161.9km fastball good pitching swept by water bomb, delayed one day for the first time in ML history

Aug 03, 2025

161.9km fastball good pitching swept by water bomb, delayed one day for the first time in ML history
Cincinnati Reds Chase Burns starts against the Atlanta Braves at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee, on the 3rd (Korea time) and pitches in the top of the 1st inning. AP Yonhap News



161.9km fastball good pitching swept by water bomb, delayed one day for the first time in ML history
Bristol Motor Speedway. AFP Yonhap News
161.9km fastball good pitching swept by water bomb, delayed one day for the first time in ML history
Fans who want to enter the MLB Speedway Classic between Atlanta and Cincinnati are hitting long lines around the stadium. AFP Yonhap News
The game, which actually set the record for the largest audience in Major League history, was postponed due to rain.

The Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds' special game at the Bristol Motor Speedway' in Bristol, Tennessee, USA on the 3rd (Korea time) will resume at 2 a.m. on the 4th after it was declared suspended due to rain.

Named 'MLB Speedway Classic 2025', it is recorded as the first major league game in history to be played at an auto racing stadium. Major League Baseball (MLB) and NASCAR (National Automobile Racing Association) jointly planned it about a year ago.




The Bristol Motor Speedway is the largest car racing track in the United States that opened in 1961, officially hosting 146,000 people. In 2016, 156,990 people entered the Bristol University Football Match.

In order to host the Atlanta-Cincinnati match, organizers installed internal and external fences inside the track to create a baseball field with a fence distance of 330 feet from the left and right, 375 feet from the left and right, and 400 feet from the center.

An MLB official announced that `more than 85,000 tickets were sold, effectively breaking the record for the largest attendance in a major league game ever.' It exceeded 84,587 people who were concentrated in the game between the Cleveland Indians and the New York Yankees at Cleveland Stadium on September 13, 1954.




161.9km fastball good pitching swept by water bomb, delayed one day for the first time in ML history
NASCAR series superstars Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch take to the ground in the rain to pitch. ImagesYonhap News
The first pitch event was also special. Johnny Bench and Chipper Jones, who were inducted into the Hall of Fame as legends of both teams, and NASCAR superstars Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott threw the first pitch.

However, immediately after the first pitch, it rained hard, and the playground was covered with a tarpaulin. And I had to wait for 2:17. The Atlanta starter was originally Spencer Strider, but when he waited more than two hours, he replaced him with Austin Cox. Players from both teams struggled in a game that barely started in the heavy rain. Cincinnati leadoff TJ Friedl's bat, which slipped and missed while swinging, flew toward the stands at first base.

Atlanta finished the attack with three outs in the top of the first inning, and Cincinnati scored the first run in the bottom of the first inning. After one out, Austin Hayes hit a left-handed hit in a one-out, first-and-two chance made by consecutive infield hits by Matt McClain and Ellie Delacruz.




But I couldn't play the game. The suspension of the game was declared ahead of Miguel Andujar's at-bat. On the 4th, Cincinnati's game will resume at first and second bases with one out in the bottom of the first inning.

Cincinnati starter Chase Burns showed off his powerful pitching by striking out two against three batters in one inning. His fastball speed reached a maximum of 100.6 miles (161.9 kilometers). Even if Burns continues to play on the 4th, it will be difficult to take the mound as it is.





This article was translated by Naver AI translator.