Piped in crowd noise tested at Fenway

BOSTON — "Dirty Water" blared from the Fenway Park speakers on Friday morning.

The Standells endure even in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. The adopted postgame Red Sox victory song was among several identifiable pieces of sound sent out to the almost empty ballpark.

Boston chairman Tom Werner and president/CEO Sam Kennedy took in the scene from just off the third-base bag. With Opening Day against the Orioles exactly two [...]

BOSTON — "Dirty Water" blared from the Fenway Park speakers on Friday morning.

The Standells endure even in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. The adopted postgame Red Sox victory song was among several identifiable pieces of sound sent out to the almost empty ballpark.

Boston chairman Tom Werner and president/CEO Sam Kennedy took in the scene from just off the third-base bag. With Opening Day against the Orioles exactly two weeks away, the Red Sox are experimenting with crowd noise to pipe into their television broadcasts.

"They’re experimenting with the loudness of it and what sounds like the natural crowd — what it would be early in a game, what it would be when things are tight and there is excitement in it," Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke said. "I thought the players all liked it."

The Chinese Professional Baseball League and the KBO League (of South Korea) both started their respective seasons with no fans and employed ambient sound in a search for normalcy. Music played between innings during Boston’s first intrasquad game of Summer Camp on Thursday.

"If we’re discussing when to take a starting pitcher out of a game, sometimes the comments you make — you’d rather the players not hear that," Roenicke said. "It’s a benefit to have that noise there.

"I’ve also noticed with these masks on I don’t have to worry about covering my mouth when I’m talking and I have the camera on me. I think that’s a real good thing."

The Red Sox ranked seventh in attendance in Major League Baseball in 2019, drawing 2,924,627 fans. Boston averaged 36,106 over 81 home dates, which sits just shy of a sellout. Fenway Park’s listed capacity is 37,755 fans for night games and 37,305 fans for day games, as a black tarp is pulled over two sections of bleacher seats in center field.

Preseason games on tap

The Red Sox confirmed on Friday that they have scheduled a pair of exhibition games with the Blue Jays.

Toronto will come to Fenway Park for two contests on July 21 and July 22. Both games will be shown on NESN and broadcast on WEEI, the club’s flagship radio station. First pitch on each night will be at 7:30.

"I think it was really important to get those games at home," Roenicke said. "I know sometimes you can’t do that and for a while it didn’t look like we were going to be able to do that."

Roenicke said earlier this week that the club was looking to schedule at least one game prior to its July 24 opener against the Orioles. General manager Brian O’Halloran was tasked with finding a date, opponent and venue.

"If we were opening on the road, it would be different," Roenicke said. "I wouldn’t mind going on the road to play."

The Red Sox will ultimately play seven straight home games to begin this 2020 season. They’ll have an off day on July 23 before opening the 60-game slate with three against Baltimore. Boston then hosts the Mets for its first two interleague games before embarking on a seven-game road trip.

COVID numbers are in

Major League Baseball issued its latest coronavirus test figures in a Friday release.

There were 66 positive tests during the team intake process — 58 players and eight team staff members — of the 3,748 total samples processed. All but three of MLB’s 30 clubs had at least one positive test.

Red Sox left-hander Josh Taylor tested positive during the intake process last week and remains isolated in a Boston hotel room. Boston had three other players test positive prior to leaving their respective homes — left-handed pitchers Eduardo Rodriguez and Darwinzon Hernandez and infield prospect Bobby Dalbec.

The Red Sox feared multiple players were exposed to the virus earlier this week, but their test results all came back negative on Thursday. Third baseman Rafael Devers was among the group — his latest negative test was the fourth such result he’s received.

"I feel healthy," Devers said on Thursday through translator Bryan Almonte. "It was tough at first not knowing if potentially I had it. Luckily, I had those negative tests that were taken. I’m focused on working hard."

Roenicke said there is no current timeline for Rodriguez, Hernandez or Dalbec to report to Summer Camp. All three players will require at least two negative tests at home before being cleared to travel. Roenicke said earlier this week that Rodriguez was feeling short of 100% and Dalbec was asymptomatic.

bkoch@providencejournal.com

On Twitter: @BillKoch25