Spring training kicks off in SWFL after 99-day lockout

Reporter: Michael Hudak Writer: Matthew Seaver
Published:

The first spring training workouts started on Monday after a 99-day lockout threatened to keep spring training from happening at all.

Fans are looking forward to the first spring training games with a filled stadium on Thursday after COVID-19 and then a lockout kept them from attending.

Hits, runs, errors, the sounds of coaches yelling to their players on the field, those are the sights and sounds of baseball, and those sounds help to make the game what it is.

The backbone of the sport was outside the stadium waiting in line for tickets. “I haven’t been able to go for the last two years because of covid and then there was the lockout so I didn’t think it was going to happen,” said Alex Charecky, a baseball fan and player.  “It was very sad.”

Charecky is 12-years old, and while his dream is to play in the big leagues someday, he also has dreams of watching the game he loves. The pandemic and the lockout rained on his parade for too long, but now that the rain delay is over.

WINK News asked the Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom how important the agreement between players and the league is for baseball and its fans.

“It is, I think for anybody who loves this game… Such a relief,” said Bloom “It was tough emotionally not knowing the prospect of not having a full season. Just realizing how fortunate we are to do what we do. And this is yet another reminder. We are just so fired up.”

The first spring training game between the Twins and the Red Sox is this Thursday, March 17.

Major League Baseball’s opening day is April 7.

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