No Red Sox fan restrictions on Fenway Park
It’s easy to forget that it was just a year ago when less than 4,500 fans watched the Red Sox get shut out by the Orioles to kick off the 2021 season. For the first two months of last year, Covid-19 restrictions limited Fenway Park’s capacity to well under its usual standard. As eerie as it was in 2020 to see the Red Sox play in an empty stadium, it was nearly as weird to see the stadium a tenth of the way filled with socially distanced and masked-up spectators.
Fortunately, things are a lot different now. Capacity restrictions were lifted in late May of last year, and the Red Sox played in front of packed stadiums through the rest of the season. We saw just how much an impact a Fenway Park crowd could make in last year’s postseason, as the Red Sox enjoyed arguably the greatest home-field advantage during their playoff run. The fans completely rattled Gerrit Cole in the wild card game before playing a significant impact in the ALDS upset of the Rays.
An entire season playing in front of the raucous Fenway Faithful should give them even more of a boost.