One of the perks to living in Arizona is that every spring you have the opportunity to experience Spring Training in the Cactus League. Teams from across MLB arrive in the valley of the sun escaping the snow and cold that still clutches much of the country. Trucks arrive filled with baseball equipment followed by players coming from across the country and the world. It is a time filled with optimism as every team begins fresh with the hopes and dreams of making the playoffs and becoming world champions.

This year though is different, even more so than last year when spring training was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now nearly a year later the country and the world continues to battle this deadly disease and it is unclear when or if we will ever return to a normal life.

Spring Training normally is open to the general public and you can walk among the practice fields to see the players as they prepare for another season. This year all the spring training facilities were closed to the public. Players, coaches, and team officials go through daily safety and health protocols trying to protect them from being exposed to the virus.

MLB has been carefully monitoring the number of cases in both Florida and Arizona and adjusting practices and games as necessary. After initially releasing a schedule for both the Cactus and Grapefruit leagues, they had to re-adjust. This second schedule has remained in place and games have now begun.

The Diamondbacks announced Spring Training tickets would be available for sale. Within 24 hours the entire home schedule was sold out. I eagerly waited to be able to order. I had several computers and devices all trying to secure tickets. My diligence paid off; I was able to get tickets to one game. I tried for more but was lucky to get a single game.

I had two tickets to the Arizona Diamondbacks hosting the Colorado Rockies at Salt River Fields on March 9th. You didn’t buy tickets to the game, you purchased a “pod”. A “pod” represented a set of seats that were socially distanced to protect the fans as much as possible. “Pods” came in three sizes – 2, 4, or 6. This represented the number of people in your party. In my case all I could get was a “pod” of 2 meaning I had two tickets.

I decided to take my dad to the game. For the past three years he has spent the winter in Arizona and we spend time at the ballpark. These were some of my most favorite memories spending time watching and talking baseball with my father.

After getting the tickets which were electronic (paper tickets are not being printed for the 2021 spring training games), I also received a lengthy email outlining the new or adjusted rules that would be followed for spring training during COVID.

Cash is not accepted at the ballpark. All transactions are contactless. In the case of tickets and parking, those had to be purchased in advance using a credit card. Concessions and merchandise in the stadium were likewise strictly contactless using a credit card or some form of payment that did not require handing the other party anything.

Capacity of the spring training stadiums has also been limited based on MLB and health official rules. In the case of Salt River Fields at Talking Stick they were allowed to sell 25% capacity which equated to around 2,000 fans total. This is a far cry from the 14,000 cheering fans that normally attend spring training games.

We arrived at the stadium an hour before game time. The gates had just opened as we turned into the Desert parking lot located outside the third base entrance at SRF. There was no one attending the parking lot when I pulled in. The lot was completely empty except for one other car. A third car came in shortly after I did. As we parked and got out of the car another car arrived with a single person wearing a mask and rubber gloves that had me show my electronic parking voucher for him to scan.

We walked up to the stadium relatively alone. I think there were maybe six other people at the top of the hill waiting at the metal detectors. These were similar to what has been used the past couple of seasons. This year you had to remove your keys and cell phones like before but also now required me to remove my wallet too.

Security was there but there is no one using a wand or patting people down in any way. They did look through bags as in years past but that was done with more distance and a lot more care. People at security all were wearing masks and rubber gloves. As fans we were also required to wear masks at all times even in the seats.

Electronic tickets were scanned again without any touching and staying as safely apart as possible. Those waiting in line to go through the turnstiles were socially distanced and kept away from other fans.

Once we entered the stadium it was clear that the normal throngs of fans wandering around on the concourses were missing. There were people milling around but they were keeping their distance from one-another and everyone was wearing a mask.

My first stop was the team shop to get a few items to celebrate going to a game. Socially distanced spots were marked on the concrete and occupancy was limited to 12 shoppers at a time. Luckily, I was among the first 12 so I was able to enter without a wait. As game time approached more people were standing outside waiting for those inside to finish and leave so they could enter.

Interestingly enough, there was no 2021 Spring Training merchandise. There were shirts, pins, balls, and other items with the 2020 Spring Training logo but nothing for 2021. When I asked I was told that MLB didn’t think they would be able to have fans and therefore did not order anything with this year’s logo that would be for sale at the stadiums. There are some items but those are only available online.

We walked around the outfield beyond the grass. There were ushers at the top of the lawn seats. Looking down on the lawn, they have painted squares on the grass and ushers would take people to their assigned painted squares and they were not allowed to leave those squares unless they were leaving the lawn area. The squares like the seats were separated by social distance and were in “pods” of 2, 4, or 6.

Normally along the outfield there used to be sunscreen dispensers. Those had all been replaced with hand sanitizer dispensers. Along the concourse there were large signs reminding fans of social distancing rules, requirements for wearing masks, and symptoms for COVID-19.

The number of concessions and vendors were significantly lower than years past. Along the main concourse there were no concessions other than those built into Salt River Fields. Of those concessions still open, none took cash. Condiment stations were also limited and there were people all around cleaning areas as soon as people left.

We made our way down to our seats. Despite requesting “best seats available” and being among the first to try and get tickets the best I could get was Section 102 Row 11 which is next to the Rockies bullpen. At the top of the section were ushers who were all carrying signs reminding people they had to wear their masks at all times other than when actively eating or drinking.

The seats in the section were zip tied off so only certain seats could be occupied and those were in groups the size of the “pod” you had purchased. We were on the second row from the top of the section. In our row seat 1 was zip tied off, we had seats 2 and 3 then the remaining seats in our row down to the last 3 were zip tied off then 2 seats were open and the last seat on the other end of the row was zip tied off. The rows in front of us and behind us had 4 open seats in the center of the row and all other seats were zip tied off. This pattern went down to the bottom of the section. In total there were maybe 48 seats total that could be occupied.

Talking to the usher as he showed us our seats, he told us the managers meet before the game and decide how many innings would be played. For today’s game they decided they would play 7 ½ innings. This could be shortened at the managers’ discretion, but we were guaranteed at least 5 innings.

There was no National Anthem singer the song was played on the organ by Diamondbacks organist Bobby Freeman but in many cases it is recorded and played via the PA system. No one would throw out a ceremonial first pitch, that had also been eliminated. The seventh inning stretch included standing but no singing. Take Me Out to the Ballgame was again played on the organ.

Another health safety rule was that at any time a manager could determine their team had been in the field long enough and could yell, “Roll it over”. At that time the inning concluded and teams would change places. That happened once in the game with the Diamondbacks in the field. There was only one out at the time.

The game was announced as a sellout even though the majority of seats were empty due to social distancing. It was an odd site. The whole game felt more like an Arizona Fall League game than it did a major league spring training game.

Despite the strange rules, limited fan interaction (no autographs are allowed and there were signs that said players could not throw balls into the stands although many of the players ignored that rule much to the enjoyment of the kids receiving the ball), it was still amazing. It reminded me of a time when things seemed normal. After a year without baseball, any game regardless of the rules felt like a gift.

Sadly, the Diamondbacks lost and this was the only game I would attend all spring. But as I left the park I still had a smile on my face even though no one could see it through my facemask. Here’s hoping that things continue to start to get back to some level of normalcy and baseball can somehow find a way to allow fans to safely attend games again.