I recently celebrated the 20th Anniversary of my 50th Birthday Anniversary and received many (too many to enumerate) wonderful presents, but I will tell about one, which I enjoyed on Oct. 20, 2020, the exact day I was born in 1950—attending the opening game of the 2020 World Series, compliments of the Will, Holley, and Kherington Themer family.
Will picked me up at the Cracker Barrel in Mesquite, and off we sped to Globe Life Field in Arlington, where we parked near the entrance to “Texas Live,” spent an hour or so inside refreshing ourselves and visiting/discussing important world events (such as sports, common hobbies and interests, family activities/achievements.)
We almost lost track of time but did make our ways into the stadium, presented passes, scoped out the concession offerings around the massive building’s inside perimeter, armed ourselves with hot dogs, nachos, drinks, and peanuts, and found our seats down near the field on the 1st base side—always Will’s Grandpa’s and my Dad’s favorite cheering area!
Being a long-time New York Yankees fan as a child and young adult, I was not sure for whom I would cheer, since the Dodgers were arch-rivals of my “heroes” (Whitey, Mickey, and Yogi), but I do like Clayton Kershaw (former Hjghland Park standout pitcher) and Cody Bellinger. And, who could help but like MOOKIE Betts (with a name like that)? So, it was unanimous with my son and me. We would cheer first for a great game to watch and second for the Dodgers to be victorious!
The stadium has a more massive dome opening than I had imagined when Vivian and I helped carry home plate over from across the street at the “old place” a little over a year ago, and the lighting seems to really work well. The deep center field over 400 feet from home plate allowed for some pretty deep flies to be caught, but down the lines, the distance is pretty close (about 330 feet or so) and makes most players able to “put one out” if they can “pull” those inside pitches!
We “social distanced” and “masked” at Texas Live and in the Ballpark; most of the fans seemed cooperative with those directives, and we felt medically safe.
The seats had room for my long legs, and the walkways were easy to navigate. The scoreboards provided more information than I really needed, but they certainly seemed totally “up-to-date.”
I am not looking at a box score, but I know the final score was Dodgers 8 and Rays 3 and that Kershaw had a great outing. In six innings, he allowed two hits (one a homer), one run, one walk, and eight strike-outs while his teammates provided more than enough hitting power to pave the way to an opening game victory. Bellinger and Betts both homered, and the Dodgers totaled ten hits for the night!
Tampa Bay provided a good effort but just appeared “over-matched” on this night, as they had 3 runs on 6 hits and fielded well. I think the series will not be one of the “four-and-done” events!
We stayed and watched the fans and players for a while after the game and even stood close enough to hear an interview or two before we left. Attendance was 11, 388—and the time was 3 hours and 24 minutes. Will took me back to my Cruze, and I was back home before mid-night, just in time to kiss my wife good-night and curl up with a nice re-run of Law and Order. It was a very nice birthday evening!
I hope to do the same thing next year—but with the Texas RANGERS playing the St. Louis Cardinals. However, Will and I believe that the Rangers will have to bring back that ol’ “fireballing strike-out king” (NOLAN RYAN) for that to be possible!
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