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Opening Day plus solar eclipse make for a magical baseball moment at Progressive Field
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- Opening Day plus solar eclipse make for a magical baseball moment at Progressive Field
Opening Day is usually magical enough. But add in a total solar eclipse, and you have the perfect alignment of sun, moon, and baseball.
Monday's celestial event united not only Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Guardians fans, but also the players and staff, with the entire stadium coming to a halt for four minutes as darkness draped over Progressive Field on arguably one of the most beautiful days in Cleveland Opening Day history.
Cleveland Guardians staff and players stand on the third baseline to watch as the solar eclipse nears totality at Progressive Field before the Cleveland Guardians' home opener against the Chicago White Sox Monday.
Guardians fans turned up hours early to Monday's game to watch the once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon, packaged conveniently with the team's first home baseball game of the year on an unusually warm, sunny spring day in Northeast Ohio.
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They lined up hundreds deep to be the first through the gates, which opened at 2 p.m. right as the sun began its two-plus-hour journey behind the moon. They wore T-shirts commemorating the uniqueness of the day and whipped out their eclipse safety glasses as soon as they passed through security.
Tallmadge residents Michele and Eric Harrison got right to work documenting the beginning of the eclipse from the Home Run Porch in left field, with Michele taking pictures with a nice camera and Eric holding a filter over the long lens.
"Oh my god, look what I got!" Michele said, showing him the clear image of an orange-yellow moon with a bite taken out of its side.
As the stadium filled, a thin layer of clouds began to coat the blue sky, but the sun shined through nonetheless, determined to give Cleveland a true show and to live up to the hype of the last many months, weeks and days.
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With the sun hanging over the third-base side of the stadium, most of the crowd clustered in right field, packing the Corner Bar and standing-room-only areas. About 20 minutes before totality, the players emerged from the locker rooms to be a part of the fun, taking pictures through their eclipse glasses with their phones and hamming it up for photographers.
As more of the sun disappeared, the temperature started to drop.
"It's definitely getting cooler," Guardians President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti noted from the field.
Crowds cheered as totality neared. They welcomed the darkness.
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With the moon perfectly covering the sun, it felt just like after a night game, when the lights go down for a handful of seconds before a fireworks show — eerie, beautiful anticipation. Every head looked up and to the west and took in the moment. A small donut of light shined beyond the stadium lights.
The four minutes of totality brought Alliance resident Karen Carli to tears.
"It's a connection to everybody," she said.
As the sun shifted ever so slightly out from behind the moon, daylight returned in nearly a snap of the fingers. Cheers rang out again, evolving from clapping and whooping to a few round of "Jose" chants for Jose Ramirez . The players headed back for their locker rooms to get ready for the game, and fans turned to one another to digest what they had seen.
Progressive Field in Cleveland on the Guardians' Opening Day, the same day the total solar eclipse made its way through the area on Monday.
Cam Koenig, of Youngstown, was quick to assess the moment.
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"It was the greatest experience of my life so far," Cam said.
Granted, Cam is only 12, but it stands to reason it'll be a contender in his Top 5 for decades to come.
"It was perfect," Cleveland resident Alia Sealey said. She had only bought tickets that day, but she had been determined to experience the "two-for-one" event.
"I've never experienced anything like that before," she said.
Fans talked about the obviousness of their choice to be there. Of course they had to experience the eclipse from the stadium. Where else would they be?
"You had to be down here," said Donna Bonazza, of Independence.
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She and her husband, Rick, watched from inside the stadium near the centerfield gates. She said they stopped letting people into the stadium about ten minutes before totality at 3:15 p.m. so no one would miss it.
They've been to over a dozen Opening Days, they said. This was the best weather they could remember.
"You couldn't have asked for a better day," Donna said.
She was sure she didn't get great pictures, "but we did try," she said. "It was just really neat to see it."
Her husband then showed her his phone, and the perfectly clear image he captured of the ring of light.
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Josh Meiring, of Bath, brought about 10 family members to the game, including Karen Carli, his godmother.
"It's once-in-a-lifetime," he said.
They watched from their section on the first-base side. His son Jacob said he was surprised by how dark it got. Josh said one of his family members tracked the temperature, and it dropped about 7 degrees in 10 minutes.
But as the sun returned, it warmed right back up in time for the important things − baseball just being one of them.
"It's always warm enough for ice cream," Josh said.
Contact education reporter Jennifer Pignolet at jpignolet@thebeaconjournal.com, at 330-996-3216 or on Twitter @JenPignolet.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Guardians fans admire solar eclipse from Progressive Field Opening Day
