It was supposed to be a typical day of work in Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League, but Justin Nicolino couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being watched. A pitcher for the Rakuten Monkeys, Nicolino was playing catch in what was supposed to be an empty stadium when the unsettling paranoia struck.

“I see someone out of my peripheral and I’m like, ‘Why is this person staring at me?’” Nicolino said. “I completely forgot there were cardboard people in the stands.”

This is what passes for normal these days in the CPBL, one of the few professional sports leagues in the world currently operating. While Major League Baseball tries to formulate a plan to stage a 2020 season amid the coronavirus pandemic in North America, real-life baseball is currently being played in Taiwan.

There are no spectators, save for cheerleaders and the fake fans in the seats. But it’s baseball nonetheless. And for the players adjusting to their strange new reality, it’s proof that sports behind closed doors is better than no sports at all.

“I definitely think it’s worth it, just to give people something to watch, something to look forward to right now,” said Donn Roach, a pitcher for the Uni-President Lions. “There’s nothing better than giving people hope, which I think baseball would do.”