Take me (responsibly) out to the ballgame (with some restrictions)

And I thought: “They’re not really going to allow 18,000 people in here tonight, right?”

What we have endured in a year has been documented. It is depressing — and worse. But it’s a measure of how far we have come that — three weeks before the Washington Nationals will open their season at Nationals Park — the pertinent question about that April 1 date with the New York Mets is, “They’re not really going to play with zero fans in the stands, right?”

If what we felt a year ago this week was some combination of confusion and fear, then let’s allow ourselves to feel optimistic now. There are three vaccines available in the United States, and while you may not have access to a shot yet, you will. That’s so encouraging. The number of covid-19 cases nationally is dropping each week, and they’re now at levels not seen since mid-October.

The pandemic is not over, not yet, so keep your mask on and your distance, thanks. But it feels as if we can see the end from here.

So then, outdoor sporting events in person? Yes, please. Responsibly. Cautiously. With restrictions. But yes.

Listen, I’m not advocating for 41,000 people for Max Scherzer vs. Jacob deGrom on opening night. We’re not ready for that, not in D.C. and not nationally. Cases in Washington have actually risen in the past week, and we can’t be cavalier about how we behave now, not when we can see normal on the horizon.

And I find the Texas Rangers’ announcement Wednesday — that the club received permission from Gov. Greg Abbott’s office to fully open Globe Life Field — absolutely jarring. Get this: For the April 5 home opener, the Rangers will sell every seat. In home dates after that, they will provide socially distanced sections. Did Texas cut a deal with the virus to go elsewhere for the opener?

Yes, the team said it will require masks for fans when they’re not eating and drinking. But fans will eat and drink. Plus, I was at that very same ballpark for October’s pandemic World Series, and I can tell you with absolute certainty: Many Texans care not about your rules for mask-wearing and maintaining physical separation.

Man, Texas. That’s scary and reckless. There’s a smart way to do this, and it doesn’t involve standing shoulder-to-shoulder with people you don’t know.

Still, in occasionally talking to epidemiologists over the past year, it is clear how much more we know about the virus and its transmission now than we did 12 or even 10 or even six months ago. We know how to behave around each other to minimize risk. We are accustomed to wearing masks. We are used to interacting closely only with the people with whom we live. Those are the guidelines that can and should be used to safely accommodate a few thousand people at Nationals Park.

There have to be limits and rules developed by health and safety experts, and we have to adhere to them. Most baseball teams seem prepared to do just that. Of the 30 MLB clubs, only Minnesota, Seattle, Washington and four teams in California – where state regulations prohibit gatherings of more than 100 in areas where new daily cases average more than seven per 100,000 residents – have not at least indicated a plan to have fans. Some are small; the Detroit Tigers will allow only 3 percent capacity. Some are more aggressive; the St. Louis Cardinals will allow nearly a third. And some, as pointed out earlier, are stupid. (Hello, Rangers.)

In announcing a no-fans-for-now plan this month, D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said she could revisit guidelines later in the month. Any loosening of restrictions would also affect D.C. United, which opens its home schedule across South Capitol Street on April 17.

The Capitals and the Wizards? Being indoors makes it more complicated. Last fall, when I was writing about crowds at college football games, Michael Huey, a member of the American College Health Association’s covid-19 task force, told me: “There are a lot of advantages to stadiums if you’re going to have people because, generally speaking, they’re outdoors. They have different levels. There are different types of air currents moving. And for most of the event, people are staying in exactly one position and not mingling.” So Nationals Park? Yeah, I would feel okay with a few thousand masked, physically distanced fans.

But not at Capital One Arena. Not yet. Yes, 19 of 30 NBA teams either already are allowing some fans or have announced a date when they will. Yes, 17 of the 24 U.S.-based NHL teams are playing, or soon will, in front of limited crowds. I’m just not there yet — and I’m not alone.

“Especially in D.C.,” Wizards star Bradley Beal told reporters last week, before his appearance in the All-Star Game. “We have to understand that we’re the focal [point] of everything. We are the nation’s capital, so everything we do is magnified, everything we do will be copied. … I think what the mayor’s doing is exemplary. Like, she has to do that. I’m with her. I don’t think we should have fans until we’re good, honestly.”

Indoors, it’s too soon to say. But outdoors? How about Opening Day? A year ago, we had no idea how devastating the virus’s impact would be, and we couldn’t have guessed the ways we would change our everyday lives to deal with it. Now we know. Give me a mask and let me sit with my family. Baseball is coming back, and a few fans should be there to welcome it.