Having to play with no or few fans takes a big toll on players, so it is vital to get stands filled as soon as possible, former Major League Baseball standout Lenny Dykstra tells Newsmax TV.
Thursday was Opening Day, and most teams allowed limited seating of fans after last year’s season cut short by COVID with games played in empty stadiums.
“It’s a big toll,” Dykstra said Thursday to “Spicer & Co.” hosts Sean Spicer and Lyndsay Keith. “I mean, as as a player, not having fans in the stadium is very difficult to get motivated.”
Opening Day is a big day to players, too, he said, second only to the World Series itself, so the Mets and Nationals having their Opening Day game canceled after at least three Washington players tested positive for COVID was significant.
“Opening Day is like a huge deal, and so that’s unfortunate,” Dykstra said, “but I still say this COVID thing is — we’re in uncharted water, and it’s gonna be hard to predict and see how it plays out because it’s still, we’re not stable yet.”
Dykstra said that at some point MLB will have to let more fans into the ballparks. Revenues are being cut while players still have to be paid.
“I flew to New York the other day. It’s filled with people sitting not further apart than fans would sit at a baseball game,” Dykstra said. Temperature checks or other measures could ensure a safe experience for fans, he added.
“What can be going on in the stands watching baseball games?”
Meanwhile, COVID is stifling recruiting since scouts are unable to watch high school players, he added.
Last year’s delayed start to the season, which was shortened to just a 60-game schedule, and the decision not to allow fans except at the National League Championship Series and World Series, took a chunk out of the league’s bottom line.
As MLB works to bounce back from its annus horribilis, fans can expect new health and safety protocols at ballparks across the country, with all the clubs allowing at least some fans to attend their games including the Texas Rangers, the only team that will start its season with 100% capacity.
Basic measures like mask-wearing and social distancing will be part of the protocol at all stadiums, while individual teams will be permitted to enforce their own enhanced measures.
While MLB did not mandate a COVID-19 vaccine or test for fans, the New York Yankees and New York Mets, which are each allowing 20% capacity to start the season in accordance with state guidelines, will require attendees to show proof of inoculation or a negative test.
The Milwaukee Brewers, which will operate at 25% capacity, last week said they were going entirely cashless inside American Family Field and said they were encouraging fans to opt for mobile concession ordering.
President Joe Biden has suggested the MLB All-Star Game, set this year to be played in Atlanta, be moved because of the state’s new election law that has been criticized by some as racist and a return to the Jim Crow era.
Dykstra said he couldn’t disagree more with the president, telling Newsmax, “Whatever he says, do the opposite, and you’re good.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
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Source: Newmax
