Although the Tampa Bay Rays had to play to empty bleachers in Tropicana Field for their opening day, the team’s die-hard fans weren’t too far away.

Staying socially distant, they gathered across the street at Ferg’s for the first game of the long-awaited season. 

“Oh my God!” Rays fan Camille Lawrence screamed. “I’ve been waiting for it for months and months and months and months, and I am so happy.”

The crowd was kept to a minimum at Ferg‘s because of the ongoing pandemic, but the owner said he was just happy to have the fans back.

“Oh, it’s been bumpy. It’s been a bumpy road,” Mark Ferguson said. “But the day is here, and we got 60 days now, 66 days with the Rays on TV.”

Although fans said they missed being in the bleachers, they were thrilled to see the team again on the field. 

“Just happy have baseball again, you know,” Rays fan Tommy Hull said.

“Obviously it’s supposed to start in late March, now here in July. Just long overdue no matter what the conditions are.”