‘Fanless’ game anniversary

BALTIMORE — Adam Eaton won’t ever think of the game fondly, but he also never will forget the “weird aura” at Camden Yards one year ago as players’ voices rang out across an empty stadium.

A year ago Friday, the White Sox and Orioles played what is believed to be the only major league game closed to fans, a result of security concerns because of unrest in Baltimore after the death of Freddie Gray, who was injured in police custody.

The Sox are back in Baltimore for a fourgame series this week, and it brings back unsettling memories for the players who participated in the 8-2 Orioles victory.

“There was a lot of weight on your heart because of what was going on in the city,” Eaton said. “I guarantee everybody in this clubhouse at the time and over there was like, ‘We have to play this game, but at the same time, there are bigger struggles going on, and baseball is not the biggest focus.’ … It was a very, very weird feeling.”

The first two games of the series were postponed before the decision to play the third game in front of only media and limited staff.

Sox left-hander Carlos Rodon, who made his second career appearance in the game, said he remembers listening from the bullpen to Orioles outfielder Adam Jones call the game like an umpire and to the reactions from a crowd that peeked in beyond an outfield fence.

Eaton said it didn’t feel like a real baseball game without the fans.

“There was just no energy,” Eaton said. “For you or against you, you can play off that energy as an athlete. When you play so many games, you need it, to really do what you need to do.”