
One of the Phillies' experiments during their intersquad games this week was artificial crowd noise.
Outfielder Roman Quinn and his teammates even heard the voice of public address announcer Dan Baker to go along with a recording of cheering Phillies fans.
"It definitely sounds like a noise machine. It’s weird," Quinn said. "Just hearing it, you don’t get the same feeling."
That said, Quinn says there is some advantage to having the artificial noise in an empty stadium.
"It does block out the noise that’s going on, like, hearing players talk. ... And maybe hearing the other team talk as well. I think it does kind of put you in a mind frame that you are at an actual game with fans ...."
Before the Phillies gathered in South Philadelphia earlier this month, players had the chance to spend some extra time with their families. Quinn enjoyed his time in Florida with his wife and two children.
"You never get time ... to spend time with your kids. I definitely enjoyed it. I cherished every day that I was with them, because I know it’s probably not going to happen again for a while," he said.
Quinn said his family elected to stay in Florida instead of joining him in Philadelphia. His wife is expecting their third child.
"Coming up here, where you can’t come to the games and can’t really travel with us, I think that played a part, too," he said.
Meanwhile, Quinn is hoping to see more time in this shortened season, including in extra innings with the extra frame now starting with a designated runner at second base.