Editor’s Note: The following article — originally published in May 2015 during the unrest in Baltimore — brings a unique perspective to playing baseball in an empty stadium. With Major League Baseball and other major sports leagues now facing a similar situation due to the public health crisis, we take a look back at the thoughts of Beacon’s own Paul Zwaska…
If a home run ball leaves an empty ballpark, does it make a noise?
As I was watching the White Sox – Orioles game being played at an empty Oriole Park at Camden Yards, I kept thinking, how weird must that be? As a former Head Groundskeeper for the Orioles, I would have loved to work this game just to hear the purest sounds of the game of baseball. How odd for the players not to hear the roar of the crowd. The only thing that would make this game a more neutral game would be to play it in a neutral city. Only the players, the press, less than a handful of scouts and the ground crew witnessed this historic event in person. No home field advantage from a crowd. Baseball historians say this has never happened before in the storied history of Major League Baseball.