We Visit the Rangers

This will be the second in a series of baseball posts before I can get to vacation pictures. This month has been a lot of fun, but it has felt like a whirlwind, with wrapping up baseball and chamber music, plus recitals, a Rangers game in Dallas, and a vacation to Florida. Never fear, there are many pictures to come.

A couple of weeks ago, we went to Dallas with our good friends and baseball buddies, the Lucases. We try to go to at least one Rangers game at the ball park in Arlington every year, and we decided this year we needed to see the Rangers play the Oakland As.  Because of our busy baseball schedule and my class teaching schedule, the only game that would work was a weekday night game.  It seemed like a good idea when we bought tickets, but leaving for Dallas mid-afternoon for a 7pm game and driving home that night made for a long day and a very tired family.

After a relatively easy drive to Arlington (with more bathroom stops than I can count, between the five kids in our caravan), we stopped for a bite to eat, then headed to the ball park.  We had great seats in the second row, right behind the right field wall.

The view from our seats in right field.

The kids settled in quickly and were anxious for the game to get started.

The game started uneventfully.  As the action heated up, the boys got more and more excited.

A couple of innings in, Pennington (from the As) homered into right field -- right to where were sitting!  The bigger boys jumped up, gloves raised, desperate to get the ball.  It sailed right to Zach (the sweet little guy sitting next to Griffin in the picture above) and the guy next to Zach caught it right over Zach's head.  Convinced that he'd be given the ball, Zach raised his hand excitedly.  But...alas...the guy threw the ball back onto the field, rejecting the ball hit by the opposing team.  Zach was crushed and cried big, crocodile tears.

Thankfully, all was not lost.  Since we sat right next to the Rangers' bullpen, Zach managed to get a ball from one of the Rangers pitchers a few innings later, simply by being cute. 

Shortly after the home run excitement, we started to feel some sprinkles.  Then more rain drops.  And soon it was pouring.  The grounds crew rushed onto the field to roll out the rain tarp, and thousands of fans rushed from their seats into the covered areas.

After about an hour rain delay, the players got back on the field.

Toward the end of the game, Rangers closer Neftali Feliz, one of our favorite players, came out on the field to start warming up his arm in right field between innings. 

 

 

Thanks to the rain delay, we got an even later start to drive back home.  But, thanks to much caffeine, we made it!