The New York Yankees and all the teams in MLB will be playing games at the start of the season with no fans in the stands, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Yankee owner Hal Steinbrenner expects to see fans in the stands at some point in the season. He cites New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s wish to have that come true at Yankee Stadium. There will be no fake people in the stands, although there will be music and maybe crowd noise.
The New York Mets, on the other hand, will offer those that renew their season tickets for the 2021 season, they will be able to sit in the stands at Citi Field virtually. A cut out of their faces will be affixed to a weatherproof material. They will allow up to six cutouts for every six that renew. The Mets also said that they would offer cutouts for non-season ticket holders for purchase, but that part of the plan has not been released.
The coronavirus may cause many or all teams to go without fans in the stands for part or all of the season. With this in mind, many MLB teams are dreaming of a way to add atmosphere to the vacant parks. It is doubtful the paper faces in place or real screaming fans will be much help to players. It appears that it’s just a way for owners to make some money to offset the losses they will experience by having no fans in the stands and the loss of concession income.
Some of these cutouts won’t be inexpensive. The Los Angeles Dodgers will sell their cutouts for different amounts according to where they are placed in the stands. For those fans that want to see their cutout on TV, they can purchase cutouts that will be placed behind home plate for $299 for the season. Other placements at Dodger stadium will cost $149.
The New York Mets and the Los Angeles Dodgers are not the only teams to be offering cutouts to fans. The San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athletics and Milwaukee Brewers are among other teams selling cutouts, with the Giants offering them free to season ticket holders and selling them for $99 otherwise. The A’s priced their cutouts from $49 to $149.
The Los Angeles Angels and a few other teams are still deciding whether they will offer cutouts.
This season will feature many strange scenes, balls being thrown continuously out of play, to players and umpires being masked. They will also see a man automatically on 2nd base at the start of the 10th inning. They won’t see relief pitchers coming in to face one hitter that has been outlawed unless it’s the last out of the frame. For some fans, the strangest thing in this season will be paper cutouts of people enjoying the game. What’s next? The Korean teams are allowing stuffed animals to enjoy the game with their cutout owners.