On a pitch-perfect spring day, the Washington Nationals defeated their nemesis, Atlanta, on a delayed Opening Day in front of a limited capacity of about 5,000 diehards and a walk-off hit from 22-year-old superstar Juan Soto.

Despite the win-induced euphoria, Tuesday’s game was a stark reminder that yet another season will go on in the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Opening Day was initially set for last Thursday before being pushed back due to a COVID-19 outbreak among a number of notable Nats players, who were unable to play due to league protocols.

For many, though, simply being back at Nats Park to cheer on the 2019 World Series champions for the first time since the pandemic’s onset was all some fans needed.

“I’m so excited, I can’t stand it,” Betsy Davis said standing outside of the ballpark donning her Max Scherzer jersey. Davis lives at Leisure World in Silver Spring, Maryland.

She’s fully vaccinated and came to the game with her friend, Brenda.

“It just represents being back to normal. That’s what it does. It feels like being back to normal,” Davis said. “It’s been a year and a half.”

The last time fans were allowed to witness live baseball at Nats Park was 527 days ago, October 27, 2019 and Game 5 of the World Series. That night, the team played in front of nearly 44,000 fans and lost to the Houston Astros.

The Nationals would go on to win the next two games in Houston and, of course, the rest is history.

Fans, new and old, never got to celebrate the team’s first World Series title together fully. There was no ring ceremony, flag raising, or any other fan-friendly event that typically comes with celebrating the defending champs.

While baseball did come back last summer, fans were not allowed inside the ballpark and spectating was limited to what one could see through locked gates.

A year of baseball memories was missed.

Wayne Hermandorfer started taking his granddaughter, Hayley, to Nats games three years ago.

Hayley, a D.C. native, is now five years old and her grandfather, who lives in Northern Virginia, admits that not having last season to make those memories together at Nats Park was tough.

“It was probably harder for me than her, missing those games,” Hermandorfer says. “We missed coming to the ballpark together.”

Hayley, donning a Nationals mask, says she missed “the really yummy food” at the ballpark and getting to watch her favorite player, Juan Soto, whose jersey she wore to Opening Day.

Like Soto, Hayley plays baseball — and she likely shares her favorite part of the sport with her favorite World Series champion.

“I love hitting,” she says, smacking her fist into her purple and pink glove.

Ballpark food was a common theme for what kids said they missed most — but who they were chowing down next to also mattered.

Gavin and Owen Schmidt, a father and son from Falls Church, Virgina, walked hand-in-hand to the ballpark, both sporting curly “W” hats.

Owen, who is five years old and also wearing a Nats mask (they’re omnipresent today), says he missed the hot dogs, but it’s clear that he and his dad both missed more than that.

“I’ve been going to games since I was a little with my dad and now I get to take him,” Schmidt says.

“Now, I’m the little dude,” Owen quips while fidgeting with his hat.

“That’s right,” Gavin says to Owen. “Now, he gets to go with me. That makes us both happy.”

Others here know that these moments of happiness and togetherness at the ballpark remain fleeting.

Mr. Griffin (he declined to provide his first name due to privacy) is a fixture on the corner of First and N Street Southeast, selling t-shirts, hats, and other Nats gear under a tent.

Business is light, but it doesn’t dampen his enthusiasm for the day.

When asked how excited he is for fans to be back, he does not hesitate.

“Between one and 10, I’m a 12,” Griffin says.

Last year was rough, he says, but he had saved a lot of money and said he did okay.

Griffin was bummed that Opening Day was delayed a few extra days, but he understood the danger of the disease. COVID-19, he said, impacted his family, though he declined to elaborate much more than that.

“That’s the nature of COVID, brother. You can’t call the shots. COVID does,” Griffin says. “And we have to comply. We don’t have any control over it.”

But on this Tuesday afternoon at Nats Park, the pandemic was more or less relegated to the dugout.

While louder than it has been in 17 months, Nats Park was certainly more quiet than a normal game day outside of the center field gates. That could change soon with talks reportedly ongoing to increase the number of fans who can attend Nats games as soon as May 1.

Those who spoke with DCist said they felt safe watching a game at the ballpark, either because they are already vaccinated, or because of the lower risk of transmission associated with being outdoors, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Elizabeth Hafner missed the crowds, the cheers, and the companionship of a typical Nats game. She’s ecstatic for another day at the ballpark.

“I call Nats Park my ‘home away from home,’” she says, decked out head-to-toe in Nats gear, including a team mask. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for a really, really long time…Today is just a beautiful day.”

As the warm spring breeze picks up and the afternoon sun shines on faces half-shrouded in Nationals masks, it’s hard not to think that this is what a return to normalcy may look like in the coming months.

“I mean, obviously, winning would be amazing,” Hafner said. “But just being back here is all that matters.”