Memorial Day marked the end of the first month of the 2021 Fightin Phils season. With two six-game homestands during the first month, the start of the season was interesting to say the least.

Let me start off by saying it felt really nice to walk back into the ballpark and see familiar faces and hear the familiar sounds of Baseballtown. There were, however, noticeable differences in the way things took place. The main one being that we were not working in our usual stand. That’s right, our official return to the Upstairs Ice Cream (UIC) has not taken place.

Not yet, but hopefully soon.

There are two main reasons why we haven’t returned to the UIC yet this year. With the season starting with a limit on the number of fans allowed in the ballpark at one time, there were certain stands that they knew would not be open right away; ours being one of them. As of the start of the current homestand on June 8, the stadium is officially back to full capacity, more stands have been opened, and we have seen more fans coming to each game. The other reason our stand has not been open will probably come as no surprise. And no, I’m not talking about the weather.

Just like most businesses around the country, the Fightins were struggling to find employees at the beginning of the season. When the season began there were not enough employees to open all the concessions stands even if they had wanted to. That being said, we are hoping that since the stadium has returned to full capacity and all of the college and high school kids will start to be available to work, we will soon be able to officially start the 2021 season in the UIC. After spending a few games trying somewhat unsuccessfully to sell water ice, we have decided that we are better off selling ice cream.

Along with smaller crowds and fewer employees, Mother Nature left her mark on our return to Baseballtown. Have you ever tried to sell water ice when it’s 50 degrees and raining? I have and it did not go well. Trust me when I say rainy weather really puts a damper on water ice sales. Out of the first 12 home games of the season, I think we worked maybe five of them, thanks to the weather.

We did manage to work our first doubleheader of the season though!

Confessional: What is one thing you are looking forward to doing this summer? Is it something you were unable to do last summer?

As things in the area slowly begin to return to normal and people slowly begin going back to doing all the things they would normally do during the summer, I am hopeful that the stadium will start to see more fans and will be able to return to the Baseballtown we all knew before everything shut down. Until then, we will stick it out selling water ice and anxiously await the day we can crack open the door to the UIC after a very long year and a half.

Here’s to a fantastic Fighting Phils season and my 16th season in Baseballtown!