Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
Baseball is back.
And so are fans at Oracle Park.
Beginning with next week’s April 9 home opener, the Oracle Park seats will again be occupied. The Giants have gotten the city’s approval for as much as 22 percent of the park to be filled, which would be about 9,000 people.
Fans will be in socially distanced pods, wearing masks and bringing proof of either vaccination from the coronavirus or a recent negative test.
Any fan 12 years and older who is not vaccinated needs to provide a negative test result received within 72 hours of that day’s game. Fans 18 and over can show this test result through CLEAR’s Health Pass on the CLEAR mobile app, or anyone can bring an electronic or paper copy of their negative test. The Giants “strongly encourage,” they said, a PCR test rather than a rapid antigen test.
The park will be open to any fan fully vaccinated, which is defined as completion of the two-dose regimen of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, administered two weeks or more before that day’s game.
Fans under 12 do not need to provide proof of vaccinations or test results.
“We are very excited and are looking forward to welcoming fans back home to Oracle Park,” Giants president and CEO Larry Baer said in a release. “We want to thank our fans for their ongoing patience, cooperation and support as we navigate the challenges of the pandemic.”
For fans inside the park, there will be specific entry and exit gates, concessions and restrooms in hopes there will be no congregating at one spot. All food and beverage will be ordered through a mobile app, and there will be order pick-ups at the concession stands.
Large gatherings at or near the park still are prohibited.
The protocols will remain in place at least through the first homestand, and game tickets will be sold on a monthly basis for now, with first priority to season-ticket holders.
The Giants will open their season Thursday in Seattle, which also should have about 9,000 fans in the stands. Baseball has returned, but a sense of normalcy, too.