SAUGET, Il. (KMOX) — 2020 didn't just wipe out the Gateway Grizzlies season. It wiped out their team and most of its staff.
But, the Frontier League team lived to host an opening day, which is Thursday night at GCS Ballpark.
"What we became was the best extra event or (youth level) baseball field in St. Louis," Grizzlies General Manager Steve Gomric told KMOX Wednesday. "This stadium, this facility, this staff...we're not built for that. So it's something, while we could get by barely, it would not be sustainable in the future."
The state of Illinois is limiting the Grizzlies to 60-percent capacity at home games. Gomric says they're roping off every other row, and you must buy tickets as a group to stay as a group.
"I expect by July 1st, the Gateway Grizzlies could be back in full-fledged action," Gomric says.
Concession stand workers will wear masks, but Gomric notes players and staff are "wholly vaccinated." He says fans will not be asked if they've been vaccinated.
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While the team is excited to kick off its 96-game schedule, Gomric says the Grizzlies are effectively re-building.
"It is like we're starting all over again. We have systems that, since they were down for two years, there's a lot of knowledge that has been lost. For the players, there's a lot of baseball muscle memory that has to be regained.
"Try not doing something for two years...whether its golf to working on a computer. If you haven't done it for two years, you misremember how things used to be and you have to re-educate yourself."
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Despite the struggles, Gomric says they weren't in the dire straits that the River City Rascals were before the team folded in 2019.
"(The Rascals) didn't have an ownership that was local and embedded in the community," Gomric stated. "The one thing you'll find about the Gateway Grizzlies is we are. This is our home, and every bit of the Grizzlies comes from this area."
And attracting fans from that area means the usual array of creative promotions, from bobbleheads featuring former St. Louis Cardinals catcher Ted Simmons to their famous Krispy Kreme donut burgers.
"I call it like a phoenix," Gomric stated of the Grizzlies in 2021. "We're rebuilding this group from the ashes. We will rise again."
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