Davis throws balls to no one in particular at empty stadium

BALTIMORE -- Just because there weren't any fans in the stand didn't mean first baseman Chris Davis couldn't keep his tradition going.

The All-Star, who slugged a three-run home run to little fanfare in the first inning, tossed a ball into the empty stands several times during the Orioles' 8-2 win over the White Sox on Wednesday afternoon.

"It was something I joked about before the game started that I was going to do, just as a fun thing to help everybody kind of relax," Davis said of his antics, which stood out in a game in which paid attendance was officialy  zero. "It never fails, catch a ball to end the inning, it's just reaction. But I thought it would be fun. The first few were in the lower section and then I gave some love to the fans in the upper deck."

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Davis, like his teammates, was well aware that just because fans were not admitted -- because of riots in Baltimore -- didn't mean that the whole country wasn't watching the first no-fans game.

"Hopefully, [they] see the positive side of things," Davis said of the national spotlight on Wednesday's game. "I hope they see the good side of the city and the people who are out there helping to clean up and rebuild and help get the city back on its feet. I hope that even though the game was closed to the public, [people see] what our focus was. We didn't want to take the [National] Guard or the police officers, the people who are protecting the city, you didn't want to take them away from their job and be a distraction. I hope the win kind of gives us a shot in the arm and picks everybody up."