When your team is not going to make the playoffs, the season seems to end more quickly. I've been a baseball fan since Spot was a pup... but I only started going to ballgames after the Washington Senators came to town as the newly minted: Texas Rangers in the 70s.
They first played in their new stadium in Arlington (between Dallas and Fort Worth) Texas. Appropriately it was called Arlington Stadium. That was a stadium where I sat above the third base dugout with my young son as we watched Ranger's #34, Nolan Ryan, pitch in 1989 on his way to racking up his 300th win.
The Ranger's second new home, occupied in 1994, was first known as The Ballpark in Arlington became, a few years ago, Globe Life Park.
Yesterday I attended, with my long-time friend Ed Spenser, the 72nd home game of the Rangers 2019 season. This would be our last time to see the ballpark, with only 10 home games remaining. We toured the park, taking pictures and taking in various 'last times'.
With both our birthdays in September, we've made a pilgrimage of sorts to a game around our birthdays the last few years. Another poignant moment, this will be our last birthday Ranger game in Globe Life Park.
We had fantastic seats, on the home plate side of the Ranger's dug out, in the first row above the camera crew's pit.
It was a glorious night with a delightful summer breeze. Though the game time temperature was 92, it 'chilled down' to 86 by the ninth inning.
And, the Texas Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6 to 4.
Here we are doffing our caps along with Ranger hero, and MLB Hall of Fame pitcher, Nolan Ryan.
Next year's games will be in the nearby and under construction, Globe Life Stadium, which will feature a retractible roof that can open and close in twelve minutes! Say good bye to rain delays, triple digit summer afternoons and frosty October nights.