Delmarva Shorebirds planning return to field as sporting venue capacities are rolled back

SALISBURY, Md. – The Delmarva Shorebirds say they’re in the process of figuring out seating arrangements. This coming after Governor Larry Hogan announced capacity limits at sporting venues will be increased to 50%. “Now that we have this information from Governor Hogan of what we can expect when we open come May 4th – and who knows what will change between now and May 4th – we’re hoping to work off of the current knowledge of what we can have from a capacity standpoint. Our team is working on finalizing the layout of the facility,” said Delmarva Shorebirds General Manager Chris Bitters.

Bitters says they’re also working to make sure they’re ready to go with sanitizing equipment and PPE. He adds that while this season won’t look like previous ones, the team is still super excited to get back out on the field and see their fans after missing out on them all last year. “Our fans are like a big family. A lot of the faces that we see at the ball park nightly are regulars. Our staff has been around for a while. So, normally opening day for us is kind of a welcome home. This year it won’t be the hugs and the handshakes that we normally do. It may be air fist bumps or elbows, or whatever’s appropriate,” said Bitters.

Bitters adds that part of preparing to reopen has been speaking to and working with other minor league franchises to compare what’s been working for them. He also says they’re looking at both MLB COVID-19 guidelines and state guidelines to see how they can be as compliant as possible. “There’s certain things and guidelines the MLB is giving us, and then there’s guidelines that state and local jurisdictions  have given us, and you have to work off of which one of those is more restrictive. So the state may be more restrictive, or the MLB more restrictive, and you have to marry those as you build the manifest,” said Bitters.