The Yankees were unsuccessful in their spring debut, dropping a 6-4 decision to the Blue Jays at Steinbrenner Field – but for the first time in almost a year, the Yankees got to play in front of live fans.
Roughly 2,500 fans – 25 percent of Steinbrenner Field’s capacity – were allowed to attend the game, the first time since last March the Yankees had a crowd. Three players who took part in the opener – Aaron Judge, Gleyber Torres, and starter Mike King – as well as Tyler Wade and manager Aaron Boone spoke about that feeling, so here’s a quick quotebook on fans returning to Yankees baseball!
AARON JUDGE: “For me, one of my favorite things is interactions; in between innings, the energy and roar when you run out there, hearing them yelling – you feed off that, so it was pretty exciting finally having them back. I was sitting in the cold tub with Gleyber (Torres) and DJ (LeMahieu), and we all felt a few butterflies getting back! In my first at-bat I hit a ground ball, but you hear that instant crowd reaction, and I’m glad they’re back. Even though it wasn’t a packed house, something is better than nothing. A couple fans were yelling to play catch, and I missed those moments, but you try to be smart about that.”
GLEYBER TORRES: “It felt really good, and I was really excited to see fans in the stands. It feels more normal. We were happy to see people in the stands getting loud, it was great. I felt like it was the first day of school. It helps us stay motivated and focused, and it will be great as we can get more and more.”
MIKE KING: “It felt great, a lot more normal. Even with only 2,500 or so fans, it still felt loud. Obviously, compared to nothing, it’s a lot louder, but it was nice to just see movement as opposed to cardboard cutouts. Just having lively people was different! It’s awesome to have fans, even just getting into a 3-2 count and getting the slow clap. It was a lot more fun than it has been.”
MIKE KING ON HEARING INDIVIDUAL FANS: “No, I really didn’t – I’ve always tried to stay locked in and not hear anything. My sister always yells for me and I never hear her so she gets made! But even with the small crowd it was much more of a roar than we’ve been used to.”
TYLER WADE: “We were buzzing today. It felt like the music was a little louder, and felt like old times, the energy was there.”
AARON BOONE: “I felt it. Even on the bench where we are just outside the dugout, I made reference to it a couple times with the coaches how nice it was. I saw a highlight before we walked out of BP and saw a kid chasing a ball that went over the fence...to have some interaction with the fans was cool. It's been too long. I think the barriers they put up still make for more separation than you're used to, so it's not quite the interaction as when everything is normal, but I think today was a day where a lot of people were just excited to be back at the ball field."
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