Tim Dahlberg rounds up the feel good stories of the start of the exhibition season. Trey Mancini returned from cancer, Tommy Pham returned from a stabbing, and fans returned to the stands. The last is providing a boost to the moral of the players:

“I hit a ground ball but just hearing the fans kind of spark up,” Yankees slugger Aaron Judge said. “You hear that instant crowd reaction. Kind of had little butterflies getting back to your first at-bat.”

That was pretty much the reaction from players around both the Cactus and Grapefruit leagues. They were not only happy to be playing again, but thrilled by the return of fans to the spring training ballparks,

Turns out crowds matter in sports, even if it took a pandemic for players to fully appreciate them.

Chrom.com

I’m hoping to get together with my old friends for our annual ballpark trip this year. The 2020 season was the first in a very long time that I did not attend a game.