They opened the gates at last on Thursday, six months after the end of a brief and surreal regular season played before no fans. Opening day for 2021 brought none of the usual standing-room-only crowds; with limited capacities, the games looked more like sleepy gatherings in mid-April. But the buzz was authentic, and there’s nothing like the real thing.
“Having fans here will make a big difference,” said the Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio, whose team hosted the Minnesota Twins. “We came to games here last year to see some cardboard cutouts, empty stands, fake sound. It was like the twilight zone.