'Never been home in March:' Brewer Marcus Hanel weighs in on postponed opening day

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Marcus Hanel has an opening day routine. 

For more than 30 years, he's caught elite pitching -- as a minor league catcher, a Brewers coach and even today.

"I'm going out to the street just to play catch with my son just to stay in shape," said Brewers Bullpen Catcher Hanel. "I've never been home in March."

The Racine native is in his 21st season as the Brewers' bullpen catcher. He expected to be in the pen Thursday afternoon, catching Josh Hader. But when the coronavirus threw him a curveball, he adapted.

"Sometimes we take things for granted, and this is a good awakening that maybe we need to slow down a little bit. Get back to the roots of the country, like family time," he said.

Hanel doesn't know when baseball will come back, but when it does, he says opening day will be something special.

"I just think it's going to revitalize, give hope back to the country, hopefully the world. It kind of brings back normalcy, so people can attach themselves to that as something they can look forward to. Man, it's going to hit the heartstrings of a lot of people."

It's empty at Miller Park, and Marcus doesn't expect that to change soon.

Once teams are allowed to go back to work, he says it will take at least a few weeks of training before pitchers can get back up to speed.