A first: Orioles-White Sox game on Wednesday closed to public

USA TODAY Sports

With a scheduling quandary at hand and the potential for more unrest in Baltimore, the Orioles and Major League Baseball announced extreme measures:

Playing the first game in major league history in front of no fans, and moving three more games out of the city.

MLB announced on Tuesday afternoon that the Orioles-White Sox game scheduled for Wednesday will be played at 2 p.m. ET at Camden Yards - but the game is closed to the public.

In addition, a weekend series against the Tampa Bay Rays will be moved to Tropicana Field in St. Peterburg, Fla. - although the Orioles will be designated the home team.

Monday and Tuesday's postponed games will be made up as part of a traditional doubleheader at Camden Yards on May 28.

According to John Thorn, official historian for Major League Baseball, this will be the first game with zero attendance. The previous low was 6, for a Sept. 28, 1882 game between the host Worcester Ruby Legs and Troy Trojans. In 2002, the minor league Charleston Riverdogs barred fans for five innings in an attempt to set a record for lowest attendance.

All six Orioles games this week were thrown into flux after civil unrest related to the death of Freddie Gray, who died in police custody. It was further complicated when Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake imposed a curfew that lasts through the weekend.

The conditions will, in essence, cost the Orioles four home games. Future series against the Rays in Florida will remain there, although the Orioles figure to get a cut of gate receipts from this weekend's series at Tropicana Field.

And Wednesday's game will be unprecedented - the Orioles and White Sox playing in front of merely staff, media and security.

The Orioles may be compensated for moving their games. Major League Baseball and the Orioles will have talks regarding lost revenue after the series, according to MLB spokesman Pat Courtney.

Using a contingency fund, MLB often compensates displaced teams and emergency hosts for expenses and lost revenue. For instance, the Cleveland Indians didn't incur a loss when a foot of snowfall days before their 2007 season-opening series forced a relocation to Milwaukee.





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