In response to the Baltimore riots, the Orioles cancelled two consecutive home games with the Chicago White Sox — on Monday and Tuesday.
Now the two teams’ organizations, apparently with the blessing of Major League Baseball, will follow through on the third game of the series on Wednesday by playing the Sox in a home game that will be closed to the public.

I have to wonder — what kind of message does this send?
The thug elements in Baltimore who senselessly burned down the only pharmacy within one mile of a working class neighborhood may feel vindicated. Those who torched a community center under construction certainly engaged in counterproductive behavior — at the very least — but if they can dramatically disrupt the MLB, does that not give them the boldness to continue?
The family of Freddie Gray, a young black man who died in Baltimore police custody, sparking widespread community outrage, has publicly condemned the rioting and looting. I can’t imagine that they are comfortable with the Orioles, out of fear, playing in a locked-down stadium. 

“It’s all about what’s best for the city and the safety of our people,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “The last thing you want to do is put the fans in harm’s way. You have to err on the side of safety.”

Schools were closed today and the mayor imposed a 10 p.m.-to-5 a.m. curfew. The announcement of the unique closed-doors game came late this afternoon, after the Orioles postponed games against Chicago on Monday and Tuesday.
 
“We were just trying to respond to the wishes of the public officials and protect the integrity of the schedule,” Dan Duquette, the Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations, said in a phone interview.
This was Chicago’s only scheduled visit to Camden Yards. The first two games will be made up as part of a doubleheader on May 28.
“It would have been very difficult to make up all three games, so we needed to play that game on Wednesday,” Duquette said. “You just try to do the best you can in this kind of situation.”
 
“The integrity of the schedule.” Shouldn’t city officials and key Baltimore institutions, including the Orioles, be standing up to the violent instigators? Wouldn’t playing the Orioles game in public as scheduled demonstrate that the city will not cower in fear to rioters and thieves?