It’s been one year since baseball stopped…

A year ago today the baseball season was put on pause and life as we knew it changed. Looking at a timeline of the days leading up to March 12, 2020 really puts the decisions into perspective. The rest of the Spring training games were cancelled and MLB made the decision to push the regular season back by 2 weeks. 365 days later, we now know that the 2020 season ended up being delayed much longer than two weeks. Little did we know then that the entire regular season and first round of playoffs would be played without fans in the stands.

When MLB shut Spring Training down, I was two weeks shy of work trip with Pantone 294. Of course I was bummed about breaking my ST attendance streak but I was even more worried about the impact this would have on the regular season and my job that I grew to love. Our entire existence was based off of traveling to Dodger games at away stadiums. Without fans in the stands, we were left watching the 2020 games at home on our couch and having to cancel all of our trips for the season. As a company, just like all the other fans, we had to adapt to this new normal when it came to consuming the sport that we love.

That two week opening day delay ended up being and almost 4 month delay with MLB starting their regular season in late July. Even then, it was without fans for the foreseeable future. We made it through a 60 game regular season and a modified postseason where the Los Angeles Dodgers came out on top as World Series champions. A lot of fans have come out to say that the 2020 World Series shouldn’t count or that it was a fake season but everyone had the same opportunity as the Dodgers. Every team had to face the obstacles of this modified season and it doesn’t lessen the accomplishment by the 2020 team. I even wrote a blog about it that you can read here.

Although it’s been 365 days since baseball came to a screeching halt we’re still not back to “normal,” who knows when and if we will ever get back to life as we knew it. Some teams are having a small percentage of fans at Opening Day games with social distancing guidelines in order. The Texas Rangers are even having 100 percent capacity with a mask requirement at their Opening Series. All I know is that I miss attending baseball game with family and friends. I miss hearing the crack of the bat and and the roar of the crowd when someone on the home team hits a moonshot. I can’t wait to safely attend a baseball game with fans all around me.