Historic Weekend In Arlington

Last week, days before the O’s came to Texas, my mom, oldest brother and I made the last minute decision to drive up to Arlington. Little did we know we were on the road to history.

We left San Antonio Friday afternoon, and thanks to some I-35 traffic we got to the game a little late. The O’s got crushed, but Adrian Beltre got two hits for the Rangers. Those were hits 2,997 and 2,998, and while I knew Beltre was close to 3,000, I didn’t realize it could actually happen while we were at the games.

Entering Saturday’s game, my mom and I officially knew what was going on and so did the every one of the 44,658 fans that packed Globe Life Park, eight thousand more than on Friday. The excitement was palpable even one or two batters before Beltre even came up to bat. Fans shuffled to the edge of their seats. phones came out of pockets and everyone prepared for the possibility of history. In his first at-bat, as the entire crows rose to its feet, Beltre grounded a ball to the hole in shortstop, but Ruben Tejada made a nice play to throw him out at first. It felt as if someone popped the balloon and the air left the stadium. Soon, Beltre came up to bat again and this time grounded a ball past Tejada, and that marked hit 2,999. Now, history truly felt imminent. It could happen at anytime now. He had two more at-bats in the game, including in the 9th inning, but a nice play by Manny Machado kept Beltre one hit short.

We only planned on attending the games on Friday and Saturday, as afternoon games under the boiling Texas sun aren’t ideal, plus we wanted to get home at a decent hour. We woke up later than usual since there was no plan to go, but then something got inside my mom and I. How could we risk missing history? We made calls asking other people, and after some doubt, we decided to stay and go to the game. It was about as last minute as it gets. We quickly gathered our things, packed up the car, grabbed a bite to eat and bought tickets on Stubhub on the way to Globe Life Park.

This time with my brother Alan, we entered the stadium ready for history. We walked to our seats on the third base line, thankfully in the shade, and buckled in. Beltre came up to bat in the second inning, but Wade Miley struck him out. My mom and I started worrying that he may not get a hit. If he didn’t, at least we tried and wouldn’t feel bad if we had left and he got it. After the Orioles got a 4-0 lead, Adrian Beltre stepped up to the plate with a runner on first and one out in the 4th inning.

More than 32,000 fans again rose as one chanting, “Beltre, Beltre” with their cameras out. The count went to 3-0, and the crowd began to boo Miley as if he purposely tried pitching around him. Miley then delivered the 3-0 pitch, and Beltre belted it past Machado at third and down the left field line. As Beltre rounded for second, the crowd erupted. Fireworks shot up and the team ran on the field to hug Beltre, the 31st player in MLB history to get 3,000 hits. As he hugged his teammates, three kids ran from the stands onto the field and to the outfield wall where they revealed a sign with Beltre in his signature one-knee swinging pose. Those kids were Beltre’s children, and they ran back to hug their dad, who was in tears. As Beltre returned to second base for the game to resume, all the Orioles hugged and congratulated him.

After so much emotion and excitement, it almost felt wrong for the teams to go back to playing the game. After things settled down, we looked at each other in disbelief. Thanks to a last minute decision, Alan, my mom and I got to witness baseball history. It’s a moment I’ll remember for the rest of my life.