It smelled like a ballgame, like a day I might have had before the pandemic ever happened. Suddenly immersed in a sensory experience that I forgot I still remembered. That sounds like sap and trying to make something new out of a cliche, but it was more visceral than sentimental. The media entrance lets you out onto the concourse, and it felt like stepping back in time or into a movie. It’s what I picture when I picture myself at a game. I grew up 15 minutes away and have seen dozens or maybe hundreds of games here. I arrive after the afternoon game is already underway. It’s 107 miles from Yankee Stadium to Citizens Bank Park in South Philly. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum) Reason to be raucous in Philly The Phillies mobbed Jean Segura, center, after he knocked in the winning run in extra innings. Also New York mayoral candidate Andrew Yang is there. I meet a 2-year-old named John Derek, after Jeter, attending his first ever Yankees game, along with 10 family members and their friends. It's been a really tough year for a lot of people.” “We're happy to socially distance, we're happy to get tested or whatever you need to do to give a little bit of semblance of normalcy back to everything. “We're just happy for the opportunity,” Bella says. It’s a sentiment echoed succinctly by a sign that says “JUST HAPPY TO BE HERE” made by Lia Bella and Michael Mayer. “Missed being here though, that's for sure,” he says. Last year, at home on Long Island, they took the TV outside to watch a belated opening day played in an empty stadium. He calls it birthright for his family, which has had season tickets since 1997. “It was worth it for us, to be here and be part of history.” “We had to take a rapid antigen this morning,” says Jason Rivera, who was there with his son. The whole thing runs surprisingly smoothly. With an intonation usually saved for hawking hot dogs and beer: “Please have your vaccination cards out with your ID. They wield thermometers, and check documentation, or else issue repetitive reminders. A small army of staff patrols the pavilions just outside the gates to make this feasible and as fast as possible. “Like all the protocols they have, it was a nightmare.”Īt Yankee Stadium, fans and media members must show proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test. If anything, “it's a little over and beyond,” he says. He would have gone then, too, if they’d let him, and he feels plenty comfortable now with the safety measures. He’s 48 and says he hasn’t missed an opening day in over 20 years. “Honestly, if I didn't have a ticket, I still would have came here to be in the parking lot,” says a fan who calls himself Fast C and won’t give me his real name. It is not tailgate weather, it is not drink-beers-before-noon weather, it is barely baseball weather except when you consider that a couple of years ago the Yankees’ home opener was snowed out because this is what early April in New York does at the worst possible time.ĭespite the wet chill, some significant portion of the 10,850 fans that the Yankees are admitting to start the season have arrived 2 1/2 hours before first pitch to act like it is tailgate weather. But it is 40 degrees and raining in the Bronx at 10:30 a.m. I told my editor that I wouldn’t write about the weather. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens) Braving the conditions at Yankee Stadium The Boston Red Sox are the reigning World Series champions, having beaten the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2018 to claim their ninth World Series title.Baseball fans around the country got to watch their hometown teams in person for the first time since 2019. Teams play 162 games over the season, which culminates in the World Series, a best-of-seven championship series between the top two teams which takes place in October. ![]() A total of 30 teams play in the National League (NL) and American League (AL) - 15 in each.
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