One block from Camden Yards, bar attempts Orioles viewing party
Orioles officials closed the stadium on Wednesday, hosting the first unattended game in Major League Baseball history. The move was intended to keep fans away as protests continue in the surrounding area.
The decision has been tough on businesses near the stadium. Donald Kelly, owner of Pratt St. Ale House (located about one block from the stadium) told Yahoo Sports that with two games postponed, one closed to the public, and three moved to Florida, the bar will end up $50,000-70,000 off budget for a typical baseball week.
Trying to recoup some of this loss, he tried throwing an Orioles watch party on Wednesday.
The effort unfortunately fell flat. About a dozen fans showed up, he said. Some of them were locals, some of them were regulars who would otherwise have been at the game. They came because they just wanted to be around other fans.
“It’s very slow,” Kelly said over the phone. “It’s surreal to think there’s a game being played 200 yards away. We normally have 81 home games, now we have 77. That’s five percent. It’s tough on the staff, on the tipped employees especially.”
A few more fans gathered outside of the stadium’s left field gate, though not nearly as many as local reporters had imagined.
The crowd grew a bit through the game, but nothing comparable to the usual 33,000 fans.
Of course, no fans were there to chase down that free souvenir.
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Danielle Elliot is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact her at [email protected] or find her onTwitter and Facebook.
