Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
SURPRISE, Ariz. — The next steps will be significant. Major League Baseball — like many sports right now — is wading into the unknown. As the coronavirus spreads, and so does its panic, there will be unpopular decisions that must be made.
One of the most jarring unknowns — playing baseball at an empty stadium, fans locked out — is known to Kevin Gausman.
The righty was one of six pitchers to appear in an April 29, 2015, game in Baltimore that no fan attended; Camden Yards was closed following the protests that surrounded the death of Freddie Gray, an African-American man who died after being injured in police custody.
TV cameras and media were present. The players were in the dugouts and on the field. The seats were vacant. The noises that did accompany the game were bizarre to Gausman, who entered the eighth inning in relief of Ubaldo Jimenez, and he could hear the broadcaster — from the press box — giving Jimenez’s statline.
“In the bullpen, weird things we heard were umpires talking to each other — a ball in the gap, saying, ‘Hey, I got second, I got first,’” Gausman remembered Wednesday following his 3 1/3-inning, four-run performance against the Rangers at Surprise Stadium.
The Giants’ Oracle Park exhibition game against the A’s will be either canceled or moved. The NCAA Tournament will be played without fans in attendance. The NBA, NHL and MLS are, like baseball, debating their next steps.
If MLB wants to begin on time and not risk COVID-19 spreading rapidly, as it would in large groups, many players could have the same experience as Gausman.
“You’ve never had a game like that ever in your life,” said the 29-year-old about the game, whose losing pitcher was Jeff Samardzija. “You go to a T-ball game, your parents are there. There’s somebody there. Just a stranger that’s walking by a ballfield or something — there’s always somebody there.”
Perhaps not always. Gausman has pitched twice at Oracle Park and called it “one of the better baseball environments.”
“The fans are pretty engaged in the game. There’s only a few places like that, really,” he said, referencing St. Louis, too.
His first time pitching there as a Giant could be a familiar brand of weird.
On the mound in the five-inning win, Gausman allowed seven hits, though not many were blistered. He said he “wasn’t as crisp” in his fourth Cactus League appearance. He hung a splitter to Sam Travis that became a two-run homer, “but other than that I did a kind of good job of getting a lot of ground balls.”
He flashed a 96-mph fastball that struck out Elvis Andrus and finished his day by punching out Travis. The biggest positive for Gabe Kapler was Gausman successfully pitching into the fourth.
They played five innings despite a soggy field that had endured rain for much of the night and day. Mauricio Dubon slipped retrieving a ball in center field, and new dirt was applied to the pitchers’ mound repeatedly.
Kapler and Rangers manager Chris Woodward met often with the umpires, appearing to discuss the field conditions and many of the 5,219 in the stands had umbrellas out. Many of the 5,219 in the stands were not happy when the game, upon officially becoming a game, was called.
Alex Dickerson went 1-for-2 with a walk and a triple in a rare leadoff role. (The Giants wanted to ensure he saw enough at-bats.)
He was driven in by a double from Darin Ruf, who just keeps hitting.
Tyler Heineman, battling for the backup-catcher job, had a nice day.
He went 0-for-1 with a walk — plate discipline is a skill of his — but his best moment came in throwing out Tim Federowicz, trying to steal second, to end the second inning.
Earlier in the inning, Heineman tried to throw out his brother, Scott, a Rangers outfielder who had just tripled. On the next pitch, Tyler was gunning to third unsuccessfully.
Drew Smyly threw 60 pitches in the cage and remains on track to be ready for the first week of the season.
Tony Watson was scheduled to throw his first live batting practice. With the rain, Kapler was not sure if he did.
