NORFOLK, Va. — It had the feel of New Year's Eve as the clock struck midnight. The season opener for Tides baseball was in full swing at Harbor Park on Tuesday. There were still long walk up lines to get a ticket and the concourse on the second level was crowded as folks were looking forward to the evening. Fans like Tom and Kathy Carlin have been coming to Tides games since the days at old Met Park. "Makes me go back to the days when I was younger when my parents took me to the games", he said. Kathy agreed. "Summer time means baseball."
Donna Boyd was a newbie. Norfolk's game with Charlotte was her first ever. "It's amazing. I love the energy and the weather is pretty good. It's nice and breezy." Rick Plummer hadn't been to a Tides game in about five years and felt today was the right time. "We were looking forward to it. Thank God we're here. It's a real big crowd. We love it."
There were officially 7,051 fans in attendance as the Tides lost to the Knights 3-1, but that didn't dampen the spirits of fans like Kyle Butler. He felt opening night is an event all to itself. "People were just itching to have it back", he said. "It feels almost like a playoff game. It's just a different feeling. It's the best night of the year." Like starting a new year altogether.