Giants on track for nearly 14,000 fans at the home opener

It’s exactly one month until the San Francisco Giants have their home opener, an afternoon affair against the Colorado Rockies on Friday, April 9.

When that day rolls around, it will have been 558 days since the Giants hosted a baseball game with fans. And it looks like the streak is coming to an end.

Last week, California Governor Gavin Newsom said that he expected MLB’s five organizations to all have fans in the stands for their April openers. And now it appears as though that will not only be true, but that the numbers will be pretty large as well.

San Francisco is currently on pace to enter the “orange tier” of the coronavirus pandemic within a few weeks. Pending approval from city officials, that would allow about 13,800 fans to occupy the hard plastic seats at Oracle Park for the home opener — and, barring any setbacks, the other 80 home games.

That is exciting, especially for local fans who are hankering to get back to the yard and experience some live sports for the first time in a long time. And while hopefully most of the fans in the park will have been vaccinated, it would be understandable if some people are still a little hesitant to attend a game, especially after what happened during Tuesday’s Spring Training game, with a much tinier crowd.

It’s still unclear when Oracle Park will be at full capacity. Perhaps this summer. Perhaps at the end of the year. Perhaps in 2022.

But based on the current trajectory, nearly 14,000 Giants fans will watch some baseball in person on a beautiful April afternoon.