On Thursday, Major League Baseball will have Opening Day as the 2021 season gets underway, and it will be the first regular season MLB games with fans in the stands since 2019, as stadiums around the country are open to a limited capacity of fans based on local guidelines. The one exception is in Texas, where the Rangers will open the season and have a full capacity of fans after Texas’ governor lifted all COVID-19 restrictions in the state.
Only the Rangers are opening the stadium all the way up, as the Astros will continue to operate at a limited capacity, and while they will require masks it is far from the suggestion of the CDC for how to handle events under current guidelines as the vaccine rollout continues across the country. On Wednesday night, ESPN aired an interview with president Joe Biden in which Sage Steele asked him about the Rangers allowing a full stadium of fans, and he didn’t mince words about his feelings on the matter.
“That’s a decision they’ve made, I think it’s a mistake,” Biden said. “They should listen to Dr. Fauci and the scientists and the experts, but I think it’s not responsible.”
Other topics broached in the interview were the vaccine rollout, Biden encouraging people who have concerns to get the vaccine, and him offering his support should Major League Baseball decide to pull its All-Star Game out of Atlanta due to the new voter restriction laws that were passed in Georgia, which Biden called “Jim Crow on steroids.” Eventually, Biden hopes to get back to full capacity stadiums, as he was asked about the NFL’s plan which he mentions is months out and offers at least more time for the vast majority of the population to get vaccinated, but urges teams to follow the science and the recommendations of experts until we get to that point with limited capacities to limit another surge of the virus.