UPDATED: Orioles Game at Camden Yards Will Be Closed to Public

Updated at 6 p.m.

In an unprecedented move as civil unrest continues in the city, the Baltimore Orioles will play Wednesday’s game against the Chicago White Sox, but the game will be closed to the public.

Game time remains 2:05 p.m. ET.

The Baltimore Orioles announced Tuesday morning that the team postponed tonight’s game against the White Sox. Monday night’s game was also canceled.

The Orioles said the decision was made in conjunction with Major League Baseball as well as state and local officials.

Rioting swept through parts of Baltimore Monday after the death of Freddie Gray, calling for answers about how the 25-year-old Baltimore man died in police custody.

Peaceful protest marches most of last week turned to vandalism, fires, looting and injuries on Monday.

Gov. Larry Hogan declared a state of emergency Monday and an overnight curfew is in effect starting Tuesday, April 28, to Tuesday, May 5.

The Orioles were set to host the Tampa Bay Ray May 1-3, but that has changed as well. The club says the games will instead be played at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL, although Baltimore will serve as the home team.

Monday’s canceled game will be made up in a doubleheader on May 28. Fans can exchange tickets for this week’s Orioles games for ones later in the season; those swaps must be made by June 30, the ball club says.

Ticket exchanges can be made at the Orioles box office, or submitted in writing with their original tickets by certified mail to: Baltimore Orioles, Attention: (Date) Postponement, 333 W. Camden St., Baltimore, MD, 21201.

Fans with questions about the ticket process should call 888-848-BIRD.

Sports World Reacts

The move to play in an empty house has some athletes reacting.

Sports analyst Frank Hurt tweeted: ”They should just cancel this series and make it up later!! Playing in front of a empty house makes no sense!!”

Los Angeles Angels player Ty Watson said on Twitter: “ Mind blowing that the Orioles will be playing in an empty stadium tomorrow. Baseball has always been something to help fix these problems.”

While broadcaster Keith Olberman tweeted: “Not to be impertinent but #Orioles will break the record for lowest MLB attendance: 9/28/1882 when the NL Worcester Ruby Legs drew 6 fans.”

Orioles COO Commentary

Orioles COO John Angelos, son of owner Peter Angelos, posted a series of tweets about how decades of job loss have led to the despair shown on the streets. USA Today compiled the tweets, which say in part: “My greater source of personal concern, outrage and sympathy beyond this particular case is focused neither upon one night’s property damage nor upon the acts, but is focused rather upon the past four-decade period during which an American political elite have shipped middle class and working class jobs away from Baltimore and cities and towns around the U.S. to third-world dictatorships like China and others, plunged tens of millions of good, hard-working Americans into economic devastation, and then followed that action around the nation by diminishing every American’s civil rights protections in order to control an unfairly impoverished population living under an ever-declining standard of living and suffering at the butt end of an ever-more militarized and aggressive surveillance state.”

SEE ALSO:

• Baltimore Riots: Obama Speaks, Orioles Cancel, National Guard Arrives, Cleanup Begins
• Ray Lewis Tells Kids to ‘Go Home and Stay Home’
• VIDEO: Mom’s Response To Child In The Baltimore Riots Goes Viral