Watching the Phillies play at Yankees. Surreal.

[trof]

I'm not a baseball fan, but I was curious.
No fans.
Just two teams and umps.
Is this the new 'normal'?

[MontanaMama]

1. I'm going to turn on my Cubs as soon as Joy Reid's

debut is done. The no fans thing is weird...but I have missed baseball so much.

Go Cubs!

[elleng]

2. Yes, new normal.

Yanks will play Nats Thursday, and "Fauci to throw out first pitch at Nats game on Thursday." https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213781460

[trof]

4. Fauci? WHOA!

That is just way cool and...i dunno...'poetic justice' somehow?
Irony?
Je ne sais pas.

[elleng]

6. Oui!

He's a BIG Nats fan; ever noticed Fauci's mask?

[JDC]

3. This is "Spring Training" right?

I'll have to turn it on

[trof]

5. Beats me.

[trof]

7. Just said they were at Yankee stadium.

[JDC]

12. Right, but these are scrimmage games.

Hence "spring" training. The season sprint starts the 24th

[trof]

13. Oh, OK. Thanks.

[elleng]

8. 'The 2020 MLB season is now just around the corner

after it was revealed last week that the league's return-to-play plan has been approved. All 30 teams will begin training at the start of the July and begin playing meaningful games again on July 23.'

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkay/2020/06/29/2020-mlb-season-schedule-start-date-world-series-odds-news-on-baseballs-return/#554543d61704

[EllieBC]

9. New normal implies that's how it will always be.

So I would say no because there’s no way people will stay inside the rest of their lives.

The temporary normal maybe.

[LisaM]

10. I've been watching the EPL (English Premier League) and I'm getting used to it.

I tried watching Korean baseball a couple of months ago. The baseball was fine, but the announcers talked about everything else but the games and the players, and I realized that good announcing was really key to enjoying television sports (no problem with the EPL, their announcers are really, really good). So I lost interest, as I was learning absolutely nothing about the teams or the league.

I have watched two MLB games over the weekend, and it's not as good as it is with fans, but it's a lot better than no sports.

And I'm loving the piped in crowd noise! What a fun job it must be to have that gig. For the EPL games, they pipe in boos when a call goes against the home crowd, and occasionally, you hear fans faintly singing their home songs.

[Nevilledog]

11. Dodgers are selling fan cutouts to fill the seats.

https://dodgerblue.com/fan-cutout-boards-fill-dodger-stadium-proceeds-los-angeles-dodgers-foundation/2020/07/15/

[Tommy_Carcetti]

14. I find the "Ghost fans" rather unnerving.

Pumped in cheering while all you see is empty seats.

Just doesn't feel right.

I love baseball, but I give the season 2-3 weeks before they have to scrap it for health concerns. Should have just waited until 2021.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

15. it will be for a while.

and it's for sure strange. ……….