As you know, due to the Baltimore riots, the Chicago White Sox – Baltimore Orioles game was closed to the public today. The end result was a grouping of fans outside of Camden Yards along with nobody outside of press and a few scouts inside the gates.
Obviously, it broke the Major League Baseball record for the lowest attendance in history, though technically you really wonder if it should go down in the books that way considering it was a closed event. There were plenty of baseball fans willing to attend considering the masses outside the stadium.
Alas, inside it was dead silent and it looked like something out of an apocalypse, assuming there were still baseball players alive and the stadium wasn’t completely overgrown.
Either way, it was really weird:
If ever a baseball game was emblematic of the Obama Era, it’s this one. Unsafe even for fans. #Baltimore #Orioles pic.twitter.com/VJn4pCSpoD
— Dr. Milton Wolf (@miltonwolfmd) April 29, 2015
Right call? Orioles take the field in riot-torn Baltimore http://t.co/pVQbofRMkD pic.twitter.com/VZVbvruVqU — WTOP (@WTOP) April 29, 2015
The Orioles lead the White Sox 8-2 in MLB’s first fan-less game. pic.twitter.com/oL4krEShAf
— DC Maryland Virginia (@DMVFollowers) April 29, 2015
See the Orioles playing in an empty stadium after Baltimore riots http://t.co/tsshZMAJDd pic.twitter.com/Lp64EgPtRO — Josh Raab (@JoshRaabPhoto) April 29, 2015
#Orioles fans pumped. pic.twitter.com/OP7szCGWOL
— Devan Fink (@DevanFink) April 29, 2015
This is what an empty Baltimore Orioles game looks like http://t.co/aG5KmsRabJ pic.twitter.com/Xn8AgXSEnx
— Huffington Post (@HuffingtonPost) April 29, 2015
While the look is really strange, even more odd is the lack of sound. Everything from the game action – like the popping of the glove or the crack of the bat – were enhanced. But the home run hit by Chris Davis? The fancy plays made on the infield? You could only hear the faint sound of applause from outside the stadium.
Just strange, no matter how you slice it.