TAMPA, Fla. — The gates at Steinbrenner Field opened at 11 a.m. Sunday, two hours before the Yankees hosted the Toronto Blue Jays for their first spring training game of 2021. Among the first fans to enter: Robert and Jean Koontz, who have been making this yearly trip from their home in North Carolina for two decades.
Like so many across the world, the Koontzes had their lives upended by the coronavirus pandemic. Robert, 84, and Jean, 82, called off Thanksgiving and Christmas with their large family last year. They still have 32 stockings hanging and a tree up at home as they wait to celebrate two Christmases this year: the first when everyone in their family feels safe, and then the usual one in December.