MLB's efforts to play through a puddle-filled infield, it was delayed in the first inning and they waited over two hours to suspend it, with the game resumed yesterday afternoon. But regardless of the weather, it just looked bad. Like something out of a dystopian novel: [ariel photo of the speedway with the ballpark in it, hundreds and hundreds of feet removed from fans]

Other than those temporary bleachers set up along the lines, how is that supposed to be a good or even remotely interesting setting for baseball? Rob Manfred has touted the crowd size ever since this gimmick game was announced last year – and, yes, official attendance was 91,000 – but something like 87,000 of those people had the absolute worst seats to ever exist for a big league game. The fans were miles away from the action. And it just looked stupid, too. And, it seems, it was stupid in execution. Fans on social media compared Saturday night's proceedings to Fyre Fest, with sharp criticism of the logistics which required multiple shuttles just to get into the facility, as well as food shortages. One said there were hot dogs but no buns and

But even if it went off smoothly, I have no idea who this was supposed to appeal to. Of course the same can be said for any number of marketing initiatives Major League Baseball has pursued since Rob Manfred took office. Whether it's having a manufacturer of massive construction equipment that no baseball fan can purchase sponsor a postseason series or naming some company the Official Freight Carrier of Major League Baseball, MLB under Manfred is all about taking money for sponsorships and other initiatives despite there being no logical connection to the game or its fans whatsoever. And hey, if it's actively hostile to fans, who cares? The checks have all cleared, man. As for the game: Eli White hit a three-run homer in the second that no fan could catch and added a solo homer in the seventh that, again, no fan could catch. Atlanta takes two of three.

aug 4, 2025, 3:33 pm • 78 15

Replies

MLB has an official beer of baseball *and* and an official "cerveza" of baseball.

aug 5, 2025, 1:26 am • 0 0 • view

...except NASCAR and SMI, the property owners/operators, routinely have issues getting traffic out of the facility, especially when it rains in the area.

aug 4, 2025, 3:39 pm • 2 0 • view

Maybe they should go back to baseball centric movie themed stadiums. Lets try the sandlot next. And every home run entails a ball boy having to run faster than an angry junk yard dog to retrieve the ball.

aug 4, 2025, 3:40 pm • 7 0 • view

The cynic in me suspects this was a trial for "can we fit every sport into the same facility?", to clear up city real estate for yet more ~luxury condos~ for money laundering. Like, GABP is downtown waterfront property. You know some developer hates that it's so "limited purpose".

aug 5, 2025, 12:32 am • 1 0 • view

I have to admit: I couldn't help but watch.

aug 5, 2025, 1:08 am • 0 0 • view

I mean, I'm tuning in for Chase Burns v. Spencer Strider if it's played on a high school field.

aug 5, 2025, 1:27 am • 1 0 • view

Idk I think it's neat to try oddball shit. It's one game out of 3400, so what?

aug 4, 2025, 4:10 pm • 3 0 • view

but it was a success for my drinking game of find the non-white person in the crowd! sober the entire night

aug 5, 2025, 12:46 am • 1 0 • view