#A’s Matt Chapman sees advantage to fan-less games: ‘We’re used to it’

While Aaron Judge is preparing to adjust to this season without Yankees fans, third baseman Matt Chapman suggests that the Oakland A’s should have no problem.

As teams around the league grapple with how to handle life without spectators in their ballparks, Chapman explained that playing sans fans at Oakland Coliseum might be an advantage for the A’s because the franchise has struggled to put butts in seats in pasts season, filling on average only about 44 percent of the stadium’s baseball capacity last season.

“A lot of our games are pretty quiet in general, we’re used to not having too many fans at the games,” Chapman told reporters on Thursday’s Zoom call. “I think other teams coming in and seeing no fans and a big huge empty stadium and it might be a little cold at night, it just plays to our advantage. We’re used to playing there. We’re used to playing in front of however big or small a crowd is.”

Despite the lack of attendance, the A’s went 52-38 in Oakland last season.

While an empty stadium may not be a problem for Chapman, the 27-year-old All-Star did have some issues with the team’s return for spring training 2.0, which was held up over late arrivals and coronavirus testing issues.

“I know it’s an honest mistake, but had we been a little more proactive and gotten guys into town earlier like some other organizations did and got testing done before, there never would have been a testing delay because we wouldn’t have cut it that close,” Chapman said. “It’s not anybody’s fault, per se, but when you wait until the last moment to do things, eventually things are going to catch up to you.”