Playing in an empty stadium is a terrible decision

[O's_first]

I think many people are forgetting the safety of the players which is probably a huge concern for MLB. If they don't allow spectators, then they can close and lock the gates to the stadium. If the gates are open, they would need the national guard surrounding the stadium to be certain the players are safe.

[Davey]

I have room for one more! Who's coming?http://s4.postimg.org/544o3ufnh/Gyro_copter.jpg' alt='Gyro_copter.jpg'> upload img[/img]

[Satyr3206]

The Rays didn't want to. No team will reduce their schedule and their fan's plans if they don't have to. The Rays will gain very little from this weekend's series down there.

I would have just swapped the series, made the Rays the home team this week. Would have been pretty simple.

[Satyr3206]

I have room for one more! Who's coming?http://s4.postimg.org/544o3ufnh/Gyro_copter.jpg' alt='Gyro_copter.jpg'> upload img[/img]

Come get me, I'll go!

[mdbdotcom]

I would have just swapped the series, made the Rays the home team this week. Would have been pretty simple.

Not if you owned a Rays flex ticket plan, or were an usher, or worked in concessions, or managed their travel. That's why they have schedules; so people and businesses can make plans.

[Redskins Rick]

I would have just swapped the series, made the Rays the home team this week. Would have been pretty simple.

Explain that the Rays' season ticket holders will tickets to that series that just got swapped?

What if the roles were reversed?

[Redskins Rick]

Not if you owned a Rays flex ticket plan, or were an usher, or worked in concessions, or managed their travel. That's why they have schedules; so people and businesses can make plans.

Nice post, and you type faster.

[Satyr3206]

Not if you owned a Rays flex ticket plan, or were an usher, or worked in concessions, or managed their travel. That's why they have schedules; so people and businesses can make plans.

The Rays have fans? Based on attendance I thought they had been put in witness protection.

[Odenton O]

I would have just swapped the series, made the Rays the home team this week. Would have been pretty simple.

Then you have fans who have bought tickets for games later in the year, only to have those games moved to Baltimore. And being told they can use their tickets for games this weekend is probably not much of a consolation, since a lot of them may already have plans. It would be a mess for Rays fans. Which, granted, are a small constituency , but I wouldn't want to do that to my fans if I was the Rays.

[mdbdotcom]

The Rays have fans? Based on attendance I thought they had been put in witness protection.

They don't have many compared with other teams, but they are averaging 17,500 this season. Put in perspective, that's considerably more than the O's used to average at Memorial Stadium until Edward Bennett Williams bought the team and threatened to move them to Washington.

[Redskins Rick]

They don't have many compared with other teams, but they are averaging 17,500 this season. Put in perspective, that's considerably more than the O's used to average at Memorial Stadium until Edward Bennett Williams bought the team and threatened to move them to Washington.

Some say EBW was just using DC threat as leverage for a new stadium to replace Memorial Stadium.

[mdbdotcom]

Some say EBW was just using DC threat as leverage for a new stadium to replace Memorial Stadium.

No they don't. He was a DC attorney, one of the most highly respected in the world. He traveled in the highest circles of DC society. He wanted to bring a baseball team back to DC. He challenged Orioles fans to fill the seats. A group of business people called Designated Hitters was founded to sell season ticket plans. It worked. It wasn't until O's fans packed Memorial Stadium that EBW decided that they deserved the team. That is when he went to the state in search of money for a new park.

Why do you make up stuff like this? And you do it all the time. You attribute things to unnamed sources or say, "I remember reading somewhere..." It's not that difficult to be specific. Just look up things before you post on them. You can do it. Give it a try.

[UpstateNYfan]

World class athletes completely shut out the crowd noise to focus on the task at hand. All this hand wringing is insane. The games needed to be played. The two teams are already being screwed in a major way by the DH later this year. This is not that big of a deal. I can't believe people are losing their minds about it. It will still be on TV.

I suggest you are watching "For the Love of the Game" too much. Certainly some, maybe most players have the ability to shut down the crowd noise while pitching, batting or making a play, but between pitches, on the bench they certainly are influenced by crowd noise. If your premise is indeed correct, then I suggest cities should no longer have expensive, huge stadiums and just televise games. Hell, you could just play games at central locations and a team player may never set foot in your home town. Better yet, for the stat freaks just computer generate games with data form players in controlled environs. You think athletes complete control of emotions? Some pitchers throw well in garbage time, closers have to have the ability to focus unlike other relievers. Look at golfers getting the yipps on short putts or crowd noise from other holes. They are human, fans can have an impact on the game (Jeffrey Maier:angryfire:). To me, this is the worse (but maybe the most prudent and easiest) alternative. I think I'd rather have sent the game to Chicago, at least there would be a crowd, and Hawk:rolleyes:.

[DrungoHazewood]

Without fans there is zero reason to play a game. This show continued incompetence by the Orioles. The Nationals say they were not asked about playing games at their stadium. There are numerous minor league stadiums and college stadiums where the game could have been played. They could have donated the proceeds to the people who were impacted by the riots.

This has never happened before as no one has been so short sighted before. NFL games move because of the snow. dodgers games moved due to their riots. They had plenty of notice.

I understand that you believe that incompetence is behind every decision you don't agree with.

[DrungoHazewood]

I suggest you are watching "For the Love of the Game" too much. Certainly some, maybe most players have the ability to shut down the crowd noise while pitching, batting or making a play, but between pitches, on the bench they certainly are influenced by crowd noise. If your premise is indeed correct, then I suggest cities should no longer have expensive, huge stadiums and just televise games. Hell, you could just play games at central locations and a team player may never set foot in your home town. Better yet, for the stat freaks just computer generate games with data form players in controlled environs. You think athletes complete control of emotions? Some pitchers throw well in garbage time, closers have to have the ability to focus unlike other relievers. Look at golfers getting the yipps on short putts or crowd noise from other holes. They are human, fans can have an impact on the game (Jeffrey Maier:angryfire:). To me, this is the worse (but maybe the most prudent and easiest) alternative. I think I'd rather of sent the game to Chicago, at least there would be a crowd, and Hawk:rolleyes:.

Finally some calm, serene logic has been injected into this thread.