According to the calendar, Frontier Field should have been full Thursday. Of course, it wasn’t — as Opening Day for the Rochester Red Wings and all other baseball clubs is on hold due to the coronavirus-related shutdown.

The first game of minor league baseball usually marks the unofficial end to winter, and for baseball fans, the true start of spring. Red Wings general manager Dan Mason says it’s a day that staffers mark on their calendars at the end of every season.

“Opening Day is always a day of hope,” said Mason. “Hope that your team is going to the playoffs or have a successful season.”

It’s also a day that fans pack the ballpark, no matter the weather. But the stadium now sits empty. And there’s no idea how long it will stay that way.

These days — there are things much more important than baseball.

“Right now, there’s a lot of uncertainty,” said Mason. “But if you don’t have hope right now, it’s easy to go down into a dark place. And we don’t want to do that.”

Mason hasn’t been to the ballpark much lately, not since the Red Wings closed team offices due to COVID-19. Baseball season is on hold. So are the 250 employees who run everything from concessions to parking. With no baseball, there’s no work.

“Certainly it’s a source of income,” he said. “But it’s also a source of pride for our employees. It’s a source of entertainment. Generally the people who work here love working here.”

When they can come back, when fans can come back — nobody is quite certain. Whenever that happens — whenever the ballpark is full again — Mason says it’ll be a special day that’ll be about much more than just baseball.  

“I think sports and baseball are going to play a tremendous role in the healing process for our entire country,” said Mason.

Opening Day can still be a day of hope. Just in a different context.