Like Minute Maid Park, Globe Life Park, or Rangers Ballpark in Arlington as we knew it for several years, has served as a regular spot for us, so I’ll be talking about more than one game there. However, a unique aspect about this ballpark for me is that I’ve only ever seen the Orioles play here, no one else.
Way back in 2007, well before our ballpark chasing officially began, I got to see my beloved Baltimore Orioles for the very first time. I begged my parents to take me to Baltimore, but Arlington was a lot closer! The whole family made the drive up and I had the time of my life! We ate before the game in the right field restaurant. During batting practice Kevin Millar was dancing while stretching and Corey Patterson threw me his batting glove! Once the game started, Erik Bedard had 15 strikeouts, Jay Gibbons hit a home run and the Orioles won in my first time seeing them, marking a night I’ll never forget.
Five years later, the Orioles qualified as the second Wild Card team to play the first ever one-game playoff, and it would be against the Rangers in Arlington. As soon as we found that out, we bought tickets and made our way up I-35. It was the Orioles’ first playoff appearance since 1997, and I couldn’t believe I would get to see that in person! Unlike most games up here, it was super chilly, but that meant it was time for playoff baseball. There was a raucous crowd, and the Rangers scored right away. I thought there was no chance the Orioles would win, but they fought hard, and in the 9th inning Jim Johnson got David Murphy to fly out to left field, just in front of where we were sitting, and the Orioles had won the playoff game and were moving on to face the Yankees! I was stunned, excited and just so happy on so many levels. All the Orioles fans here, and there were actually a lot, gathered by the dugout and chanted “Lets go O’s” as Rangers fans exited the stadium. What a night!
Another of the most memorable moments not only in this ballpark but also in my lifetime as a fan came in 2017, and this time it was against the Orioles, but I wasn’t mad at all. On Friday night, the first game of the series, Adrian Beltre was just a few hits away from 3,000, as he got to 2,998. On Saturday he got one more hit, so he was one away from one of the greatest milestones in baseball. We weren’t planning on going to Sunday’s game, and we almost didn’t, but after discussing it my mom, Alan and I couldn’t risk missing history, so we bought last-minute tickets and went to the ballpark. Every at bat all weekend the crowd would rise, and finally Beltre lined a double to left field and he had done it: hit #3000! The whole team came out to hug him, and even the Orioles embraced him as the game came to a halt. We had just witnessed history!
In June of 2019, my mom, Adrian and I went up to Arlington for one night to see the Orioles again. We stayed across the street and took the free shuttle to the ballpark. This visit allowed us to say goodbye, as Globe Life Park is being torn down and a new stadium is being built right next door. From the looks of it, the new ballpark will be stunning. We got to see some of “Texas Live!” that’s been built, and it’s already incredible.
Arlington will always be special to me because of the many moments I’ve had with my Orioles. It will be sad to see the ballpark gone, but I can’t wait to make new memories at the new stadium!