Baltimore Orioles - Chicago White Sox Game "Closed to the Public&#

[BeBop]

I don't know/care anything about sports. but I find this fascinating. (From CNN)

Wednesday afternoon's game between the Orioles and Chicago White Sox in Baltimore will be closed to the public, the Orioles have announced. The unprecedented action follows the postponements of Monday's and Tuesday's games against the White Sox until May 28 amid unrest in Baltimore.

Major League Baseball believes this is the first time that a game has been closed to the public, a league source says.

Edited April 28, 2015 by BeBop

[Stefan Wood]

Related to that, the NFL Baltimore Ravens cancelled their draft tailgate party because it would go past the city's imposed curfew time. A good decision.

Edited April 28, 2015 by Stefan Wood

[bluesoul]

[Chuck Nessa]

Cubs win. -)

[Van Basten II]

It's quite common in football (soccer) when fans have been naughty or teams are sanctionned to play in a empty arena, there was a Russian team that had to play a Champions League game behind closed door because of racists chants in a previous game this year, it makes for an eerie atmosphere must say.

[Soulstation1]

Momzzz ain't playing around

Mother Of The Year

Edited April 29, 2015 by Soulstation1

[Jazzmoose]

Can't claim the line for myself; I saw it elsewhere: it'll be like a home game for the Sox...

[ejp626]

I think this is a bit of a hysterical over-reaction, but what I do wonder about is whether MLB is legally obligated to make up the difference in ticket sales and the concession take. I would be royally pissed (oh, sorry wrong city) if I was in a league and I was ordered to play a game at which I had to forgo so much revenue. For that matter, what if the networks decide it is too creepy to show a game with no audience and no stadium noise at all, and black it out?

[bluesoul]

I think this is a bit of a hysterical over-reaction, but what I do wonder about is whether MLB is legally obligated to make up the difference in ticket sales and the concession take. I would be royally pissed (oh, sorry wrong city) if I was in a league and I was ordered to play a game at which I had to forgo so much revenue. For that matter, what if the networks decide it is too creepy to show a game with no audience and no stadium noise at all, and black it out?

Today's game will be available on MLB.TV and will be televised locally by the teams' respective regional sports networks.

All fans with tickets to any of the games scheduled to be played Wednesday through Sunday may exchange their tickets for any remaining home game this season on a "dollar-for-dollar" basis.

I think they would have been better served moving it, but maybe the logistics were too difficult or something.

Edited April 29, 2015 by bluesoul

[Neal Pomea]

Baltimore city schools are open today. They could have opened this game to the public.

[Dan Gould]

Maybe the can still do that.

[Scott Dolan]

I think this is a bit of a hysterical over-reaction, but what I do wonder about is whether MLB is legally obligated to make up the difference in ticket sales and the concession take. I would be royally pissed (oh, sorry wrong city) if I was in a league and I was ordered to play a game at which I had to forgo so much revenue. For that matter, what if the networks decide it is too creepy to show a game with no audience and no stadium noise at all, and black it out?

The players are under contract. They get paid whether there are 0 fans in the seats, or 30,000. So I can see no reason for them to care at all. The owners will lose a pittance, but stadium employees will be the ones to lose the most.

As for it being an overreaction, that's possible. But I think MLB looked at how the city of Baltimore botched its initial response to the problem and thought better of having tens of thousands of baseball fans descend into an area that could potentially be dangerous. At the time the decision was made, nobody seemed to know how long this unrest could go, or how bad it could potentially get. And if you had National Guard and police fighting protesters in the streets, the last thing you needed to add to the mix is 20,000-30,000 more people for them to protect.

Being a Royals fan, there is certainly no love lost for MLB right now, but I can't see anything wrong with their decision.

Edited April 29, 2015 by Scott Dolan

[BeBop]

Two meaningless thoughts:

Back when I was trying to make a living in sports, I went from very small crowds (family and friends) to bigger ones. But there were always fans of some sort. Otherwise, it felt like practice.

I grew up in Oakland. I can remember riots in the streets when the Raiders won or lost. I can't recall the Silver and Black Nation bringing riots to the games. Perhaps just a timing thing, with just 8 or so home games a year. Or my bad memory.

Either way, glad to hear Baltimore was relaively peaceful overnight and that CNN's screaming headline today "Beyond Chaos" - 100 choppers, 7,000 people, and 24 hours to get out: The largest helicopter airlift in history... referred to Saigon, 40 years ago. (I hate CNN.)

I'm dangerously close to straying into politics. Enough from me.

[Scott Dolan]

Only the result of this practice goes in the W/L columns of each team. The Orioles should be a playoff contender, and many think the White Sox have improved enough to make a respectable run at the post season.

Whether it feels like practice, or not, both teams will approach this game just as seriously as any other.

[ejp626]

I still think it was an over-reaction, esp. as it was a day game (and they moved it up even earlier), but it is a moot point. Game over. Baltimore won it 8-2.

Some of the other cancelled games will be made up in May.

[BeBop]

I still think it was an over-reaction, esp. as it was a day game (and they moved it up even earlier), but it is a moot point. Game over. Baltimore won it 8-2.

How do we know if no one was there to watch/verify? (Only kidding. Like the tree that fell in the empty forest.)