The first World Series game at a neutral site was "technically a home game for the Dodgers," so their "team-produced graphics and videos were shown throughout the night" at Globe Life Field for their Game 1 win against the Rays. The PA announcer "applied a homey touch." Vin Scully "baptized the unprecedented event with the words said before every game" at Dodger Stadium: "It's time for Dodger baseball." Scully "delivered the message in a prerecorded video" shown on the main video board. The pro-Dodgers crowd of 11,388, "spaced out throughout the ballpark, roared" (L.A. TIMES, 10/21).
Back in Florida, Rays fans "filed onto the St. Pete Pier to watch Game 1 for free in socially-distanced pods on Spa Beach." The city set up more than 400 pods on the beach to "ensure social distancing." There was "room for up to 2,500 fans, according to the city, though the event didn’t quite break capacity" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 10/21).
ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel: “The World Series is under way ... and it could not have come at a better time. This city needs a win right now. It's been like, what, a week since the Lakers won?” (“Jimmy Kimmel Live,” ABC, 10/20).
