Jane Tyska/Digital First Media/East Bay Times/Getty Images In the new ballpark, one thing remains the same for the Rangers: Longtime announcer Chuck Morgan still sits in a booth and calls the game, his voice echoing throughout the stadium – even if the 40,000 seats remain empty.įan cutouts are seen as the Oakland Athletics play the San Francisco Giants in the sixth inning of their MLB exhibition game at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Monday July 20, 2020. “We’ve got to take safety first and be careful with that in hopes that that day will come, and I think it will be yet another ‘opening day.’” I think that they’re hungry for … that live action, you know, live entertainment,” he said.

“I feel bad for those fans that truly want to be out here. But they’ll just have to wait a little while longer. The multipurpose stadium was designed to create unique experiences for the fans, Ortiz said. “Somehow those are amplified and it’s almost a ‘Field of Dreams’ kind of experience because you’re just sitting here watching the guys on the field with no one around you,” he said. He was trying to soak in the sounds of an empty arena that are normally drowned out by the fans – the crack of a bat, the pop of a mitt catching a ball. Still, it wasn’t quite the opening day that so many people here had imagined.įred Ortiz, of HKS Architects, has been working on the ballpark for four years, pouring his heart into a project along with the labor and skills of countless other people.Įarlier this week, Ortiz found himself sitting in the ballpark during batting practice before an exhibition game. This screen grab from FOX Sports depicts virtual fans that will fill the stands for MLB games FOX Sportsįox Sports will put 'virtual fans' in baseball stadiums this season

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