BALTIMORE -- They didn’t know what to expect from the first closed stadium game in baseball history, but if they have their choice the White Sox won’t do it again.
Whether it was 45,900-plus empty seats, a lack of atmosphere, a stadium so quiet you could hear everything or even the glare off the seats, the White Sox didn’t enjoy their surroundings during an 8-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday afternoon at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
Here’s a collection of what five White Sox players and coaches thought of the scene:
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— Second baseman Micah Johnson: “Can’t even compare it to anything, but it was definitely weird. You guys were there. It’s quiet, there’s nothing going on. You hear everything. Obviously it was better for the Orioles than us today. The atmosphere, it’s not how baseball is supposed to be played.
“There’s no comparison. Absolutely zero. It’s like, weird out there. Especially on defense you get the glare from the empty seats. The signs. You don’t ever have to deal with that. Hopefully that never happens again.”
— Relief pitcher Scott Carroll: “You never really know what to expect in a situation like that. But as the game went on I came more to the realization that it’s not going to change obviously and you just have to make do and separate yourself from the fact that nobody’s there. To me it wasn’t much different from throwing in spring training on a backfield.”
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— Manager Robin Ventura: “You couldn’t really hear anything. There wasn’t much going on. It was just a surreal environment. I don’t think we really want to play another one like this. I don’t think anybody does. I don’t think they do either.”
— Starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija: “This was a weird day. I’m not going to put too much into how we played today. It was an awkward situation where we sat around for a few days so we have to get back into a little rhythm and play some games in a row and keep going, keep working.”
— First baseman Jose Abreu: “It was kind of weird. But you can’t blame that on the crowd. We just played a bad game today and that’s it. It’s not any one’s fault, it’s our fault playing the way we did today.”