Ranger's Baseball

 Friday night I went with a group of girlfriends to my first ever professional baseball game. I have been to lots of Cowboy football games, seen the Spurs, Lakers and Mavericks play basketball, and watched the Dallas Stars play hockey.  I am not a big sports fan but I do enjoy going on occasion.  I just don't want to sweat.

This was an evening game but the temperature at the Ballpark in Arlington, where the Texas Rangers were playing, was still over 100 degrees in the shade. In spite of the sticky heat it was fun to get out, practice taking pictures with my new camera and enjoy the sights and sounds of baseball.

My friends are old hands at attending the games so they knew where we should park and ride, what to bring in the coolers and how to dress. We were dropped off right at the gate which meant I did not have to walk far and that was a relief. As we arrived, everyone attending the game that night was given a Ranger cooler. Freebies!  I love 'em. 

And, throughout the evening there were all sorts of activities to keep you entertained, in addition to the game, of course. There was the Hooters Bingo where you had to match the code of a play against your playing card. A nice guy sitting behind me helped me keep track as the plays happened. I did not ever get a winning line since each row had at least one unusual play that was not likely to happen.  They had to have some statistician put these cards together but even at that, only the first 25 winners that submitted their playcard were given prizes anyway. It was fun to try and helped keep my mind off the steady trickle of sweat running down my back.

Those of us who were novices did not bring coolers but I said I felt that buying food at the game is half the experience anyway.  Right?  Of course, $4.50 for a little hotdog and $5.25 for a large soda gave me more "atmosphere" than I had anticipated!! But I was just sure that the hotdog tasted better there in the stands than it would have at home.

Half of our group was on one row and the other half sat behind them. I was on the second row and, of course, the row in front was picked for everyone to win tickets to a future game and a free Rangers t-shirt. Additional shirts were also shot into the stands from a slingshot. No shirt for me.  I was content with my cooler. 

Later the cheerleaders (or whatever they are called at a baseball game) handed out coupons for free tacos to everyone in attendance.  In the 6th inning there was a race on the scoreboard and depending on the color, you could be the winner of another prize.  I missed that one entirely but I heard it was not my color so I did not care.

During the 6th inning I discovered the air conditioning in the restroom.  I tried my best to convince any of my friends to just hang out with me for a while but I found no takers,  Go figure!!  When I went back for another drink I found that if I leaned my head and shoulders over the counter, I could feel a breeze.  It was so flippin' hot I just took pieces of ice, let the soda drip off and then dropped them into my shirt. But I was having fun!! Nothing like an outdoor sauna with friends.

Back in the stands the rest of our group with coolers had bottles of water, bags of ice and a variety of food items they passed around. There was a constant stream of vendors with peanuts, beer, margaritas, ice cream,sodas and cotton candy. Oh, yeah. There was also a game going on out of the field.

The Rangers have not been doing well lately and on this night they were playing the Toronto Bluejays. They were behind from the beginning, caught up, fell behind again and it did not look good for the home team. But in the 9th inning the Rangers pulled out from behind and won the game at the last possible minute.  Very exciting and I got a ton of great pictures. 

It was a fun evening and now I know how to be prepared for the next time. Daisy Duke shorts, halter top, cooler of ice and a battery operated fan!  This grandmom will rock!

Tags: Rangers, baseball, heat, bingo