Phillies appreciate ‘normalcy’ of having fans back in ballpark at exhibition opener

Joe Girardi has attended spring training games in Lakeland, Fla. -- first as a player, then a manager -- for roughly 25 years. He goes for the baseball, of course. But something else always catches the Phillies manager’s eye.

“They have a really good-looking strawberry shortcake in Lakeland,” Girardi said. “Not that I’ve ever tasted it, but you see them in the stands. I always look forward to seeing that.”

It’s actually a local delicacy. Lakeland, located east of Tampa, was founded in 1885 as a citrus- and strawberry-growing town. Naturally, then, the shortcake is sold at concession stands in Joker Marchant Stadium, spring training home of the Detroit Tigers.

» READ MORE: Phillies pitchers walk nine batters in 10-2 exhibition-opener loss to Detroit Tigers

Girardi figured he would catch a glimpse, maybe even a waft, of it Sunday when the Phillies opened their exhibition schedule against the Tigers, their first game in front of fans in 353 days since Major League Baseball called off spring training amid the threat of the coronavirus. Alas, vendors weren’t roaming the stands. No strawberries for Girardi.

Normalcy takes time.

“I was a little disappointed in that,” Girardi said.

But there were fans present at the Phillies’ 10-2 loss, and that wasn’t nothing. In Florida, teams are selling a limited number of tickets to spring training games. The Tigers are allotted 2,000 -- divided into socially distanced pods of as many as six people, all of whom are required to wear masks except when eating or drinking -- in their 8,500-seat ballpark. Seating on the outfield berm is marked by 6-foot-by-6-foot spaces.

» READ MORE: Dave Dombrowski remade the Phillies' roster in nine weeks. Here's how he did it.

The Tigers announced a sellout Sunday, with 2,000 tickets sold.

“It was really nice to hear the fan noise and the fans cheering,” Girardi said. “It was nice to see people going for home run balls. They’re supposed to stay in their little squares, but you know, it’s hard when a ball goes over. I thought the atmosphere was good today. I think it’s encouraging.”

The results weren’t so hot for the Phillies.

Iván Nova and minor-league reliever Jonathan Hennigan combined to allow six runs in the first inning, prompting Girardi to invoke a new rule that’s more common in Taney Youth Baseball than MLB. For the first few weeks of spring training, managers may ask to end an inning prior to three outs because a pitcher threw more than 20 pitches. Between them, Nova and Hennigan threw 50 (27 and 23, respectively). They faced 11 batters, walked five (three with the bases loaded), and recorded one out apiece.

When Girardi asked for mercy, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch kindly obliged.

But Girardi doesn’t put much stock in the results. Not for the first two weeks of exhibition games, anyway. So, although bulked-up Adam Haseley struck the first blow in the center-field competition with an opposite-field home run on the second pitch of the game -- off a lefty, no less (Tigers starter Tyler Alexander) -- don’t read too much into that, either.

“I don’t think at this time you can do a lot to hurt your chances, but you can help your chances in a sense,” Girardi said. “Because I give the guys the benefit of the doubt the first couple weeks. [Haseley] had some good at-bats today.”

There will be time over the next 29 days for the Phillies to make evaluations. Haseley, who said last month in a Zoom winter caravan event for triple-A Lehigh Valley that he built a gym in his Orlando, Fla., home to train in the offseason, will have more opportunity to win the center-field job. Bullpen and rotation spots will be claimed, too.

The first home exhibition game at just-renamed BayCare Ballpark is on tap Monday against the Baltimore Orioles. There will be fans there, as many as 2,200 per game.

With any luck, they will be better behaved than the maskless heckler who, according to the Tigers radio broadcast, flung his beer after being asked to leave by police officers in the sixth inning Sunday.

» READ MORE: Photo gallery from Phillies' exhibition opener vs. Tigers in Lakeland, Fla.

“We’re trying to get back to some normalcy in life, and to see fans in the stands, it’s a sign. And it’s a good sign,” Girardi said. “It’s a much better feel [than last season]. The players really appreciate it.”

Seven Phillies pitchers combined to allow nine walks. But right-hander Bryan Mitchell looked sharp with three strikeouts in two scoreless innings. ... Left fielder Mickey Moniak doubled in the second inning. ... Aaron Nola will start Monday. The game will be televised by NBC Sports Philadelphia+.