Optimism abounds as MLB’s spring includes fans
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Brian Delaney checked his ticket, found his seats and then sat down for a minute in the sunshine. It wasn’t a typical late February day in Arizona — a little cool, a little breezy — but Delaney didn’t complain a bit.
“You ever been through a Colorado winter?” the Colorado Rockies fan said with a grin.
The good humor and smiles were easy to find as baseball fans streamed into Sunday afternoon’s spring training opener between the Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks. A downward trend in COVID-19 cases throughout most of the country has meant that a limited amount of fans are allowed back in spring training facilities throughout Arizona and Florida.
At Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, the crowd was capped at about 2,200 fans, which is 16 percent of the usual capacity. Delaney said he never hesitated to get tickets for himself and Debra Mierzwa once they went on sale a few weeks ago.
“Oh yeah,” Delaney said. “We were never worried. This is great.”
The happy and halfway-normal scene on Sunday was a far cry from 353 days ago, when incredulous fans stood outside Salt River Fields and digested the news that baseball — and pretty much the rest of the world — was being shutdown because of the spreading coronavirus pandemic.
Nearly a year later, things are very different.
“It seemed like forever,” said Brandon Ramsey, who lives in the Phoenix
area and went to the Reds-Indians game in Goodyear on Sunday. “Last year got cut a little short. To come out here for opening day is just fantastic. They did a great job in socially distancing. They made sure we were safe.”
Aside from the World Series and NL Championship Series held last October at a neutral-site park in Arlington, Texas, this marked the first time fans were allowed at big league baseball games since March 12.
By now the safety protocols for sports events have become familiar. Fans in Scottsdale are spread out in small pods of two, four or six people. Masks are worn except when eating and drinking. People sitting on blankets in the grass beyond the outfield wall were given spray-painted squares to stay separate. Cleaning crews are ubiquitous.
But spring baseball appears to have considerable safety advantage over its NBA, NHL and college basketball counterparts: It’s played outdoors where studies have shown the virus is less effective at spreading.
“We feel really good about our ability to host spring training in the safest possible way,” Cactus League executive director Bridget Binsbacher said.
All 30 teams in Major League Baseball are allowing fans at their spring training facilities in Arizona and Florida, though capacity will be severely limited. The Chicago Cubs are welcoming the most fans (3,630 per game) while the San Francisco Giants will have the fewest (1,000 per game).
The Yankees and Twins have the largest percentage of seats available, with the potential to reach 28 percent of capacity.
Fans certainly seem excited about getting back to the park. The players have missed them, too.
Oakland right-hander Daulton Jefferies got a thrill from facing the loaded Los Angeles Dodgers lineup with fans in the seats at last. The limited crowd of 1,998 was a sellout at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Arizona.
“Even though it’s 20-percent capacity it didn’t feel like it,” Jefferies said. “Everyone was very loud. It was just a lot of fun. I think we truly underestimated how much we missed it.”
The outlook for spring training has changed drastically just in the past month. Back in January, the Cactus League sent a letter to MLB suggesting that the spring schedule be delayed because of high COVID-19 case counts in Maricopa County, which is home to all 15 teams in Arizona.
But then cases plummeted in Arizona and the plan to play games pushed forward. Binsbacher and others became much more optimistic.
For some fans, the progress came too late.
Don Witynski is a 58-year-old Milwaukee Brewers fan from Wisconsin who has traveled to Arizona the past four years for about a week during spring training. He said his family of four would watch three or four baseball games but the trip also includes hiking and other outdoor activities in the Arizona sun.
Not this year. He said most of his friends are staying in Wisconsin this year, though a few will make the trip to the desert.
“We’re hunkering down, staying home,” Witynski said. “I’ve got teenagers, 13-yearold twins. Obviously until this vaccine rolls out more we’re definitely staying home this year unfortunately.”
DODGERS 2, ATHLETICS 1 (7)
Seager had an RBI single in two trips for the Dodgers, and newcomer Matt Davidson doubled in the go-ahead run.
Seth Brown singled in the only run for Oakland, which managed just two hits. Andrus walked and was caught stealing in his first game with the A’s.
ANGELS 5, GIANTS 2 (7)
Newcomer Jose Quintana pitched a scoreless inning, allowing one walk in his first start for Los Angeles. Another new Angel, Juan Lagares, singled and scored.
Posey walked and singled, scoring a run for San Francisco. Wilmer Flores had an RBI double.
MARINERS 5, PADRES 4
Prized prospects Julio Rodriguez and Jarred Kelenic combined to deliver the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning a week after disrespectful comments from CEO Kevin Mather regarding both players became public. Mather has since resigned. Rodriguez and Kelenic offered a look at Seattle’s future when Kelenic walked and scored on Rodriguez’s twoout single.