Our last games in Texas! The Texas Rangers and Frisco RoughRiders both play their games in the Dallas area, so we had to get up super early and hit the road in order to make it to our first game of the day. The Rangers ballpark in Arlington is actually quite nice, and there is something about the old school grandstand in right field that has a certain charm to it. Sure, it’s probably a pain to sit behind, but it adds character to the feel of the park. We got there a bit early today to witness the Twins taking batting practice, and I tried to snag some homerun balls hit into the stands. Unfortunately I came up empty due to the fact that I didn’t have my glove and also because people go psycho for balls that land in the seats. It was Dollar Dog Day at the Rangers game, and that picture above is a hot dog that was sacrificed while some poor non-ambidextrous fan tried to catch a ball during BP. I also noticed that they have a Sammy Sosa homerun count banner hanging in right field, although it doesn’t seem to be too big of a big deal (as of today’s game, he is at 598). We had to leave the game a little early to take care of some car/transportation issues, but we did get to catch Justin Morneau of the Twins rip a homerun into the stands. Thanks to Sherry and Jenny for helping us out at today’s game and getting us some good stuff for our end of the year auction!

Later we drove up to Frisco to see the RoughRiders at Dr. Pepper Ballpark. Now at most stadiums there is either the choice of beverages from two soda companies—Coke or Pepsi (Coke being the far superior beverage family of choice.) So which beverage family does Dr. Pepper belong to? Excuse the tangent for a minute but Dr. Pepper has an interesting back story. Originally in the 80s Dr. Pepper tried to merge with Coke, but the FTC didn’t allow for it to happen. Dr. Pepper then joined forces with 7-UP after the failed merger with Coke. In 1995, Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc. was purchased by Cadbury Schweppes and The Carlyle Group. However, outside the US the rights to Dr. Pepper are owned by Coke and the rights to 7-UP are controlled by Pepsi. By 2006, Cadbury Schweppes had bought out the Carlyle Group’s interest and folded Dr. Pepper/7-UP into Cadbury Schweppes’ operations. Who knew the history of a soft drink could be so tumultuous?

Back to the ballpark—Dr. Pepper park is one of the most uniquely designed ballparks we’ve been too. The person behind the design claims to have wanted to “create a park within a ballpark.” The inside of the ballpark has dirt/rock paths and has been compared to the look and feel of Churchill Downs. It’s a crazy aesthetic that almost doesn’t feel like a baseball park but somehow it works. One downside is that the park has one of the highest ticket prices in all of Minor League Baseball—the prices range between $7 and $18 for a ticket. $18 for a Minor League game, holy smokes! These prices apparently do not deter fans from coming out, and the attendance each year has been one of highest in all of the Minor Leagues.

Thanks to Cristal for taking care of us tonight at the ballpark! It was a good way to end our travels in Texas. We left the stadium tonight headed towards New Mexico.