Under normal circumstances, Opening Day would be a time for excitement and hope. A marker signalling the cold winter had passed and the warmer days of spring and summer were ahead. We’d listen to Dave Niehaus’s famous poem “Welcome Back Baseball” and feel the old comfort of another baseball season.
Nothing is normal in 2020 and there were many who wondered if we should welcome baseball back at all this year. Yet here we are. Spring has passed and we’re already in the midst of summer. Feelings of excitement and hope have been replaced by trepidation and anxiety.