BALTIMORE — “Does anyone know if the mascot works today?” Orioles manager Buck Showalter asked a room full of reporters in a pre-game press conference unlike any other ever held in the history of Major League Baseball.
For when Showalter’s Orioles take on the Chicago White Sox at 2:05 p.m. ET at Camden Yards, they’ll do something no two teams have ever done: play in front of precisely zero fans.
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The ambiance at one of the most picturesque ballparks in baseball was decidedly bizarre — approximately 45,000 seats remained empty around noon as the White Sox took batting practice and Rare Earth’s “I Just Want To Celebrate” blasted over the stadium’s public address system.