Rangers Ballpark in Arlington

Texas Rangers, American League

8/10

I took this picture walking in from the parking lots. It's very obvious from this photo that the park is largely off by itself.

The view in from Right Field.

The Rangers and Rays line up for the national anthem prior to game 1 of the 2011 ALDS.

Firstly, this park again has a corporate sponsor, making it Globe Life Park in Arlington. When I went, it was Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, so it is on here as well.

Firstly, the most interesting part of my trip to Texas was even getting there in the first place. I had my home base in Phoenix for a few weeks in September of 2011 and before heading down, figured the Rangers were going to make the playoffs instead of Oakland. I had tickets to the Rangers first home game of the Division series, which I figured would be Game 3 against Detroit, on the next Tuesday. 2011 was the year of Game 162, which I spent at Chase Field, watching the Dodgers and Diamondbacks in a game that meant relatively little. I spent the time watching the out of town scores and texting people who asked what my plan would be, which made it that much more important for me to get another game in there. Anyway, the Rays won and the Red Sox lost, which meant the Rangers ended up with home field advantage, which meant that I ended up leaving that same night for the 15 hour drive to Arlington. After many driving adventures and overnights in Tucson, AZ and Midland, TX, I rolled into Arlington for Game 1 of the division series.

The ballpark is located not far from I-30, between Fort Worth and Dallas in the Suburb of Arlington. The area is dedicated to Sports and Entertainment and is also home to AT&T Stadium and the Dallas Cowboys, as well as the Six Flags over Texas theme park. Unfortunately, besides that, it is surrounded by parking lots. Within a few blocks are a ton of restaurants, but they're a bit of a hike. Public transit doesn't appear to really factor in to a trip to a ballgame for most people.

The game was game 1 of the ALDS. The Tampa Bay Rays, fresh off their epic comeback against the New York Yankees sent Matt Moore to the hill in his rookie season, with little prior experience. The taunt from Rangers fans was "Matt Who?". By the end of the game, with the Rays having cruised 9-0, I doubted that any Ranger fan would struggle with Moore's last name ever again. Still, this Ranger team bounced back to go to the World Series, where they took St. Louis to one strike from victory, before the Cardinals came back and won game 6, then game 7. 

The park itself is a Retro-Modern design, built not long after Camden Yards changed the whole school of thought on Ballpark design, so it still seems quite modern. The biggest knock against the park, which I didn't really experience, is the lack of a retractable roof, or even very much shade. In the 110 degree heat of a Texan summer, this can present a problem. The only other major drawback is the neighbourhood and the fact that while its a very serviceable ballpark, it's in the middle of a parking lot, in the middle of other parking lots, next to the interstate. There has been chatter of a new park, but it hasn't gone too far.

But there are many plusses. The overall design is not too bad, with several distinctive features. The "Home Run Porch" in right field is very well shaded and I'm sure is very popular on summer afternoons. Fans scrambling onto the grass batter's eye after homeruns looking for souvenirs is a staple of this place, but with the Rangers failing to advance a runner past 2nd base, I didn't see it. I ended up with some relatively unmemorable food here and didn't notice much in the way of special amenities.

But, keeping in mind that this was the first playoff game I'd ever been to, the atmosphere was what kept me interested. The fans weren't outwardly hostile, mostly because the Rays don't have any fans to get mad at, but they were vehemently supporting their nine and only turned on them somewhat when they fell behind. I would like to come back here for a regular season game, as part of a Texas loop.

Update 2016: I considered coming back here on my Texas loop in 2015, but opted for a new park in San Antonio instead. Sooner rather than later though. I'd give this place a half point for each of atmosphere and facility, so 8/10 stands.

Linescores
2011-10-
                     123  456   789  R H E
Tampa Bay     033  020   011  9 11 0
Texas             000  000  000   0 2  1
Temp: 84F  Time: 3:00  Att: 50,498
Note: Game one of Division Series