Baseball in Bristol and Southland Poetry
A racetrack for a baseball diamond and a poem from Susie Brooks Overton that fits right in(field) the southern Appalachian mountains
When I learned the Cincinnati Reds baseball team would be hosting the Atlanta Braves in a baseball game played inside a huge NASCAR racing facility—Bristol Motor Speedway—I thought to myself, “Self, write a poem about it.”
Which I have, but, of course, before revealing my poetic writing, I’ll entertain you with another bit of prose by my grandma, Susie Brooks Overton, in keeping with my theme of revealing her home run efforts with a typewriter.
While reading her Poem on Southern Sentiment, imagine the baseball game will be played in Bristol TN, in the foothills of the Southern Appalachian Mountains:
Poem on Southern Sentiment:
To the land of honored heroes;
Scions of a noble birth,
Builders of a day that lingers,
Heritage of priceless worth.
Land attuned to nature’s pattern,
Life that’s nurtured from the sod,
Hills and plains and woodland places,
Where all men may walk with God.
Acres broad and stately mansions,
Famed for hospitality;
Gallant men and gracious ladies,
Bred in true gentility.
Moonlit nights and balmy sunshine,
Whispering wind and mystic storm;
Trees and flowers of radiant colors,
Lend a magic to its charm.
Land of poets, writers, statesmen,
Dreamers of a valiant race,
Setting forth their visioned standards,
With the centuries keeping pace.
Dear old Southland, we, thy daughters,
Pledge you faith through all our days,
And the daughters of our daughters,
Will forever sing your praise.
—Susie Brooks Overton
The racetrack, the Bristol Motor Speedway—a 0.533 mile oval that hosted an NFL exhibition football game between the Washington Redskins and the Philadelphia Eagles in 1961 and a college football game between Virginia Tech and Tennessee in 2016—is soon to be upfitted for baseball with the diamond placed in the infield for a Saturday, August 2nd game of hardball, It will “lend a magic to its charm.”
It’s the MLB (Major League Baseball) Speedway Classic, the first ever regular season MLB game played in Tennessee.
The Cincinnati Reds will be the home team; the Atlanta Braves the visitors. It’s game three of a three-game set between the two MLB franchises which are currently languishing in the middle of their respective National League divisions. The first two games, set for the Thursday and Friday prior to the Speedway game, are to be played in Cincinnati.
With the designed 330 feet down the 1st base and 3rd base lines to the foul poles and 400 feet from home plate to straight away (pun intended) centerfield, the baseball field, which is not a dream and will be reality, is perfect for its location inside the racing surface.
The racetrack which seats just under 150,000 for NASCAR races (and probably less for baseball) is about the same distance from each team’s hometown, a little less than 300 miles from Atlanta and just over 300 miles from Cincinnati.
On the other hand, maybe the location is perfect for a major league baseball game. You see, the temporary baseball field, by measurement of Google Maps, is 288 miles and just over a four-hour drive from Nashville TN, and 251 miles and just under a four-and-a-half-hour drive from Raleigh NC.
The significance? Both cities would like for Major League Baseball to expand into their metro area. Both cities have active efforts to convince MLB. With a click or two, you can read more about the Raleigh pursuit and the Nashville attempt. An expansion to either of the two states’ capital cites would drive another MLB baseball stake in the Southland.
This game between the Reds and the Braves most likely has little to do with MLB expansion, though there will be a huge Tennessee presence. It’s about MLB reaching out in unique ways as it seeks more fans in places beyond the obvious. It makes a hardball fan—“Dreamers of a valiant race,” says Susie Brooks Overton—dream of when a major league team is local and not a destination many, many miles away.
It’s something to ponder. In the meantime, here’s my latest poem:
It’s baseball not racing
Round and round they’ll go,
Turning left and comparatively slow.
It’s baseball, not racing
The players will be facing
In Bristol, with fans in the know.
—Grandson Jim