World Series Games a Texas Treat for Schulenburg’s Oldham and His Son

A historic matchup of 2 teams, one on the West Coast (LA) the other on the East Coast(TB) - Dodgers vs Rays. Where is Globe Life field...California or Florida ? Maybe the answer is only known in Texas....Arlington, Texas that is !

The 2020 Texas Rangers hosting the World Series were pre-season long shots at +8000. A $20 bet would win $1,600 at DraftKings Sportsbook. So if you plucked down an Andrew Jackson one would consider you a baseball genius, since technically the new $1.2 billion dollar stadium is hosting the Fall classic. However, one small detail Globe Life Field in Arlington is missing – their home team.

As I walk by the “old” Ballpark at Arlington my friend from Kansas City a Royal’s season ticket holder remarks, “the old Rangers Stadium is 10 times better than the current Royals Stadium.” He is 100% correct. I was fortunate enough to attend the 1995 Major League Baseball All Star Game at the Ballpark in Arlington that opened to rave reviews in 1994. Outside of the mammoth old ballpark which was architecturally one of the most impressively detailed sports facilities I have ever seen. And, still as impressive 26 years later, now hosting college & high school baseball games for the next 10 years.

Walking past the old $191 million dollar ballpark I’m thinking to myself (excitedly) “what does a difference of over 1 billion dollars do for the fans of a new stadium ?” The answer is...a retractable roof ! Walking from the parking lot to the new stadium for Game 3, I had three layers of clothing on above my pants. Thinking to myself, I should of remembered my gloves and stocking cap. Before we entered my other friend from Atlanta receives a text from MLB that the roof would be “closed” for the game tonight. I sighed with relief, but still expected to possibly purchase warm clothes once inside.

And then my group turns the corner from the old historic beautiful 1994 past to the 2020 future! My first thought was (like COVID) what happened?! The new billion-dollar stadium looks like Texas’ largest barndominiums with an outdoor entertainment complex called Texas LIVE. As we entered Globe Life Field, it sparkled with amazing features including the roof that allowed me to instantly remove two layers of clothing.

I once again reminisced of the sweltering hot 100+ degree July All-Star game I melted at over 25 years ago. Personally, I prefer to watch baseball outdoors...but retractable roofs in Houston and Dallas/Ft. Worth/ Arlington provide the best of both worlds for our volatile weather changes for Major League Baseball games in Texas (March to October).

Game 4, the roof was open and I was in shorts, t-shirt and pullover freezing during the four hour “instant World Series classic.” Several WS records were broken tonight and the Rays won with a two error walk off hit, come from behind miracle in Texas! The last play of the game was like no other ever seen in MLB history. If you’re a fan you’ve probably seen it a dozen times on social media.

Brett Phillips in his first WS at bat had the game winning hit. He ran around the field like a kid flying an airplane with his arms open wide and his entire team chasing him around the stadium for what seemed like an hour... with Dodger fans stunned and Rays fans in joyous disbelief.

My two friends from LA acted like the WS was over, even though it’s now tied at 2-2. My son, a senior at Schulenburg said, “dad, that was the greatest game I’ve ever seen in my life.’ Those words made our Covid 2020 adventure a father/ son memory of a lifetime that he can shared to his kids one day. The last kid off the bench to get an opportunity and win a World Series game with one swing of the bat.

Old-new, roof-no roof, millions of dollars-one billion dollars, never playing in a World Series-getting the winning hit... they say baseball is a game of inches and so is life!