2020-03-26 The Hollywood Reporter

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 80 MARCH 26, 2020

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Memorable moments

from a storied history

91 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 spinal

injury 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 only

the 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 have

that 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 HIGGINS

In ’15, Major League Baseball Staged a Crowdless Game

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