(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:
Cheering and wooting (ph) echoed all the way down Boston's Fenway and Kenmore Streets on Friday.
(CHEERING)
GARCIA-NAVARRO: The excitement came from Fenway Park during a Red Sox game. And you'd never know that, besides the players, there wasn't actually a single fan in the stadium. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, no crowds were allowed to watch the game in person, and so the club had to improvise. A recorded soundtrack of enthusiastic fans cheering boomed over speakers at the game as the players scrimmaged during their summer camp training session. When J.D. Martinez hit that two-run shot over the Green Monster, the fans - they went wild. And the sound of that crowd, however fake, was good for the players. The piped-in noise apparently helps them communicate strategy to each other without tipping off the other team.
Even though catcher Jonathan Lucroy told the Boston Globe that the trial run was a bit weird and would take some getting used to, the idea is so popular that similar recordings will be played out at all 30 of the Major League Baseball parks around the country. Things may not be completely back to normal yet, but at least it can sound like it.
(SOUNDBITE OF SEAN19T9'S "NIGHT IS LIT") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
