Baltimore/White Sox game closed to the public

[Otto von Ballpark]

I am not assuming anything is easy.  I'm really not that critical that they were unable to move the White Sox games (although reports suggest they never even contacted the Washington Nationals about using their stadium, due to an ongoing ownership spat).

 

My main beef is canceling the Monday night game so late (40 minutes before game time), after all the stadium workers and some fans were already there.  After Saturday night's fiasco, and with the funeral set for Monday, they should have been able to make that decision earlier, and save those workers/fans an apparently dangerous trip.

 

And if they were willing to play in an empty park, they probably should have been prepared to do that Tuesday afternoon.  The curfew and state of emergency was declared Monday night, but the team didn't announce any plans until noon Tuesday, at which point Tuesday was basically wasted.

[TheLeviathan]

I have to believe the city of Baltimore was assuring them to proceed as planned and then failed to keep things peaceful. To me that seems more likely than incompetence.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Trusting politicians that much is another form of incompetence.

[TheLeviathan]

 

Trusting politicians that much is another form of incompetence.

 

The alternative is awful PR for assuming Baltimore is going to riot.  I don't think you're grasping how viciously they would have been bashed for that.  And rightfully so.  They trusted Baltimore and its citizens to have a peaceful protest and it didn't happen.

 

If I'm going to criticize them, it won't be for being optimistic. 

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

The alternative is awful PR for assuming Baltimore is going to riot.  I don't think you're grasping how viciously they would have been bashed for that.  And rightfully so.  They trusted Baltimore and its citizens to have a peaceful protest and it didn't happen.

 

If I'm going to criticize them, it won't be for being optimistic. 

 

I don't think anyone would have blamed them for that after what already happened on Saturday night.

 

And I'm not saying they had to cancel the game way in advance -- just a few hours earlier, before fans and employees were required to show up.  Protesters were already confronting police in the streets on Monday afternoon after the funeral.  Optimism should have given way to realism at that point -- cancel the game before employees and fans arrive, and figure out how to avoid another cancellation Tuesday (a contingency plan that should have already *privately* been arranged, ready for immediate implementation/announcement Monday night when the state of emergency and curfew was put into effect -- what was the point of waiting until noon Tuesday to punt the Tuesday game and play Wednesday in front of an empty stadium?).

 

Sorry, I used to work in stadium concessions a bit, so that's where my sympathies lie.    I understand weather delays, but if a team made me brave riots to get to work, hang out for a few hours, and then turned me out into more riots, I would be mighty peeved.  (Also spoken as a fan who likes to get to the ballpark early.)

[TheLeviathan]

 

Sorry, I used to work in stadium concessions a bit, so that's where my sympathies lie.    I understand weather delays, but if a team made me brave riots to get to work, hang out for a few hours, and then turned me out into more riots, I would be mighty peeved.  (Also spoken as a fan who likes to get to the ballpark early.)

 

I can sympathize with that criticism for sure.