Game #22-Texas Rangers

Texas Rangers vs. San Diego Padres
Rangers Ballpark in Arlington
June 8, 2009

What a whirlwind of a weekend. I am in Texas with all of my buddies for a bachelor party for Wes Scott. We have been in Austin for the past 2 days and it was amazing. From the food, to the aquifer pool, the BBQ and the bars, that city is awesome. As for the game, this was one of the toughest I have ever been to. Not because of traffic, or being late, or car problems, but because I was up until 5 in the morning partying the night before and then had to drive 200 miles with a horrendous hangover to Arlington. Thank goodness I was with Greg Kopotic and he was my wingman and chauffeur. The sports area was amazing. The Rangers Ballpark in Arlington is a beautiful brick stadium with the brand new Dallas Cowboys monstrosity just down the road. Well we finally made it inside the park and again I was taken aback (and not because it took me until the 5th inning to finally get rid of my 10 hour hangover or the fact that it was 97 degrees at 8pm), it was very clean and had an old-time feel to it. The game was really close with some very strong pitching by both clubs, but the Padres came through in the end with a 2-0 shutout. Two things I will take away from this game. First, the accent is very prevalent in the Arlington/Dallas area. In Austin everyone sounded like they were from So-Cal but at the stadium the southern drawl was in effect. The second thing I will take away from the game is the randomness of life and the reality of how small the world is because as we were leaving I heard a female voice screaming “CHRIS!!!”. I look up and see a high school friend I have not seen in over 10 years, Johanna Knecht, who now lives in Dallas. What are the odds of going to the exact same game with 40,000 other people and being in the same section. Weird…

Notes on the stadium: Rangers Ballpark in Arlington is another classic brick stadium that I love. It has very clean lines and is extremely eye-pleasing. In dead center outfield is the well known grassy knoll that you see fans fighting for home run balls. Behind center field are the ballpark offices that are cleverly disguised as separate buildings as well as the kids park in the park for the youngsters. In right field I like the tiered covered seating that gives the fans a different perspective of the field and breaks up the traditional stadium seating that the rest of the park has, if you can't tell I really like this ball park!