Today Is The First Time In MLB History That A Game Will Be Played Without A Single Paying Customer

(fordsbasement)

Upon the news yesterday that the Baltimore Orioles would face the Chicago White Sox in a postponed game at an empty Camden Yards today, we tried to recall if there’s ever been another instance when two teams faced off without anyone paying to watch.

We weren’t the only ones with that question — the Baltimore Sun confirmed with Major League Baseball’s historian that today’s game will be the first in major league history to be played without a paying crowd.

Consumerist reached out to some folks in the know as well, who said that after very thorough searching, the list of other examples remained empty.

The previous holder of the Lowest Attending Game title belonged to a faceoff between the Troy Trojans of New York and the Worcester Ruby Legs of Massachusetts on Sept. 28, 1882. Only six fans showed up to that game at the Worcester Driving Park Grounds, due to league changes that meant those two teams were about to be phased out of existence.

The teams that replaced them in the next season? The Philadelphia Quakers and New York Gothams joined the National League — and stayed there to this day as the Phillies and the Giants franchises.

Taking a look back at baseball’s lowest attended game before today [Baltimore Sun]