LEE COUNTY, Fla. — America's favorite pastime sport is making a come back.
On Tuesday, Major League Baseball announced it's 2020 season will open at the end of next month, with players expected to resume training next week.
Southwest Florida is no stranger to baseball, the Red Sox and Minnesota Twins hold their spring training in Fort Myers.
But this year, the Coronavirus pandemic put the season on hold.
The MLB announced games are anticipated to begin on July 23.
"Baseball is what gets you out of bed in the summertime, and it's America's past time, what more could you ask for," said Vollen Loucks, Co-owner of Duval Street.
Like Loucks, other business owners are excited for the return of baseball and what it means for their businesses.
"We're a sports bar so when we had no sports to show... it's killing our business, so we're looking forward to having live sports again," said Ainslie Walter, Owner of Buckett's Wings & More.
Loucks says while Duval Street is not a sports bar, sports still have a significant impact on business.
"It'll help on Saturday afternoons, people will come watch ball games because you have 1 p.m games every Saturday," said Loucks.
A typical baseball season has 162-games, but this season, the number of games has been cut down to a fraction of 60-games.
"I can't wait to get out of the house and go watch my team play, no matter what just getting out and watching sports again is amazing," said Jeremy Valenzoele, a baseball fan.
Spokespersons for the Red Sox and Minnesota Twins told Fox 4 the teams will not resume training in Fort Myers this season — instead, they will train at their home fields.
