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It's one thing to postpone a game because of weather or other disturbances such as civil unrest. But it's quite different to instead hold a private yet official game with no fans in the stadium. But that is just what MLB has decided to do with the Baltimore Orioles and their visiting Chicago White Sox.

With all the civil unrest in Baltimore right now, the first two games between Baltimore and Chicago White Sox has been cancelled with be played as a double-header in the future. And a home series against the Tampa Bay Rays will be played in Tampa Bay instead. But it looks like they don't want to postpone anymore games so on Wednesday, the Orioles will indeed host a game against the White Sox but the caveat is that the stadium will be closed to fans so the attendance will be 0. That's definitely be first in professional baseball and likely in all major sporting events in North America.

That will be so awkward, especially to the players. They would feel as if though they were simply doing practice.

I've heard of this being done in other sports, most notably soccer, for safety and security reasons. It's too bad in this case but I agree with being cautious. I've been to an Orioles game at Camden Yards and toured the downtown and Inner Harbor area of Baltimore and have always felt safe. I hope things get back to normal soon.

B.C.FAN wrote:I've been to an Orioles game at Camden Yards and toured the downtown and Inner Harbor area of Baltimore and have always felt safe. I hope things get back to normal soon.

I lived and worked in Baltimore for six years and attended a Orioles game at Camden Yards and a Ravens game at M&T Bank Stadium. The inner harbor area is nice with good places to have Maryland crab, but right outside of that area it's a rather dangerous place. And ironically just outside of the city limits, there are two suburbs called Ellicott City and Columbia that's often rated as the top 10 American cities to live in various surveys.

It looks like home fan support is not necessary at all for the Orioles as they jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead in the first inning.

Final score:

Chicago White Sox - 2-4-1
Baltimore Orioles - 8-11-1

Despite no fans at Camden Yards, all the formalities such as the national anthem sung and a PA announcer was around. Not sure if other customs in a ball game such as the seventh-inning stretch and the replay screen entertainment was performed as well. And usually a high scoring game with 10 runs will take around three hours, this game finished in only 2 hours and 3 minutes. And this is one way to set a Guinness World Record as the lowest attendance of a MLB game: 0.

Robbie wrote:Final score:

Chicago White Sox - 2-4-1
Baltimore Orioles - 8-11-1

Despite no fans at Camden Yards, all the formalities such as the national anthem sung and a PA announcer was around. Not sure if other customs in a ball game such as the seventh-inning stretch and the replay screen entertainment was performed as well. And usually a high scoring game with 10 runs will take around three hours, this game finished in only 2 hours and 3 minutes. And this is one way to set a Guinness World Record as the lowest attendance of a MLB game: 0.

I heard they planned to have the 7th inning stretch as well.

It is odd what they did here as in soccer they ban fans to punish them and the teams.

In this case possibly fearing a large mob outside the stadium post game with a few beer or more in them might well not be the wisest move.

Toppy Vann wrote:

Robbie wrote:Final score:

Chicago White Sox - 2-4-1
Baltimore Orioles - 8-11-1

Despite no fans at Camden Yards, all the formalities such as the national anthem sung and a PA announcer was around. Not sure if other customs in a ball game such as the seventh-inning stretch and the replay screen entertainment was performed as well. And usually a high scoring game with 10 runs will take around three hours, this game finished in only 2 hours and 3 minutes. And this is one way to set a Guinness World Record as the lowest attendance of a MLB game: 0.

I heard they planned to have the 7th inning stretch as well.

In the end, the video board still showed every batter at the plate with his stats, the PA announcer still announced each batter going at bat, and the played Take Me Out to the Ballgame in the seventh inning stretch.

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Even though Canada and the USA are neighbours and there are many societal and cultural similarities and overlap between the two countries with only subtle differences.....it looks like one huge and noticeable difference is when it comes to racial tension and violence. America has numerous civil unrest and violence, most recently the Baltimore riots over the death of Freddie Gray this week, last year there was the Ferguson unrest after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer, and the year before it was the acquittal of George Zimmerman over the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. There was also the Oakland riots in 2009 and I'm sure you all remember the 1992 LA Riots. In each case, the National Guard had to come in to restore order.

In Canada, there doesn't appear to be any civil disorders that's even close to what America has experienced. The only incident in recent history I recall in which Canada had to bring its military to resolve a domestic civil disturbance as the 1990 Oka crisis, and in that case it was Mohawks trying to claim their land and not because of original violence with the authorities. After Polish-Canadian Robert Dziekański died at the hands of the RCMP, the sizable Polish-Canadian community certainly did not incite a huge race riot over that incident.

It's true Canadian violence tends to be a lot less related to racial lines and more connected with sports and politics. I'm not sure which one is worse but in truth I can't really think of anything less important to have a riot over than a sporting event. In that regard the judgement of history regarding Vancouver will be far harsher than that of Baltimore. At least in that case, there is some legitimate issues to be angry about (note that statement doesn't equate with condoning a riot). Here we just get stupid over a sports event and the stain of those events in 2011 and in 1994 will always be with us. It makes me ashamed to even think about it. You would hope that once would have taught us lesson. Twice to me says something about our culture as a whole.

Sir Purrcival wrote:It's true Canadian violence tends to be a lot less related to racial lines and more connected with sports and politics. I'm not sure which one is worse but in truth I can't really think of anything less important to have a riot over than a sporting event. In that regard the judgement of history regarding Vancouver will be far harsher than that of Baltimore. At least in that case, there is some legitimate issues to be angry about (note that statement doesn't equate with condoning a riot). Here we just get stupid over a sports event and the stain of those events in 2011 and in 1994 will always be with us. It makes me ashamed to even think about it. You would hope that once would have taught us lesson. Twice to me says something about our culture as a whole.

Most of the perps from 2011 were too young to recall 1994. As the Clash put it, and at the risk of oversimplifying, they wanted a white riot, a riot of their own.

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