Zach Wilt: Outside gates, hearty fans locked out but not down

You'll never hear a louder bat crack or be able to listen in as Adam Jones calls off Alejandro De Aza on a fly ball hit to left-center field like you were able to on Wednesday afternoon outside Camden Yards. The Orioles' matchup against the White Sox - which took 2 hours, 3 minutes - was one for the record books featuring a crowd of zero, a pre-recorded national anthem and John Denver's "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" played during the seventh-inning stretch for only the players, a few scouts and media members to hear.

The Orioles and Major League Baseball made the difficult decision to start Wednesday's finale against Chicago at 2 p.m., and close it to the public due to safety concerns stemming from ongoing protests and riots downtown. With a 10 p.m. curfew in effect and a state of emergency declared on Monday, it's hard to believe that there was a better alternative available.

If you haven't been around Oriole Park this week, Lot C is currently being used as a staging area for police and the National Guard. It's unlike anything I've ever seen before. There are military tents set up in a barricaded section that is filled with service men and women in full uniform camo. It's like something out of a movie.

Despite their different surroundings, it was business as usual for the Orioles between the lines yesterday afternoon. Buck Showalter's lineup picked up right where it left off on Sunday, scoring six runs in the first inning on Jeff Samardzija. Ubaldo Jimenez cruised through seven innings, allowing just two unearned runs on three hits. On paper, Wednesday's box score shows a third consecutive victory for the Orioles. But as we know, the story in Baltimore is one much bigger than a victory after two postponed games.

I've always been a believer that sports are the ultimate distraction during hard times, baseball in particular with its 162-game schedule. There's something comforting about seeing the hometown team take the field. That simple routine can make you forget about all your problems for a few hours.

I think that was part of the reason we saw fans assemble behind the gates in center field to cheer the Birds from the sidewalk. They wouldn't be denied their nine innings of fandom. This group shouted "O!" during "The Star-Spangled Banner" and was vocal throughout the game.

"They were heard," Showalter told the media in his postgame press conference.

Orioles super fan Romeo Santos - if you've been to Camden Yards you've seen him; he's the guy that wears the hard hat with the Mohawk - led the crowd in the first of several "Let's Go O's" chants.

"There is nothing like watching a game at Camden Yards," Santos told me after the game. "At first I tried to book a balcony room at the Hilton, but they were all booked. So I knew that you could see the field from the gate near Legends Park. So I headed over there for an extended lunch. It was awesome, but I felt like I was locked out of my house."

Santos said he understands the decision to close the game to public, but was disappointed to hear that the Rays series in Tampa Bay wouldn't be made up here.

"Baltimore City will lose so much from that decision," he said.

That seemed to be the sentiment from most outside the gates yesterday. No one was bitter - they understood what needed to be done - but they weren't willing to sacrifice watching the Orioles. And hopefully those two hours helped our city heal, even if it was just a momentary distraction.

Zach Wilt blogs about the Orioles at Baltimore Sports Report. Follow him on Twitter: @zamwi. His views appear here as part of MASNsports.com's season-long initiative of welcoming guest bloggers to our pages. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our roster of writers.