MLB Opening Day: When Baltimore Orioles 2021 Season Starts

BALTIMORE, MD — The 2021 Major League Baseball season gets underway this week, with Opening Day for the Baltimore Orioles and all 29 other teams set for Thursday.

The Orioles start their 2021 season on Thursday, April 1, at 2:10 p.m. against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park in Massachusetts. John Means will get the nod on the mound for the O's against Nathan Eovaldi in the first pitching match-up of the season.

The 2021 MLB season will look different from any other year, at least in the stands, as fans will be allowed inside all 30 ballparks after a 2020 regular season that was played entirely without fans in the stands because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Attendance capacity rules established before the season have varied.

The Boston Red Sox and Washington Nationals are the teams allowing the fewest number of fans, only permitting 12 percent to start the season, according to The Athletic.

The Texas Rangers are allowing a 100 percent capacity return, which could mean more than 40,000 fans at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas. No other squad is allowing more than a 50 percent capacity.

See Also: Baseball Fans Split On Going Back To The Ballpark In 2021

At Oriole Park at Camden Yards, a 25 percent capacity will be allowed to start the season, meaning nearly 11,500 fans will be permitted inside. The O's home opener in Baltimore will be at 3:05 p.m. on Thursday, April 8.

Most teams, like the White Sox and Cubs in Chicago and Yankees and Mets in New York, have set limits below 25 percent capacity.

Thursday will mark the first time in many years that all 30 teams will start the season on the same day. In recent years, a Sunday night baseball game was held before a Monday Opening Day.

Related: Baltimore Orioles To Start Season With Reduced Capacity

— By Tim Moran and Elizabeth Janney