MMO Crossfire: Should Baseball Come Back Without Fans?

Sal Manzo selects:

Baseball Without Fans

Like everything else in the world right now, the 2020 MLB season still remains up in the air. The Commissioner’s office, however, does plan to present a “back to play” plan to the MLBPA next week, which would be the first steps in potentially starting a season this year.

Although this is a positive sign, there are many who feel strongly that baseball should not come back until fans are able to go to stadiums once again.

If you’ve been following the KBO (go Dinos) then you’ve seen what a professional game is like without fans. It certainly takes some getting used to, but what is important is that you can WATCH them play on tv. We all want to spend our summer at the ballpark, eating hotdogs, having some adult beverages, and cheering on our beloved Mets – but the way things are going, that may not be a reality for quite some time.

Although we won’t be able to hear the roar of a Citi Field crowd after a Jacob deGrom strikeout or a Pete Alonso homer, we can be just as loud from our couches at home. What will be important is that we HAVE baseball back and are able to watch our favorite teams once again, even if it is only from our televisions.

Think about all hurdles that the MLB would have to overcome just to get their players safely back on the field before summers end, are we as fans really going to complain about not being able to attend games? Even in empty stadiums, a baseball season could be something that helps our country (and especially New York) begin to heal and inject some *sort* of normalcy back into our lives that we so desperately need.

To take it even further, if the players are willing to go out and be a source of entertainment and inspiration for us in these dark times, then we need to show our support to them by staying away and cheering as loud as we can from our homes. This is far from a perfect scenario, but the world we’re currently living in is far from perfect itself.

If we’re able to turn on the tv at some point this summer and listen to Gary, Keith, and Ron calling Mets’ games once again, we should be grateful to have the sport we love so much back in our lives, not dwell on what we can’t do. And once we can do more than just watch from our couches, we will appreciate the roars of a stadium and everything that makes going to a ballgame so special – more than we ever have before.

Lindsay Moran selects:

No Baseball Without Fans

I miss baseball. There’s nothing I would love more than seeing a great ballgame after Jerry Koosman’s number retirement ceremony with my dad in June, a moment we had been looking forward to since the Mets announced it in March.

Although I miss baseball and want life to be back to normal as soon as possible with a Hofmann’s hot dog in hand, in my usual spot behind home plate at NBT Bank Stadium, I realize it might not be all it’s cracked up to be without fans just yet, and that “back to normal” is going to look a lot different with fans or without.

Baseball is no stranger to having a game without fans. In 2015, the White Sox and Orioles played MLB’s first crowdless game in the midst of protests in the city of Baltimore following Freddie Gray’s mysterious death in police custody. Due to a lack of security surrounding the ballpark, and the Orioles having postponed their two games prior, the show went on to an empty stadium at Camden Yards.

I mention this story because then-Chicago White Sox outfielder Adam Eaton said something notable in an interview with the Baltimore Sun that may ring true here.

“You’re in the outfield thinking, ‘Should we really be playing baseball right now? Is that really the greater thing we should be doing?’ And I definitely think a lot of guys questioned that at the time … To be honest with you, when I first went into it I didn’t think it would be a big deal. There was almost this half-asleep feel because there was no energy. There were no people there. … There was no music. … It was almost like worse than a back-field spring training game.”

While the circumstances were obviously different, this speaks a lot to how the fan experience impacts any player’s ability to do what he does best. While I’m sure MLB would do all they can to make this as entertaining an experience as possible, there’s no doubt that players feed off fan energy. Missing that, and thinking about what’s happening outside stadium walls may be enough to rock players to their core, but they may not feel that until they get on the field.

From every heckle to every high-five, it’s everything to them. I’m not sure if being without that would feel right. Logistically speaking, it will likely impact players’ performances. The numbers probably won’t mean much at this point, with many fans just desperate for baseball at any capacity, but it would certainly change the excitement of it all. All that aside, as much as we want baseball, what are the parts we want so badly, and would it even be everything we hope for without the fans?

Baseball is such a social experience in itself, whether you’re at home, at the ballpark, or at the bar. Such a big part of our love for baseball is soaking in the ballpark atmosphere, cheering with our friends, defending our team to the death to non-Mets fan friends, watching fan reactions on TV, or seeing wholesome fan and player interactions. With social distancing regulations likely still in place if baseball ramps up with no fans at the park, I know it would kill me to not be sitting with my friends watching the game, whether that’s in real life, at the bar, or all gathering at someone’s house.

This idea that we have of returning to normalcy will come in phases, of course, but I don’t think the things we love so much about baseball would be there for us if it comes back fan-less.