SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (WAND) - As sports leagues across the U.S start pondering barring fans from ballparks and stadiums because of the COVID-19 outbreak, athletes aren't very enthusiastic about the idea.
"It's not very fun," said San Francisco Giants pitcher Jeff Samardzija.
Samardzija has pitched in an empty stadium before. As a member of the White Sox in 2015 he pitched in a game played without fans in Baltimore because of civil unrest in the city.
The global virus has raised questions about cramming tens of thousands of fans into stadiums that don't need them there.
Sports leagues in Europe, Asia and the Middle East have already lead the charge, and the NBA sent a memo to its franchises Friday warning them to prepare for the possibility that they may have to host games without fans.
The MLB and NHL have yet to issue similar memo's to respective franchises.
With the situation evolving quickly, athletes in the U.S. are becoming aware — and concerned — about the possibility of playing behind closed doors.
“Boring. Boring,” Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson said. “We get the energy from our fans. It would suck, man.”
Of course, it’s happened before. White Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon watched most of the locked-down 2015 game in Baltimore from the bullpen, and he remembered it being so quiet, he could hear every word said by Orioles center fielder Adam Jones.
“There was like only scouts and us, so you could just hear people talking in the dugout,” Rodon said. “It was just odd because it almost echoed because there was no one in there.”
That was believed to be the first big league game played without fans, and it was a one-off — a scheduling necessity to get the game in after rioting in Baltimore prompted by the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who died in police custody.
“A completely different situation,” Samardzija said.
