2/28
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| How it is these days |
It’s been almost a whole year since I’ve sat inside a ballpark and watched a real baseball game with real people. March 7th, 2020…Bradenton, Florida. Pirates and Yankees, my two favorite teams. The beginning of my last week of what was. The last week BC…before Corona. But that’s another story still to be told.
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| Ed Smith Stadium |
I’m in Sarasota. It’s sunny and 85 degrees. Opening day of the 2021 Spring Training Grapefruit League season. I find a $12 parking spot and walk to Ed Smith stadium enjoying its Spanish mission style exterior. Then it’s time for baseball in coronavirusworld.
You can only buy tickets in “pods.” Only entry by digital ticket. I came early expecting an opening day giveaway but none because of hand contact issues. Pandemic “heroes” will be honored before the game and the first pitch will be thrown and star-spangled banner sung virtually on the scoreboard. No programs are sold….hand contact again. So for the first time ever I keep score on folded paper towels from the restroom.
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| play ball! |
Some things are still the same. You can still buy a crab cake sandwich like back in Baltimore. The seats come from Camden Yards in Baltimore. The Orioles…like the Yankees…will wear their traditional home whites instead of spring training orange and black. When Trey Mancini steps unto bat after missing a year to colon cancer, he gets a standing ovation from all the fans and both teams. And he lines a single to center for another ovation.
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| a visitor from Baltimore... |
It’s strange to be in a park a quarter full. Everyone in masks. But still it's baseball. After a miserable 2020 season, I see Greg Polanco homer to left and the new young star, KeBryan Hayes, who I’ve been watching in Florida (and twice in Trenton) the last three years leg out a triple to the deep left corner. In 2019 I saw him hit a walk off grand slam against the Red Sox. By mutual agreement, they end the game after 8 innings.
It’s been a year. It’s coronavirusworld. But it’s baseball and I’m there.
3/1
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| Sun Skyway |
I’ve crossed over the Sun Skyway Bridge, which always terrifies me…..I always feel I will sail off the top and wind up in the water….and made my way to Dunedin. Here the modern TD Ballpark is nestled in a cozy neighborhood. I find a friendly woman who offers a place on her lawn for $5. Lots of the same issues here. I shouldn’t be surprised to find no giveaways and once again, no programs. This time I brought along my own paper. I make good use of the sunscreen stations. No standing around, you must proceed to your seat. Which is the only place you are allowed to eat or drink. Or take off your mask. (Only while actively eating or drinking…) And I notice after I use the hand rail for my climb up to my row, the usher immediately wipes it down. Like Sarasota, 75% of the seats are cut off from use with plastic ties.
There are fewer people in Dunedin. They are a Canadian team and their fans are cut off by our closed border.
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| pregame ritual |
That same closed border is going to keep the Jays in Dunedin to open their regular season. Both O Canada and the Star Spangled Banner sr once again rendered virtually.
The top and coming Blue Jays and prospect laden Pirate play to a 2-2 tie with Pirates’ centerfield candidate Tony Alford homering to center. Like obj game of a minor league double header, this game ends after 7.
3/2
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| LeCom Park |
Finally a game in Bradenton, the Pirates’ spring home for over 50 years. McKechnie Filed at Le Com Park. The original Spanish mission style ballpark and the second oldest ballpark to Boston’s Fenway still in use. I look for my regular parking place at the Daily Bread Soup Kitchen and stop at the Darwin Brewery. There’s a pop up Korean barbecue outside which is the best ball game lunch I had anywhere. Korean tacos.
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| How far to.... |
Of course, no giveaways. One of my prized possessions is a "spring training” coffee mug from 2019. But the contact concern wipes that out. Again no programs and I really do not understand the issue here. But surprise! There are scorecards on request! I could hug them. But clearly not. One more unexpected cost of covid…no Iron City. The reduced seating capacity means fewer beers…too cost prohibitive for Iron City to ship out down from Pittsburgh. I will miss that taste of home…907 miles away, the sign says.
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| opening day at LeCom |
Today the lowly Tigers are whacking the Pirates pitchers around and only a double by Ke’Bryan to deep center and the second homer in three days by non-roster free agent Todd Frazier stand out. And today’s game, on a perfect sunny day, ends after 5 like a rain out game. I find these early endings, especially 5, to be annoying and a bit of a cheat. I’m trying to understand the reasoning . Part of it has to do with the greatly reduced number of players allowed in the dugout. But still…you know?
Time for one more Korean taco and Korean iced coffee from K-Bap Barbecue on the way home. If I squinted my eyes a little, I could almost feel like normal. I’m sure the Pirates’ performance is a good indicator of what the regular season will look like. It’s still coronaviriusworld. But it’s baseball. And like a runner taking a lead off third, we’re getting closer all the time. Not home yet, but getting there.
