IT’S A START!
Not like old times, but at least fans are back for Yank spring opener
TAMPA — Just after one o’clock, the unfamiliar noise broke out. The usual routine of spring training — the announcing
of the players, managers, coaches and staff of a minor-league
version of what will happen in a month — was welcomed with an unusually loud and sustained, real live cheer of fans yelling and clapping.
The assistant bullpen coach and hitting coaches probably got the biggest cheers of their careers, because not only were the Yankees back at George M. Steinbrenner Field for the first time in 2021, but so too were their fans.
“One of my favorite things is just the interactions in between innings and when you first run out there, the crowd, the energy, the roar and hearing them kind of yelling certain things, good things, bad things, it’s just you feed off of that,” Yankees slugger Aaron Judge said. “So, it was pretty exciting to finally have them back.
“I was sitting in a cold tub with Gleyber (Torres) and DJ (LeMahieu) and we’re kind of going over it and like, man, it was kind of like having a little butterflies,” Judge recalled thinking of fans before the game. “It was like getting back to your first at-bat. So we’re all excited to have some fans even though it wasn’t a packed house. But anything’s better than nothing.”
After playing without live fans in the ballpark since March 12, 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic shut down baseball, the Yankees embraced a little piece of normalcy. The Yankees had 2,637 fans in the ballpark for their 6-4 Grapefruit League opening-day loss to the Blue Jays Sunday.
Fans were in socially-distanced pods with seats in between having been taken out of use with zip ties. There were plexiglass sheets put up over the dugouts, near the on-deck circles where the managers and coaches sit during spring-training games to keep a healthy barrier between fans and players and staff.
Still the Yankees felt the difference.
“Even on the bench over there, or where we sit just outside the dugout there, we made reference to it a couple times, with the coaches there, just how nice it’s having people in the stands,” Aaron Boone said. “I saw a highlight before we walked out of BP and a kid chasing a ball going over the fence and those kinds of things. To have some interaction with the fans waving... it’s been too long.”
After playing the abbreviated 2020 season in sterile stadiums with fake crowd noise pumped in and some ballparks using creepy cardboard cutouts in the stands,
Torres said it was nice just to have anybody there to play in front of.
“I feel really excited to see fans in the stands,” he said. “It’s kinda like we have a little more motivation to play. I mean, we feel happy to see little boys in the stands to have fans get loud pitch after pitch, inning after inning. This is what’s right. I mean, I’m feeling really happy to see fans right now. “
The return of fans wasn’t without issues. to GMS
While the teams policy clearly states that the limited number of fans allowed in the ballpark 2,637 Sunday were required to wear masks covering their mouth and nose at all times except when eating or drinking, many fans disregarded that policy. Photographs taken throughout the game showed the pods of fans — socially distanced by sectioned off parts of the stands — without masks on properly or at all as they yelled and screamed for their team. MLB said that each team is responsible for enforcement of the mask-wearing policy in their own ballpark.
Still, Judge and the Yankees still tried to make that connection safely with the fans who were here. Known for his interaction with fans in the outfield — like playing warm-up catch with young fans and talking to others in the time before coronavirus — Judge brought out extra balls to toss to fans in the outfield.
“I miss having those moments,” Judge said.
Boone admitted that there were still plenty of reminders of how the world has changed.
“So there was that little bit of not quite the interaction you have when everything’s normal,” Boone said. “I think in the end, today was a day where a lot of people were just excited to be back at the ball field, whether you’re a fan or a player.”
BRADENTON, Fla. — As Tiger Woods continued to recover from Tuesday’s serious car crash in Los Angeles, many players paid tribute during the final round of the Workday Championship Sunday. There were red numbers on the board and on the golf course, with several players wearing red shirts and black pants — the Sunday colors of Woods — as a show of support.
“Red and black, we know that’s what Tiger does on Sundays, so just to join in and just let Tiger know we’re supporting him in the best way we can,” Tony Finau said. “We’re still playing and we miss him out here, but it was cool just to be a part of that.”
Later in the evening, Woods broke his silence since the crash to say he’s going through a “tough time” but was deeply moved by the gestures.
“It is hard to explain how
touching today was when I turned on the tv and saw all the red shirts,” he said in a Twitter post, the first post on his account in his own voice since the rollover crash.
“To every golfer and every fan, you are truly helping me get through this tough time,” he tweeted.
Rory McIlroy and Patrick Reed, both dressed in red and black.
“I think just for everyone to show their appreciation for what he means to us out here,” McIlroy said of the tribute. “If there was no Tiger Woods, I just the think the tour and the game of golf in general would be in a worse place. He’s meant a lot to us, he still does mean a lot to us and I think that was just a little way to show that.”
PGA champion Collin Morikawa shook off an early mistake and played a steady hand on a Concession golf course known for calamity, closing with a 3-under 69 for a three-shot victory.
Morikawa picked up a few shortgame tips from major champions — Mark O’Meara on his putting, Concession member Paul Azinger on the chipping — and he says it carried him to another big win.
And there was another tribute to Woods, his golf idol growing up.
“We don’t say ‘thank you’ enough,” Morikawa said, referring to how much Woods has raised the profile and prize money in golf. He also mentioned his grandfather dying a month ago and began to get emotional.
Morikawa won by three over Brooks Koepka (70), Viktor Hovland (67) and Billy Horschel (70).
He finished at 18-under 270 and became the 24th player to win a major and a World Golf Championship title since this series began in 1999. He joined Woods as the only players to win both before turning 25.
Morikawa didn’t have the colors, but he had the game.
So many times on a Sunday, Woods had the lead and forced everyone to catch him. Outside of a chunked chip on the second hole that made him scramble for bogey, Morikawa didn’t miss a fairway the rest of the way and was rarely out of position.
Horschel caught Morikawa after three holes and tried to stay with him. Koepka had the last good chance to catch him until he three-putted for par from 35 feet on the par-5 17th hole.