My Take on Rangers Ballpark in Arlington

Just got back from my trip to Dallas and caught two Rangers/Blue Jays games there. Rangers Ballpark in Arlington was definitely a great stadium. It was big but had a homely feel to it. It was clean, and it was baseball, Texas-style.

In terms of the stadiums I've been to, Rangers Ballpark in Arlington is one of my favorites and there were so many good things about it. That being said, there were some things I DIDN'T like about it. Notably the scoreboard and that anything on the right field line was hindered from seeing all parts of the stadium. Also did not care for the food they had. But those were the only blips out of the whole thing. I enjoyed every second of my time in Texas and also got a souvenir with a Jose Bautista HR ball during batting practice.

What I liked about the stadium:
1. The inside view (lovely and might be the prettiest view I've seen in any ballpark yet)
2. The outside view (clean and the granite and the brick with the longorns and lone stars gave it a great design)
3. The variety of the souvenirs they had and the relatively low prices with them.
4. The concourses (big, clean, and wide)
5. The honoring of the classics like Ebbets Field, Tiger Stadium, Yankee Stadium, and Comiskey Park.

What I didn't care for with the stadium
1. The scoreboard (too high in RF and too small; and I miss the old manual scoreboard in LF)
2. The food (not tasty despite the large variety)
3. The 7th inning stretch (felt rushed a bit)

Overall I loved the parik. It ranks as the 4th best park I've been to out of 14 (only Camden Yards, Comerica, and Great American Ballpark I rate higher).

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Comment by Lisa (21) on February 13, 2013 at 10:39am: Thanks for the replies Tim and Clifford. We will actually be traveling with a 3 yr old, so I will keep the zoo in mind, it just seems they are all pretty much the same. I was hoping to find something to do that is unique to the area. If you guys think of anything else, shoot me a message anytime. :)

Comment by Tim on February 7, 2013 at 7:25pm: Hi Lisa,

It has been 3 years since I went to the Dallas area. Probably not much help especially when I had a child in tow, but we went to the Fort Worth Zoo, which was neat. If you go to Dallas, there is Dealey Plaza (JFK) which was pretty neat. As for foods, you really can't go wrong. But my memory is a little sketchy on the area, but I enjoyed my time in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.

Comment by Clifford Bucky Nance on February 7, 2013 at 3:51pm: Well Lisa, there is Six Flags and Six Flags Hurricane Harbor across the street and next door. If you go to Six Flags, you can park in the back of the parking lot and be close to the Third Base entrance of the ballpark and have a tram come pick you up to take you to the Amusement Park. If stay anywhere, stay in Fort Worth. It' is a hell of a lot cheaper than Dallas and there are all kinds of things to do in Downtown as well as Fort Worth's Historic Stockyards. Plenty of saloons and places to eat down there. Also, just north Downtown is a minor league park named LaGrave Field. It was re-build on the old sight of the Texas League Stadium and actually has the original dugouts still there from the old stadium. Babe Ruth, Ted Williams and 50+ other Hall of Famers walked through those tunnels. Original dimensions as well.

Comment by Lisa (21) on February 7, 2013 at 6:31am: I'm actually going to Ranger Ballpark this spring and wondered if you had any other suggestions on things to do while in the Arlington/Dallas/Fort Worth area besides of course taking in a baseball game? The only other major thing I've seen or heard about is six flags and we're not interested in theme parks for this trip. Any suggestions would be great! Thanks!

Comment by Tim on April 23, 2010 at 7:48pm: Sounds like it would be a major upgrade to what they have. It would be their own. I think it would be great if they went back to that. I would say "Deep in the Heart of Texas" but Houston does that.

Comment by Clifford Bucky Nance on April 22, 2010 at 4:04pm: Until we moved into the new ballpark in 1994, we only played the Cotton Eyed Joe for the stretch.

When they moved in 1994, they started playing Take Me Out to the Ballgame. The reason? Tradition. We never played it during the stretch and since we had a new park with an old feel and thousands of people came from all over to watch a game there, they decided that they should conform with the likes of Wrigley, Fenway and Dodger Stadium.

I have never been a fan of Take Me Out to the Ballgame for our stretch.

Before 1994, as soon as the last out was made, without any announcements of being told what to do, the Cotton Eyed Joe was played and the entire stadium got up to stretch, dance and have fun.

Now it is cheesy and corny and in my opinion, it is not Rangers baseball. I have sent several E-mails to the Rangers about this to no avail and get the same response, It's Tradition.

I wait until it is over and stand up for the Cotton Eyed Joe.

Comment by Tim on April 18, 2010 at 5:07am: While I am in favor of the modern parks compared to the dull cookie cutters, I am starting to feel a generic feel with the new ones coming out like St. Louis, San Diego, Philadelphia, the Mets, and even Detroit. Comerica aside, I haven't been to any of them and I do hope to go to all of them, but it is starting to have the same vibe: outer view having a brick facade, quirks in the field dimensions, backdrop of the major city they are in, green walls in the OF (though SD and NY do not have that), bricks along walls behind home plate, etc.

I guess that is why I liked Cincinnati a lot was because it bucked most of the modern stadium trends. I didn't see an influx of bricks on the outside, you got to see a nice view of the Ohio River off of RF. I think many got upset that you can't hit balls in the river like you can Pittsburgh or SF, but that was ok. They also had red seats which no new stadium has (blue or green), and some of the things they had made it neat like the new riverboat (which I think is an upgrade from the just black restaurant out there), and the smokestacks I thought was catchy.

Comment by Doug Miller (30) on April 17, 2010 at 9:19am: I'm with Tim on this one. I like Great American too. I love the "retro" parks, but there is something about Great American that reminds me of a state fair, on the verge of a AAA park. That's not at all an insult though, it had a hometown feel to the park that I don't get in a lot of the gorgeous retro parks that look perfect but are missing an element of flavor. I totally agree that as a new park, it's completely different from what's being built now. But in Cincy's case, I like it!

Comment by Tim on April 16, 2010 at 7:00pm: I am kinda surprised you call Great American generic. The reason why is it isn't like the majority of the new ballparks (i.e. with the brick influences and the constant use of green). They kinda copycatted Cleveland's ballpark in terms of the architecture and it was a unique feel to the stadium that I liked. I'm kinda surprised people do not like the stadium more since it is a little out of the ordinary compared to the modern stadiums.

Comment by Nema Brewer-Candy on April 15, 2010 at 10:10am: Interesting that you rate Great American as one of your favorites. I haven't been to Arlington, but I have been to Cincy many times and find it a little generic. And I also think the new steamboat in the outfield is a tad on the tacky side. But, it is a great place to watch a game and seats are usually plentiful. Was there for a game against the Cubs last weekend and Cub fans outnumbered Reds fans 2 to 1.