Fansided

Adam Eaton makes a joke about no fans at game

By CM Towle

Jun 3, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Chicago White Sox center fielder Adam Eaton (1) is greeted in the dugout after a home run in the third inning of the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 3, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Chicago White Sox center fielder Adam Eaton (1) is greeted in the dugout after a home run in the third inning of the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports /
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Chicago White Sox outfielder makes an ill-received joke about the lack of a crowd at Camden Yards on Wednesday.

Wednesday’s game between the White Sox and Orioles at Camden Yards in Baltimore will be played in front of an empty stadium, due to safety concerns from the riots going on in the city. This, after Monday and Tuesday’s games were canceled for the same reason.

It’s a serious situation and not particularly funny for anyone involved.

However, White Sox outfielder Adam Eaton felt the need to make a joke on Twitter.

Because there is no crowd, get it? Unsurprisingly, Eaton got some serious flack for the tweet and it wasn’t long before he apologized.

While you might be able to understand where Eaton’s coming from in terms of lightening the mood, a joke like that is too soon and touches on a pretty sore spot for the city of Baltimore and Orioles fans. Besides the obvious tension simmering in the city, it’s disappointing and sad to watch your team play in front of an empty stadium. No doubt plenty of O’s fans would like to be there in Camden, even just to take their mind off the violence.

So, not a good look for Eaton, but at least he apologized afterwards. Everyone makes a joke in poor taste once in a while.

Meanwhile, the O’s and White Sox prepare to begin their early day game to an audience of media, scouts and birds. The game will air on MASN, the O’s local TV network and presumably on MLBTV for those watching outside of the blackout area.

White Sox players sounded ambivalent about the playing conditions, according to a story by the Chicago Sun Times. Manager Robin Ventura compared it to playing spring training back fields and said that in the end, they’re still playing baseball, just not in front of a crowd.

Sounds are a big part of baseball however, especially crowd sounds. It will necessitate softer conversations between pitchers and catchers and probably more controlled mutterings from batters unhappy with umpires.

According to an MLB spokesman via ESPN, they are not aware of any other time that a game was played in front of an empty stadium by design. The league also said that they had no comment on if the Orioles would get compensated for lost attendance and how. The O’s will be headed to Tampa for the weekend to play the Rays. That series was originally supposed to be in Baltimore, but will now be held in Tampa with the Orioles acting like the home team.

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