San Diego (AFP) Houston Astros player Zach Greenk said he prefers to play games without fans during the outbreak season and in the qualifiers.
“I don’t really notice the fans when the match continues, but with the warm-up and practice before matches, I mean it’s good for me not to have fans in the stands,” Greenk said on Tuesday before the third match of the AL Series of Championships against Tampa. “Most of the people like it. When the match comes it is like that for me.”
When asked to clarify, he said, “Because there is no one there to talk to you and ask for autographs and want pictures and all these things. I don’t like doing those things. It’s good that they don’t exist for me. Most people like him. I don’t like that.”
Greenk, a 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner with Kansas City, discussed during his spring training in 2013 that he has been suffering from social anxiety disorder since pre-high school but that he no longer considers it a problem. He did not mention the concern on Tuesday.
Some fans are allowed to attend the NL Championship Series matches in Arlington, Texas, and will be in the World Series as well. The declared attendance was 10,700 for the NLCS opening Monday between the Atlanta and Los Angeles Dodgers, not including those who did not pay.
Greinke is scheduled to begin match four on Wednesday evening. The Rays led 2-0 in the Tuesday night match.
Fans were not permitted to enter the AL Division Series against Oakland at Dodger Stadium or ALCS at Petco Park in San Diego. Some family members were allowed entry to the games in San Diego.

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