As one of my life goals is to see a home game for every team in Major League Baseball, we couldn’t miss the opportunity to see a Texas Rangers game while in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metropolitan area.
The Ballpark at Arlington has a cozy, intimate feel to it. Rangers fans are really good baseball fans – they all stayed through the entire ballgame (take that, California fans), and all the people around us seemed to be really paying attention to the game (unlike my fellow Orioles fans). I will say that the people around us were yelling at the umpire for every ball/strike call that went against the Rangers… pretty sure the fans’ passion was overcoming their accuracy.
It was really hot (104 degrees at game time) and we were both really tired, but fortunately it turned out to be a really good game. There was a lot of action early on. It slowed down right about the time we went looking for food – fajita salad for Dave and a hot dog & sweet potato fries for me. It became very exciting at the end – the Rangers had been trailing by two for a few innings and we figured it would be over in the bottom of the ninth. But then they suddenly tied it up, and the game went for two more innings. The home team won in the 11th pretty much on baserunning skill alone. We’re not Rangers fans, but it was a fun way to end the game.
Afterward there was a fireworks show, billed as “The Best Fireworks in Texas”. It was a pretty good fireworks show, but if it’s the best one in Texas, I have underestimated the reputation that Texas has for overt displays of patriotism.
Things I expected:
– A large Nolan Ryan statue
– BBQ and tex-mex food
– Lots of country music
Things I didn’t expect:
– “Deep in the Heart of Texas” group sing in the middle of the 5th (they still did “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” in the 7th)
– “Friends in Low Places” played on the organ
– Live dot races and random dancing pioneer characters
When walking back to our car, we couldn’t help but gape at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium just across the way, which for some reason was all lit up. A testament to what football fans can achieve if they put their mind to it.
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