THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 80 MARCH 26, 2020
The Hollywood Reporter, Vol. CDXXVI, No. 10 (ISSN 0018-3660; USPS 247-580) is published weekly; 39 issues — two issues in March, July and October; three issues in February, April, September and December; four issues in May, June, August and November; and five issues in January — with 27 special issues:
seven issues in January; six issues in June; one issue in July; five issues in August; four issues in November and four issues in December; by MRC Media, LLC, 5700 Wilshire Blvd., 5th floor, Los Angeles CA 90036. Subscription rates: Weekly print only, $199; weekly print and online, including daily edition PDF, $249;
online only, $199; digital replica of weekly print, $199. Single copies, $7.99. Periodical postage paid at Los Angeles, CA, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send all UAA to CFS. Non-postal and military facilities, send address changes to The Hollywood Reporter, P.O. Box 125, Congers, NY 10920-0125.
Under Canadian Publication Mail Agreement No. 41450540, return undeliverable Canadian addresses to MSI, PO BOX 2600, Mississauga, ON L4T OA8. Direct all other correspondence to The Hollywood Reporter, 5700 Wilshire Blvd., 5th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90036. MRC Media, LLC:
Vice President, Human Resources: Alexis Capra. Advertising/Editorial Reprints: Reprints of editorial or ads can be used as effective marketing tools. For details, please contact Wright’s Media: (877) 652-5295, or email [email protected]. Permission: Looking for a one-time use of our content,
as a full article, excerpt or chart? Please contact Wright’s Media, (877) 652-5295, or email [email protected]. Subscription inquiries: U.S., call toll-free (866) 525-2150. Outside the U.S., call (845) 267-4192, or email [email protected]. Copyright ©2020 MRC Media, LLC. All rights
reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise — without the prior written permission of the publisher. THR.com PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.
JONATHAN
NE
WT
ON
/THE^ WASHINGTONPO
ST^
VIAGE
TTYIMAGESMemorable moments
from a storied history91 Years of THR
Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis launched a three-run home run against the Chicago White Sox in an empty stadium on April 29, 2015. Right: THR.com covered the team’s decision.Five years ago, the 133-year-old
record for fewest paying fans at
a Major League Baseball game
was broken. It had been set
in 1882, when only six people
watched the Worcester Ruby
Legs of Massachusetts host the
Troy Trojans of Alabama. But the
record went to zero — as would
have happened with current
sporting events had the NBA,
NHL and MLB not postponed
games because of coronavirus
— when the Baltimore Orioles
played the Chicago White Sox on
the afternoon of April 29, 2015.
The fan-free day was brought
on by civil unrest in Baltimore
after the death of 25-year-old
African American Freddie
Gray, who had received a spinalinjury while in police custody.
The Hollywood Reporter said the
Orioles’ decision was made “in
light of the city’s rioting.” Gary
Thorne, the Orioles’ play-by-
play television announcer, says:
“The situation in Baltimore
was tense. There was a fear that
playing the game might create a
place in the downtown area for
more turmoil both inside and
outside the stadium.” Similar
situations had unfolded before.
For example, the Los Angeles
Dodgers postponed four games
during the 1992 riots after the
Rodney King verdict. But this
was the first time a game went
forward in an empty stadium.
Oriole Park at Camden Yards,
which has 45,971 seats, held onlythe players, three scouts sitting
behind home plate and 92 report-
ers in the press box. One Orioles
employee retrieved foul balls
from the grandstands. “Ladies
and gentlemen” were asked to
stand for the national anthem.
When the announcer made the
traditional report of paid atten-
dance, he said, “Zero.” During
the seventh-inning stretch,
no one sang along with John
Denver’s “Thank God I’m a
Country Boy” (which plays in
the stadium after “Take Me Out
to the Ballgame”). The word
“eerie” was used frequently to
describe the scene. “You real-
ize how much the crowd adds
to the ballgame,” says Thorne.
“How important it is to havethat ebb and flow of excitement.”
Before the game began, Orioles
first baseman Chris Davis said,
“This isn’t the way you want to
make history.” In nine innings,
the Orioles won 8 to 2. — BILL HIGGINSIn ’15, Major League Baseball Staged a Crowdless Game
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
10endpg_baseball_L [P]{Print}_53539179.indd 80 3/18/20 4:12 PM