By Larry (Baron) Shenk

Philadelphia Phillies

Baseball’s season was delayed a year ago to a July 24 opener because of the pandemic. When a 60-game season began, it was far from normal. The new normal included ballparks without fans.

For the first time in 550 days, there was a Phillies game before fans on Thursday. Health and safety protocols limited the number of seats available to 8,500. Fans were space distanced into pods of two or four seats, solos and a few six-seaters. Pods of seats is a new addition to the many new normal phrases we’ve heard over the past 13 months … stay at home, wear a mask, space distance, wash your hands.

YES, game #1 was one small step toward normalcy. Consider……

Last year’s cardboard cutouts were nowhere to be found. Real people were in the stands.

“I’ll tell you what, 8,800 people can make a lot of noise in a ballpark that seats about 44,000,” manager Joe Girardi said post-game. “And they’re kind of spread out. So … God, it was great. It was great to see. It was great to hear. And I look forward to Saturday.”

The first mask-muffled boo came with the pre-game introductions of the Braves. Fans were ready.

A foul ball became a fan souvenir, a first since game 161 of the 2019 season.

Broadcaster Larry Andersen rolled out his first shallow thought, “Fans move a lot better going after foul balls than cardboard cutouts.”

A second boo came when a fan botched a foul ball in the top of the third inning.

PA announcer Dan Baker was back after missing most of last year’s mini season because of a health issue. His voice provided more normalcy.

Greg Luzinski manned his BBQ stand, masked and space distanced. (Please remove your mask when munching on BBQ ribs).

Phandemic Krew members who became famous by peeking at a game from behind a fence outside Ashburn Alley last year were now seated inside the park. They no longer needed ladders to watch.

It was the first April game for the Phillies since Game No. 4 two years ago.

Aaron Nola batted, a first for a Phillies pitcher since the second last game in 2019. Remember there was a universal designated hitter in 2020.

Nola laid down two sacrifice bunts. Yes, bunts were not normal in last year’s new normal.

A replay review drew a loud response from fans, something that couldn’t happen a year ago. They were certain of the outcome when they saw it on Phanavision.

When Bryce Harper was ruled out after a two-minute, 45 second replay delay, fans booed.

The Phillies won in extra innings with scoreless pitching from the bullpen. That didn’t happen in last season’s new normal.

After J.T. Realmuto scored the winning run, celebrations took place on the field and in the stands. A year ago, wins were celebrated with air horns by the Phandemic Krew.

Don’t know how many games the Phillies will win. I’ll gladly settle for 60 losses …. a giant leap for fankind.