Ask any MLB player, and my hunch is that one thing they're most looking forward to for the 2021 MLB season is the return of some amount of fans.
If you're a Rangers player at Globe Life Field on Opening Day, that means 100 percent capacity, or more than 40,000 fans in attendance, which some people — like myself and Joe Biden — think is a poor decision. If you're on the Red Sox, you can expect around 4,500 fans to be cheering you on, with Fenway Park at 12 percent capacity for Opening Day. And if you're on the Atlanta Braves, like Dansby Swanson, you can expect a happy medium, with approximately 13,500 fans (or 33 percent capacity) allowed for their April 9 home opener.
And though Swanson is obviously excited to welcome fans to Truist Park as the season kicks off and a small sense of normalcy returns, he actually drew some positives from the no-fan experience in the unprecedented 2020 campaign.
“Obviously we love the fans, but there was such a sense of uniqueness and purity to the game of baseball last year because there was nobody there,” Swanson said on a Zoom call, where he and softball player Haylie McCleney surprised youth baseball and softball players with Dick's Sporting Goods gift cards (via Michael LoRé of Forbes). “It felt like backyard baseball a little bit. It was our nine versus your nine and let’s fight it out until the end, and I thought that was so cool."
No, '90s kids. He's not talking about the "Backyard Baseball" video game, though I'll admit that this is what my mind automatically defaults to when I hear the term "backyard baseball." But the point is kind of the same — an environment that felt a lot looser and, from how he describes it, perhaps less commercialized.
“I felt guys were really able to feel comfortable in their own skin more so last year feeling they could enjoy themselves and goof off and have fun just because there was nothing else going on other than the game and hanging out with your buddies," Swanson said. "It was an enjoyable year—a lot different and some things that were really tough—but we were able to get through it and it was a pretty successful year for us.”
Then again, the aforementioned "things that were really tough" obviously weighed on players, and Swanson explained how difficult it was for a lot of players around the league to adjust to the new conditions.
“When you’re on the road, those four walls of the hotel room start closing in on you pretty quick,” Swanson said. “That made it kind of tough just feeling a little bit isolated at times like that. You find a way to get through it whether reading a book, writing in a journal or whatever it may be. That part was tough.
“I think a lot of guys have routines when they go to certain cities whether it’s a coffee place they like to go to or a restaurant, and having all that taken out of your plans can be a little tough. We as athletes are pretty routine-oriented people, so when that gets disrupted that makes it tough.”
And it's not as though some of these factors won't continue as the new, temporary norm. A positive COVID-19 case within the Washington Nationals organization the day before the season kicked off is a pretty good example of that.
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But with fans back in the stadium, that "backyard baseball" feel will be hard to come by, with music blaring and sudden cheers (or boos) erupting all around. And though Swanson may have liked that amateurish feel, I doubt he'd have it any other way for 2021.
And now, as a completely unnecessary exercise, here are "Backyard Baseball" — yes, that version — comparisons to a few names on the Braves.
— Ronald Acuna Jr. as Kiesha Phillips: With maxed out batting and running attributes, and with coordination that makes her "a logical choice for the outfield" in her game description, Phillips mirrors Acuna's embodiment of power and speed.
— Freddie Freeman as Pablo Sanchez: Though Acuna has a good argument for the top honor among all "Backyard Baseball" character comparisons, we've got to give the 2020 MVP his props.
— Dansby Swanson as Stephanie Morgan: A well-rounded infielder devoid of any weaknesses.
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