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The New York Yankees and New York Mets can officially look forward to having fans sitting in the stands for the 2021 season.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced that Major League Baseball may have fans in attendance in New York this season. Governor Cuomo delivered the wonderful news alongside former Yankees legend CC Sabathia during a COVID-19 briefing in the city.

Both teams — all outdoor stadiums — will be allowed to host fans at 20% capacity. Fans must also show proof of vaccination or negative test result. News of the decision was further posted to Governor Cuomo’s official Twitter.

This is welcome news for all involved. The pandemic kept fans out of stadiums last year for health and safety reasons. Throw in an abbreviated 60-game season uncharacteristic of the game, and baseball just wasn’t the same.

But even at 20% capacity, this is a sign that a return to normalcy is indeed coming.

 

JB’s Take

And on this writer’s end, this is the best news we’ve had all week. New York has already started letting some fans back in at sporting events, namely at Madison Square Garden and the Barclays Center.

However, there’s just something different about the crowd at a baseball game. Maybe it’s the idea of being outdoors and among fellow fans. Perhaps it’s the lingering stadium aroma of beer, hot dog grease, popcorn salt, and peanut shells. This is a big win not just for Major League Baseball, the Yankees, and Mets, but for the fans.

And as someone who receives his second dose of the vaccine next week, it can now be made official. Somehow, someway, yours truly will be stepping foot inside Yankee Stadium this year after being gone for way too long.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go prepare my stadium attire accordingly.

Josh Benjamin has been a staff writer at ESNY since 2018. He has had opinions about everything, especially the Yankees and Knicks. He co-hosts the “Bleacher Creatures” podcast and is always looking for new pieces of sports history to uncover, usually with a Yankee Tavern chicken parm sub in hand.