May 5: “Viv, I want to take you to the Rangers ballgame and ‘out to eat’ on (preferably) May 7 as your ‘Mother’s Day Outing,’ since we have full days on Saturday and Sunday. I know you have been saying you want to get back out to the PARK.”
May 6: “O. K. Honey, I have the tickets and am ready to go. The game’s first pitch is slated by 7:07, so let’s leave about 3:00 so that we can have plenty of time to eat, look around at all the new things around and in the stadium, find our seats, and settle in!”
May 7: 3:04 we leave Old Military Trail, drop off some important mail at the Post Office, and head out to Interstate 20 at Markout. It seems strange to have no drinks of any kind in the ice chest and no snacks in the tote bag, but all of these things are now “illegal.” Patrons are allowed to bring in one small unopened bottle of drinking water, but that is it!
The trip is pretty uneventful with average traffic, but I do notice heavy, dark smoke upon the horizon and tell my wife that I think it might be something more than a grass fire in the Mesquite or Duncanville area. As we get closer to the fire area, I stop for gasoline, just in case we might be delayed on the roadway for an extended time, and tell an “older gentleman” in a vehicle about as old as my Dad’s ’88 Ranger that I could see the smoke all the way back to Forney. He decides to take “back roads” to his destination, but we decide to stay on “20” and see what happens.
Well, the traffic lanes shrink down to one, and we are making slow, but steady, progress, when we finally get to the area where there are fire trucks and police cars and an ambulance and the almost totally “burned to the pavement” tractor of a “tractor-trailer rig” (semidiesel as some call them) and wonder exactly what happened.
We continue on with regular traffic again just as soon as we clear the wreckage area and after a while take our Hwy 360 N. exit and head towards Randol Mill Road, our regular route to the stadium. It has been more than a year for my wife and since October for me since we have been in or near the stadium.
We decide to eat at “Texas Live” since we are semifamiliar with all the “eating places” in that venue and pull up to the gate to enter their lot; it is locked with an attendant walking back-andforth after he has told us, “Yes, you can park here, and I will open the gate at 4:30.” So, we become part of a line of cars waiting!
4:30—The lock is opened, and we pay $25 by credit card (with no receipt or any way we can see that “they” will know we have legally paid—oh, well)! We park very close to the entryway to the venue, walk around and look a little while, and then make our ways inside and begin looking to see if anything has changed!
Troy Aikman’s restaurant shows no sign of being open, and neither does Miller’s, so we decide the “real restaurants” are still victims of the pandemic and decide to eat at our “go to” spot from the past—“Sports and Social,” close to the entrance we use. The food was good, as usual, but in different forms, due to the “pandemic.” Whitney was our server, and you will do well to ask for her if you go! We think we might go to the “all-you-can-eat” section next time, which is running a special for the next “who knows how long” at $40.00 for a total ticket to the game and the food feature. We spent almost that much each just to eat and drink at the restaurant!
We walked all around “Texas Live” one more time, just to see the “social scene” and then made our ways over and into GLOBE LIFE FIELD, where we spent about an hour, looking at the sights and some exhibits and “checking out” all the shops, concessions, and other features. I purchased a “souvenir program” for $5 from the Jr. Rangers, and then we headed up to our seats, which were better than we had expected!
We had taken advantage of a special offer ($5.40 per ticket with “handling” charges of about $6.00 also added to each ticket) of “May the Fourth Be With You” (hope you get the 4th pun) and expected the seats to be behind a pole or in a dark corner. THEY WERE NOT! They were directly behind home plate, halfway up the third section, and were about the same distance away from the field as our favorite seats had been at the old PARK in a pricier section! For the most part, though, tickets, etc. are higher this year!
The pre-game was about like every year, but the singing of the National Anthem was especially great, with every fan and player I could see standing and most singing along; men’s voice were louder and “robuster” than the women’s, and it is usually the other way around! The same applied later on with the singing of “God Bless America,” “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” and “Cotton-Eyed Joe.” No, I didn’t dance like Viv did, but I did wiggle around and move my feet a little!
The game was a close one that we should have won, but we left a man on second in our final “at bat” and went home with an “L.” The score was 5—4, so, the pitching was not great this night, nor was the hitting! But, it was exciting to the end! I was impressed by the new guy, Charlie Culberson and Adolis Garcia, a rookie! We did have a couple sodas and some “ballpark nachos” during the game (about $24 and like last year’s but maybe with more chips). Everything was pre-packaged and no “serving yourself” at any stand. And, everything in the whole area had to be paid with a “card.” Real money was NO GOOD!
Also, remember that food or beverages of any type may not be brought in, except one small unopened “bottle of water,” and no bags/purses, etc. larger than 6” X 9” (I believe.)! And, we saw no concessionaires selling in the “seating” areas; patrons had to leave their seats and find “stands” out on the concourse. There did not seem to be as many “stands” as in the old park!
Now, don’t get me wrong. We had a good time and plan to return again one or more times this season, but my wife says she thinks the old park looks and feels more like a “real baseball stadium,” and she liked the way “championship” pennants were displayed near the old scoreboard in previous years!
I agree with those two assertions and also feel the ease of buying at concession and souvenir stands was better last year! We both did enjoy having seats and surroundings that were not at all in need of repair or “sprucing up,” and it seemed there was much less “sunshine” problem at the new stadium.
As we left, getting to our parked vehicle and getting onto the highway was about like previous years and will depend upon the attendance for the games (maybe 24,000 the night we went).
Oh, yes, one more important thing—The charity “raffle ticket sale” is the same as previous years, with ½ the jackpot going to the winning ticket and ½ going to the Rangers Baseball Foundation; we always take part in this, and sometimes the total “purse” is $20,000 or more to be shared! (The Texas Two-Split)…..Wait, one more thing…..We plan to sometime sit in the SKYBOX area in one of the “extra-large rocking chairs!”
As Joe Bob Briggs said about new “drive-in movies,” CHECK IT OUT!
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