The situation in Baltimore is fairly bleak at the moment. Widespread rioting and clashes with police have consumed the city in the hours and days following the funeral for Freddie Gray – a 25 year-old black man who died of mysterious and severe spinal injuries after being apprehended by police officers for allegedly carrying a switchblade.
Just about all aspects of the city’s usual operations have been affected by the riots, including professional sports. The scheduled home game for the Baltimore Orioles – the city’s Major League Baseball side – and the Chicago White Sox, was postponed in the wake of the violence.
But rather than cancelling it altogether, or even moving it out of Baltimore to nearby Washington DC as had been floated at one point, both teams and the league – in consultation with the city and law enforcement – took the extraordinary step of holding the match at the Orioles Camden Yards home, but with the gates locked and the stands completely empty.
The extraordinary scenes today represented the first time an MLB game had been contested with an official fan attendance of zero. Diehard Orioles fans gathered around the locked gates, desperate to get even a partial view of the game. Whilst neighbouring high-rise hotels sprung pro-Orioles banners from balconies overlooking the field.
The game was broadcast as usual, beaming the game and it’s drastically subdued noise across the globe. But given the unique nature of the game, some never-before-seen challenges presented themselves. The stadium was so quiet, that Baltimore-area commentators could hear their Chicago counterparts voices in the next booth, and vice versa, setting up a little playful back-and-forth banter at times.
As for the players, they made the best out of the one-of-a-kind situation, first by tossing balls into the empty stands at the change of innings.
And then by going a step further and signing autographs for invisible fans.
The Orioles‘ six run first inning set up what turned out to be a comfortable run out victory, eventually toppling the White Sox 8 to 2. The O’s sit fourth in the tight American League East, a mere two games behind from the current first place New York Yankees. The White Sox remain five games adrift of Detroit in the AL Central division.
Photo: Greg Fiume via Getty Images.
via Yahoo Sports.
