There are a lot of things I have doubted about this MLB season — the idea that it would even happen being at the top of the list. Somewhere else on the list is the idea that the fake crowd noise gimmick would actually work. As if pumping in canned audio from MLB: The Show would help simulate the feeling of watching a regular baseball game in a regular year in a regular world.
Baseball appears to actually be happening, and against all odds, the crowd noise is shockingly effective. Watching the Indians broadcast last night — complete with the familiar voices of Matt Underwood and Rick Manning talking over a baseball game, sprinkled in with Andre Knott at seemingly random locations around the stadium — probably would not have been enough to fool my monkey brain into thinking I was watching a normal game on its own.