Chicago Cubs: Five takeaways from Opening Weekend

Chicago Cubs: Playing games with no fans is really weird

I’m not advocating for bringing fans to the ballpark in the middle of a pandemic and starting a political and social firestorm. It’s just really weird to not see any fans in the stands and know that no one is at the ballpark. Sure, there are some fans in the rooftops across the way, but this whole setup is just totally bizarre.

FOX had fake “virtual” fans every once in a while depending on the shot, but it was so glitchy and inconsistent that it made me feel like I was Neo realizing I was in The Matrix. Was that Agent Anderson eating popcorn or Trinity opening Crackerjack? One virtual guy even looked like he was vomiting after a particularly terrible call from C.B. Bucknor; what’s up with that?

Regardless of where you stand on the virtual fans or cardboard cutouts (and yes, the Cubs should have done the cutout thing, if only to send the money to charity and produce some good will), it’s going to be a really weird year for baseball without fans in the seats. Wrigley produces such an electric, one-of-a-kind vibes and no amount of high tech tomfoolery will be able to hoodwink baseball lovers.