GOODYEAR, Arizona – Cincinnati Reds baseball is back and so are the fans.
Their Cactus League opener against Cleveland at Goodyear Ballpark was a sellout: 2,211 fans, or 20% of the usual capacity. Pitcher José De León joked that it felt like 2,500% capacity after playing without fans for so long.
“I actually missed the bus and David (Bell) was driving us and he was like, ‘wow, look, there's fans,’” Kyle Farmer said. “We were like, ‘wow, it's really weird.’ But it was awesome. Seems normal now. It feels great to have those people in the stands.