White Sox game with Orioles postponed again, will play Wednesday afternoon
It's been an unusual stretch for the White Sox.
On Thursday, they brawled with the Royals at U.S. Cellular Field.
Friday night's game against Kansas City was suspended after eight innings because of rain.
Saturday's game against the Royals was rained out.
Play resumed Sunday at the Cell, and the Sox beat K.C. 3-2 in the suspended game and 5-3 in the regularly scheduled matchup.
Moving on to Baltimore for a three-game series at Camden Yards, Monday night's Sox-Orioles game was postponed because of safety concerns over riots and violence in the city sparked by the controversial death of Freddie Gray.
With a weeklong 10 p.m. curfew imposed in Baltimore beginning Tuesday, there was speculation the Sox and Orioles would play a day game at Camden Yards.
Late Tuesday morning, the game was again postponed.
And - in the most unusual development of all - the White Sox learned they'll play the Orioles Wednesday at 1:05 p.m. CDT, in an empty stadium.
Because of security issues, the game will be closed to the public and it will mark the first time in major-league history a game is played with no fans in the seats.
"We certainly support the decision of Major League Baseball and the Orioles, and we'll be here ready to go," Sox general manager Rick Hahn told reporters in Baltimore. "A lot of these guys have played instructional games and spring training B games, so it's going to be a similar environment to what they've seen before. Just go out there and try to win a ballgame."
Just playing a game has been the White Sox' toughest challenge in recent days.
Weather is the main culprit for causing unexpected breaks in the baseball schedule, so the violence in the streets of Baltimore has been a new adjustment for the Sox and their traveling party.
Chris Rongey is filling in for Ed Farmer on the White Sox' radio broadcast, and he said everything was relatively normal Monday.
"I was actually walking around downtown Monday before I came over to the park," said Rogney, who pens a weekly column for the Daily Herald during baseball season. "People were going about their day normally and I didn't even realize anything was happening anywhere else. I got to the ballpark and guys were watching the TVs in the clubhouse and it was all riot stuff.
"That's the first time I thought that maybe the game was in jeopardy. But the Orioles took batting practice, the White Sox took B.P. and I thought we were going to play. But 10 minutes before the pregame show, one of the Orioles' announcers came in and said, 'I heard they're going to bag this game tonight.' I was just completely surprised and 30 minutes later they made the announcement."
The Orioles were supposed to announce the status of Tuesday's game early in the morning, and moving the final two games of the series to nearby Nationals Park in Washington appeared to be the obvious option.
Instead, the game was postponed again - and then came the bizarre announcement that Wednesday's game will be played at empty Camden Yards.
The postponed games will be played May 28, in a doubleheader at Camden Yards.
"I would say the best word to describe the last couple of days is uncertainty," Rongey said. "That's pretty much all it's been since (Monday). Everything that's happened in the last 48 hours, I have not seen any of it coming. To play (Wednesday) and play early and have nobody in the ballpark, I never thought that was an option. I never even considered that."