GIANTS, A’S TO HAVE FANS AT BALLPARKS
Health officials clear way for Oracle Park, Coliseum to open to fans by Opening Day
SOOTTSaALe, ARIZ. » The era of cardboard cut-outs lining the stands at Bay Area ballparks is coming to an end.
The California Department of Public Health has cleared the way for the Oakland A’s and San Francisco Giants to welcome back fans to the Coliseum and Oracle Park by Opening Day.
Updates to the state’s “Blueprint for a Safer Economy” reopening framework made Friday will allow teams to host fans in their stadiums at limited capacities. Stadiums located in counties
in the purple tier will have capacity restricted to 100 fans, while capacity will be limited to 20% of capacity in the red tier, 33% in the orange tier and 67% in the yellow tier.
“We want to share this experience with the fans and in some ways, we feel like the game is not fully the game without our fans around,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said following the
announcement. “It feels like we’re in a partnership with them and we feel like something is missing when they’re not in the stands.”
Alameda County, which is home to the Coliseum, is currently in the state’s purple tier, but A’s president Dave Kaval said the organization has been assured Alameda will soon move into the red tier. The change in tiers will take place prior to April 1, which is when the A’s are scheduled to open the 2021 season at home against the Houston Astros.
If both Alameda and San Francisco counties are in theredtieratthebeginning of April, the Giants will be permitted to host around 8,200 fans at Oracle Park while the A’s can have as many as 11,020 fans.
“We were working hand in hand with the governor’s office, Dr. (Mark) Ghaly, with the league and other California teams to identify a safe operating plan with fans in the current environment,” Kaval said. “We were very happy with the new protocols that allow us to have fans starting with 20% in the red tier for Opening Day,whichisagreatwayto welcome our fans home to the Coliseum.”
A statement released by the A’s said the team has cooperated with Alameda Countyofficialsandalready received approval to begin hosting fans on Opening Day. The Giants have worked closely with San Francisco health officials since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to develop health and safety protocols at Oracle Park, but the team has not yet received local clearance to immediately planforthereturnoffans.
The Giants said in a statement they “will submit our operational plans for review and approval by thelocalhealthofficialsand we eagerly look forward to safely welcoming fans back to Oracle Park.”
The San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer will also be able to have fans in theirstandsaftertheirseason opens next month, pending approval of the state plan by the Santa Clara County health office. The county, which has developed a reputation as one of the nation’s strictest in the pandemic, is currently in the red tier.
“We’re excited to safely welcome fans back to Earthquakes Stadium when the 2021 Major League Soccer season kicks off next month,”
the team said in a statement. “The Quakes appreciate Santa Clara County and the California Department ofPublicHealthfortheirrespective guidance to keep our community safe, and we’re looking forward to continue making our home a welcoming meeting place for all.”
The MLS season opens April 17, but the Quakes’ schedule has not yet been released.
Both the Giants and the A’s have hosted fans at their spring training ballparks during the first week of Cactus League play. The teams have used many of the same protocols that will be in place at their Bay Area ballparks such as selling tickets in socially-distanced pods and requiring fans to wear face coverings.
“It’s good to have (fans) in there,” Giants outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr. said following the team’s Cactus League opener. “It’s better than dead silence and fake noise coming in so I appreciate the fans coming out.”
Many fans of the Giants and A’s have already expressed their delight at Friday’s news on social media, including Matt McCarthy of Sacramento, an A’s fan who tweeted he’s “vaccinated and ready to roll.”
“Happy to play the drums again in Right Field with my fellow bleacher diehards!” A’s fan Bryanne Aler-Ningas said. “Hopefully everyone that comes back to the Coliseum follows the set guidelines so we can all enjoy this great team and great game again.”
Not everyone is certain they’ll be eager to attend games as soon as Opening Day, including Giants fan Gordon Edgar, a longtime Giants season-ticket holder who has been debating the idea of going to games for months.
“My wife and I will feel comfortable going to games once we are both vaccinated,” Edgar said. “I will be fully vaccinated by Opening Day but, unfortunately, my wife and I are in different
tiers so I am not sure when we can go together.”
The entire 2020 regular season was played in front of empty stadiums, which was challenging for lifelong fans such as Edgar who look at trips to the ballpark as a social outing.
“I miss the MUNI ride to the game, talking to our seat neighbors, betting how long under-dressed tourists will last before they buy sweatshirts or leave and
without going to games I felt more distant from the team,” Edgar said.
Both teams will continue to refine their health and safety protocols before the first games, but neither the A’s nor the Giants will have a trial run to welcome fans during exhibition games prior to Opening Day. At the beginning of February, the teams agreed to play their annual Bay Bridge exhibitions in Arizona at their spring training stadiums.
The Giants and A’s have both made efforts to publish health and safety protocols they plan to use at their ballparks this season on their websites prior to Friday’s announcement, which has made a strong impression on some of the fans who are excited to return to the Coliseum and Oracle Park.
“Given what the team is doing to protect fans, where case numbers are at, and the ramp-up of the vaccine we’re excited to take in home games with the team again,” A’s fan Matt Spiel said.