hogan873

I was wondering who he was barking at

I am not a season ticket holder, and I received an email with a link where I can sign up for notifications when (if) tickets are available for games after season ticket holders have had an opportunity to buy. I don't expect tickets to trickle all the way down to the general public, but you never know.

Certain vaccinations are required for school attendance and even by some employers, as you said. I don't see sports teams or concert venues requiring (or even being able to require) proof of COVID vaccination. However, by the time every person who wants to vaccinated is vaccinated, we can't let the anti-vaxxers keep everyone else from getting back to normal. You don't want the vaccine, don't go to a game or take your chances.

No one is really sure if it does or not. But, even if it doesn't, being vaccinated all but prevents severe illness. So, if everyone in a room (or stadium) is vaccinated, everyone could be a carrier, but no one is going to have to be hospitalized or be at risk for dying.

The guidelines released today could be seen as a gateway to concert/sports venues requiring vaccination proof for admittance. I'm not sure that would ever happen, but with the CDC saying vaccinated people congregating together do not need to wear masks or social distance, teams could damn near fill a stadium by mid summer with vaccinated fans.

My guess is that the majority of games will "sell out". People are anxious to get back to seeing games live. I can already hear the tick, tick, tick of the ticket prices increasing on third party sites.

I voted for Lucroy as both who I think should and who I think will. I give him the edge over Collins for two reasons: Veteran presence behind the plate and a better offensive compliment to Grandal. I like Collins, and I agree with other posters' sentiments that he can be a good hitter. I do, however, worry about his ability behind the plate. Overall, though, I don't think Collins would get the exposure necessary to improve as much as he can. Grandal will most likely catch the bulk of the games (120+), and the team most likely has their DH in Vaughn. That means Collins might get 30-40 games and 140-160 plate appearances. I think he may end up being traded at the deadline, hopefully giving him a shot elsewhere.

With Grandal sidelined, we've seen a lot of the potential backups. The Sox have hinted that they will not carry three catchers. If that's the case, who gets the backup job? Who do you think should get the job?

Robert is fast.

I thought I recognized the voice.

Who is that announcing with Kasper?

Another nice pitch.

Nice curve from Ruiz.

Why does Zavala look different? I didn't recognize him. Or did I just forget what he looked like?

It's amazing how far we've come from months ago when we were seeing 10K+.

I'd imagine if the 30% gets approved we'll see an increase in cost of tickets sold on third party sites (Seat Geek, StubHub, etc.). Right now, aside from opening day, tickets aren't terribly expensive on Seat Geek. Season ticket holders probably have a good opportunity to make some cash this year.

Don't forget about afterwards, too. In 2019, we took the train up to see a game for the first time, and when walking back to the Metra stop I found a "vendor" selling beer for $3 a can. Picked up a couple for the train ride home.

Yeah, the bottom 4 could be Grandal, Robert, Eaton/Engel, and Madrigal. That's a tough lineup that can kill opposing teams with power AND speed.

Phillies allowing 20% capacity (8800 fans).

Brewers are going to allow 25% capacity on opening day. I expect more and more teams to start announcing that they will be allowing fans. I still wouldn't expect the Sox or Cubs to announce anything for a couple weeks.

Cardinals are allowing 32% capacity on opening day. That's encouraging.

Teams are planning now and would most likely be ready to allow fans by opening day. They're not going to wait until the city/state to say it's okay before making plans. The August 1 date is probably realistic for full or nearly full attendance IF we have herd immunity by then. Some NBA and NHL teams have begun allowing fans, and these are smaller, indoor venues. I only know about the Pittsburgh Penguins because I follow them, but officials notified them they could allow fans (18%), and they started selling tickets yesterday for games starting today. The team had been planning for the allowance of fans and was able to get the ball rolling immediately. I'm certain the Sox and Cubs (and all MLB teams) are ready.

But it's not NOT opening day. No one is going to say, "Yes there will be fans in the stands on opening day" right now because it's still too early. Positivity rates are dropping, vaccination rate are climbing, so things are looking up. If things continue to improve, I would not be surprised if very limited attendance is allowed on opening day. But, we won't hear anything, one way or the other, for a few weeks.

I'm pretty optimistic this is true, and I agree that they won't say anything until agreements have been reached between the teams and the city, state, etc. And to your point about concessions, that certainly could be an issue. Limited attendance, scaled down options, and well-trained vendors will help ensure things run smoothly.

The key with the vaccines and which one you'd ultimately want, right now Fauci and other health officials are saying take whatever vaccine is available to you. They all greatly reduce risk of hospitalization and death. I saw an interesting tidbit on the news the other day when they were talking about appointments being cancelled/postponed, specially in the wake of the severe weather. Health officials are now saying you can get your second shot of Pfizer/Moderna up to 6 weeks after your first shot. My guess is that ultimately they'll find that a person could go significantly longer between shots. Every day, we learn more about the virus and about the vaccines.