RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC)–The Diamond will open up to nearly 10,000 Flying Squirrels fans Tuesday night. On Monday crews were prepping the field for the Squirrels’ opening day.
Todd “Parney” Parnell, the team’s CEO, said the atmosphere will be electric.
“I haven’t slept all week and I’m so excited. You can see it in my voice, hear it in my voice, maybe you can see it in my voice I don’t know,” he said.
In a Monday evening press release, the Flying Squirrels announced that they had sold out their opening game. This marks the twelfth straight season they have sold out their first home game of the season.
“Richmond, we did it together again,” Parney said. “We are so pleased that we will have our 12th consecutive Opening Night sellout for the Richmond Flying Squirrels. We are so grateful for this amazing love affair with our fan base and look forward to making many memories together in 2022.”
Fans will have to follow Minor League Baseball’s recently implemented bag policy, which restricts fans to only clear bags or ones smaller than 16 by 16 by 8 inches.
The concession stand will offer its newest food item the “Walk Off Taco” and fans can enjoy a new bar on the concourse called the 804 Corner Cantina.
“Everything is coming together. People, even though they came last year, I feel like people were still in pandemic mode and I feel like we’re close enough to getting out of it that. People are going to feel like they did back in 2019,” he said.
This year’s home opener will look a lot different from the past two seasons when COVID-19 protocols were in place.
In 2020, the Flying Squirrels’ season was canceled.
Last season the team went back on the field, but the games started in May instead of April. The stadium was also operating at only 30% capacity.
Parney said the weather and anticipation is the perfect combination for this year’s opening day.
“We love Richmond and Richmond loves us back and tomorrow night’s just going to be an edification of that love affair between the fan base and the team,” he said.
The gates open at 5 p.m. tomorrow night when the players take on the Altoona Curve.
