Our Last Visit to The Temple

Globe Life Park

On a warm evening, September 12, 2019, my youngest son Matt and I made our last trip to Globe Life Park to see a Texas Rangers baseball game. It turned out to be a very enjoyable evening. One of the great joys of being a father is going to a ballpark with a son who is also a baseball fan. There are no bad visits regardless of the game outcome, the weather, the seat location, the traffic, or anything else.

A little history. I am a big baseball fan. When very young, I was a New York Giants fan. We lived in the metro New York City area until I was about 6½ years old. I remember watching their games on an old black & white TV. Willie Mays was and is my all-time favorite baseball player. We then moved to Florida and there was no local or even near MLB team so I still rooted for the Giants but hardly ever got to see them play. After college, I moved to Atlanta and the Braves had also recently moved to town. I had the chance to go to several games back when Hank Aaron was their star. I even got to see Willie Mays on the few occasions that the now San Francisco Giants and New York Mets came to town. I became an Atlanta Braves fan. Even when I moved to south Georgia I could keep up because their games were televised on WTBS and carried on cable TV. Then in the mid-'80s, I moved to the DFW Texas area. The Texas Rangers were the local MLB team. I knew little about them since they were an American League team and were never contenders. Nevertheless, I decided to latch on to them as my new team. It was difficult. The team was mostly terrible and the ballpark was even worse. Still, Arlington Stadium could be fun. Admission and concessions were cheap and there was no problem getting good seats at the last minute. We all got used to mediocre at best baseball and facilities. 

Then in the '90s, the team started to get better. Not great but respectable. They had some young studs and signed Nolan Ryan. They also got new ownership that finally had some money. They planned and financed a new stadium along with the city of Arlington. It was just across a parking lot from the old stadium. 

I was lucky enough to go to the opening day of the new stadium and then the next night to the first night game. They were nosebleed seats down the right-field line but still great. It was amazing. It was a particularly striking contrast from the dump that was the old stadium. It was big, not cramped. It was shiny and green, not faded blue and rust. There were dozens of concession stands and restrooms, not just a couple of often flooded locations. There were big electronic scoreboards and TV monitors. It was beautiful. In fact, it was the best ballpark I had ever been in. Not the most iconic or historic but the best. I had been to (old) Yankee Stadium, Shea, Wrigley, Fenway, Dodgers, Anaheim, Candlestick, and several others. It was beautiful. The first time you emerge from the concourses to the field of any ballpark is special. This was extra special because I was one of the first 40,000 people to experience that Opening Day and the Rangers were my adopted team. That Opening Day was in 1994. Now in 2019, 26 years later, the stadium is apparently worn out. 

This ballpark will always hold a special place in my heart. Besides being there for Opening Day, I also had the opportunity to take my stepson to that first opening night game. I went to many games with friends and colleagues in those first few years. Finally, probably around 1997 or '98, it was time to take my youngest son to a ballgame. He was five or six by then and already a baseball fan and old enough to know what was going on at the game. He was a huge Pudge Rodríguez fan at the time. I still remember as we made our way to our seats, we passed a big poster of Pudge. Then we turned the corner and he saw the field. It was a magical moment for both of us. I have no memory of who the Rangers played or who won the game. It didn't matter. At that game and several others, Matt would drink Dr. Pepper, eat a hot dog, maybe ice cream in a little batting helmet. Dad had a couple of beers and maybe a dog. 

We also went to a couple of fan days during the off-season when we could tour the clubhouse, indoor batting cages, the dugout, and the field. Matt got to take batting practice, run the bases and slide into home. Special times. 

The Rangers continued to improve after they moved to the new ballpark. It was originally named The Ballpark in Arlington. It then became Ameriquest Field. Unfortunately, Ameriquest went out of business with the mortgage crash in 2007. The stadium went back to Rangers Ballpark. In 2014 it became Globe Life Park. The new stadium will be named Globe Life Field. 

Starting in the mid-'90s, the Rangers began winning division titles. They peaked in 2010 and 2011. By 2015 and '16, they made the playoffs again. Matt and I went to those playoff games. By then, he was joining me in drinking cold beers. We now go to games every season. It is always a joy. We splurge for good seats, pay attention to the game, and have a few beers. We once stayed through the end of an 18 inning game. 

Our last trip to Globe Life Park was almost perfect. It was a Thursday night game against the Tampa Bay Rays. We headed that way around 5:30. We parked across the street from the stadium and right next to Texas Live, the new eat, drink, entertainment venue. We had a good early dinner. Better food, a real table, a server, and less expensive than the ballpark. We then matriculated across the street to the stadium. While standing in the security/ticket line, we heard the national anthem. Into the concourse and we grabbed a beer because we had to walk about halfway around the field to our seats. We stopped at our aisle to talk to our favorite beer vendor. Then walked to our seats just in time for the first pitch. No waste, no haste. They were good seats, row nine between home and the third-base dugout. The beer vendor in that section is a friend so we were well taken care of. It was warm but not oppressive and the Rangers won the game. Most importantly, I was with my son at a ballgame. What more can you ask?

The new ballpark opens next season. I'm sure it will be nice. It will have a retractable roof so there will be no more 100° days or rainouts. Comfortable, but it will never replace the current stadium or even the previous old dump. My youngest son will never see his first MLB game at the new field. I will never have to stand in ankle-deep water for a beer or piss in the trough of old Arlington Stadium restrooms. Matt and I for sure will go to games at the new Globe Life Field. Maybe someday there will be a son/daughter and grandchild we can go see a game with. That will make the new venue really special.

A local sports radio guy early on named the ballpark The Temple. It was an apt name and has stuck. I don't know if the new Globe Life Field will get a nickname but it will never be The Temple. RIP old friend. 

wjh