Major League Baseball Postpones Orioles-White Sox Game Due to Rioting

On Monday, Major League Baseball cancelled the American League game in Baltimore between the host Baltimore Orioles and the Chicago White Sox due to safety concerns following riots that broke out close to Camden Yards following Freddie Gray’s funeral.

Rob Manfred the Commissioner of MLB, who was at Camden Yards for a visit that was previously planned, said on Tuesday that the game between the two teams could possibly be moved over to Washington at Nationals Park, if safety were to continue being an issue.

Rioters threw rocks at police, set police cars ablaze and looted and torched a CVS store, only three miles from the Orioles stadium following Gray’s mysterious death while in police custody. He died on April 19 after he suffered a spinal injury in custody.

The postponement of the game was not announced until 40 minutes prior to the game’s start time. Close to 1,000 fans were already inside at that time, but many gates had already been closed.

Adam Eaton an outfielder for the White Sox said he thought he could speak for everyone by saying it was scary in the streets of Baltimore. He added that what was taking place in the streets was more important than baseball and it was better not to put fans or players in danger in a situation that like this.

Orioles’ players left the stadium in their own vehicles, while the White Sox players were given a police escort back to their hotel.

The general manager for Chicago Rick Hahn said the team was working with the MLB front office to find out what they would do about the cancelled game on Monday and about the rest of this series.

Law enforcement and public officials in Baltimore issued a curfew that started at 10:00 p.m. Tuesday through 5 a.m. on Wednesday. If the game on Tuesday were not moved to another location, then the game would have to move up its starting time in order to comply with the curfew.

Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said he would meet on Tuesday morning with Peter Angelos the Baltimore owner to find out what the team’s options are. With games on Tuesday and Wednesday in the series with Chicago, then a venue change is an option.

The Nationals ballpark is only 38 miles from Baltimore’s and Washington is currently playing a series in Atlanta versus the Braves.

Due to unrest, Major League Baseball has had to postpone and shift venues for games. In 1992, the Los Angeles Dodgers had four of their games postponed following the verdict in the Rodney King case.

In 1967, Baltimore and the Detroit Tigers had one game postponed during rioting in Detroit and the next two games of that series were shifted back to Baltimore.