Braves starting pitcher Spencer Strider is having a phenomenal season, but his hot takes are nowhere near as sharp as his fastball.
The NL Cy Young contender wants the MLB to get rid of fans.
“Absolutely there should be no fans,” he told the MLB Fits Instagram account.
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“2020 season no fans, get rid of the fans,” he said, referring to the MLB’s 2020 pandemic-shortened season in which teams played games in empty ballparks.
“It’s too loud. It’s too loud, everybody be quiet. We don’t need the cheering. We know you’re watching. I don’t need the fans. You stay outside the stadium, I mean, back it up. Let’s do like a no lower bowl thing. You know just kinda, upper deck’s great, upper deck’s great. Outfield — phenomenal. We don’t need you around the dugouts. Just try and be quiet.”
Not sure if Strider got the memo, but those fans that sit near the dugout pay his salary. The average MLB ticket costs $69, according to Statista, but Braves tickets are significantly more expensive. The Atlanta faithful pay a whopping $117 on average to see their team, a premium they pay to see the odds-on World Series favorite. (RELATED: Star Pitcher Traded In Dramatic Deadline Deal To Miss Rest Of Season With Injury)
I enjoy watching Strider pound the strike zone as mercilessly as he does, despite my personal hatred for the Atlanta Braves franchise. But he’s dead wrong on this one. Don’t we remember how weird and eerie those empty ballparks felt in 2020? I still remember feeling giddy finally seeing ballparks open up to full capacity.
How can you be a competitor and not relish the opportunity to make a stadium of 50,000+ people erupt? To have that kind of power, literally, in the palm of your hand has got to be one of the greatest feelings in the world. Don’t take that for granted Spence! If you want silence, find a library.
Now, the pure ridiculousness of that statement has led many to speculate Strider was kidding. Given the fact that he’s avid jokester and huge fan of HBO’s comedy series “Curb Your Enthusiasm” one can be forgiven for thinking he’s joking. I personally choose to believe he’s just being an idiot, but to each their own.