How to convert a racetrack into a diamond? Gravel by the ton helps

On Sept. 12, 1954, the largest crowd to witness a regular-season MLB game packed Cleveland Stadium and saw Cleveland sweep the Yankees in a doubleheader. The 84,587 fans in attendance that day set a mark that hasn’t been matched in more than 70 years.

But on Saturday, that record might be broken when a Major League game not only comes to the state of Tennessee for the first time, but also takes place in a NASCAR venue for the first time.

Baseball at a racetrack? Yes, and it will be a spectacle for the ages when the Braves and Reds face off inside Bristol Motor Speedway for the MLB Speedway Classic.

It took a monumental effort to prepare the speedway for an MLB game, but as the fans set to walk into the venue on Saturday will see, the result is as spectacular as some of the thrilling races that have taken place there in the past.

Called “The Last Great Colosseum,” Bristol Motor Speedway is decked out and ready for the arrival of America’s pastime thanks to a lot of hard work and creativity.

“There aren’t many venues that can fit an MLB game in the United States,” said Jeremiah Yolkut, senior vice president for global events at MLB. “The building is made for racing -- it’s not made for baseball.”

And that’s why when it came to creating a playing surface inside the enormous stadium, everything had to be done from scratch.

“Bristol Motor Speedway is a professional NASCAR facility,” said Hikari Shumsky, MLB’s senior coordinator for global event operations. “Anything in the baseball configuration there doesn’t exist unless we build it.

“If we don’t build dugouts, they don’t exist. If we don’t build bullpens, they don’t exist. Clubhouses, all of that.”

Several tons of gravel were brought in to “create a level playing field,” if you will. An entire building that sat where the outfield would eventually be located had to be removed. Even an entire Fan Zone, complete with a Ferris wheel and concert stage, was built for folks to enjoy prior to the game -- kind of an “ultimate tailgating experience.”

Many who have worked to make the MLB Speedway Classic a reality that is now upon us have referred to the project as “creating a canvas.”

The canvas is in place, and the artists will be the ballplayers on the field who will paint unforgettable memories during one of the most singular events in baseball history.

It took a grand vision and precision in execution of the plan. But it all stems from MLB’s continued efforts to take baseball into new and unique settings.

“We are not a league that just copies the event from last year,” Yolkut said. “We’ve had the ability to bring the game internationally, like in London, Japan and Korea. And here domestically, from the Field of Dreams to Rickwood Field.

“But [this venue] allowed us to program something at a scale that is greater than anything we’ve ever done before.”