When it comes to showing off new baseball stadiums, the Texas Rangers can’t catch a break.
In 1994, Globe Life Park (cost $191 Million) opened for business in Arlington, Texas. Sadly, after only 113 games, the players went on strike, and the remainder of the season (including the World Series) was cancelled.
As luck would have it, the Texas Rangers were preparing to open their brand-spanking-new Globe Life Field (cost $1.1 Billion) to kick off the 2020 season when the Coronavirus brought everything to a halt.
Talk about bad luck!
The abrupt ending of the 1994 season was accompanied by much wailing and gnashing of teeth from team owners, television broadcasters and advertisers. But there was one other less-well-known bit of fallout … I stopped going to Major League Baseball (MLB) games once and for all. The way I look at it is simple … when MLB gave up on me by cancelling the World Series, I gave up on them.
I know my decision did not cause panic in board rooms across the MLB community, but it is a position that I have held to … pretty much. Yes, I have fallen off the wagon a time or two over the years …for example, I simply could not resist a first-time visit to historic Wrigley Field on a trip to Chicago. But if pressed about other MLB games I might have attended during my boycott, my defense would be simple … I was there only for the purposes of research and, as a former President once argued, I didn’t inhale.
Full disclosure, I have not entirely forsworn professional baseball … far from it. Every winter, my wife and I count the days until we can begin our annual ritual of travel to minor league games across the United States. The quality of play by the aspiring major leaguers we watch is always high, and the memories we collect are vivid. For example, we won’t soon forget attending a game called in the fifth inning because of snow while watching the Casper (WY) Ghosts. And we learned that if you arrive early enough at a Roswell (NM) Invaders game, you can watch the home team raking the infield and chalking the baselines.
For us, minor league parks always provide a delightful experience at a reasonable price. In Pensacola, Florida, for example, the ridiculously low cost of a seat directly behind home plate provides an up-close look at the game as well as a lovely view of the Gulf of Mexico just over the center field wall. An added bonus, of course, is the opportunity to pose for a picture with Kazoo, the team mascot. And for a genuine “bucket list” experience, I had the good fortune in 2019, to throw out the first pitch at a Hyannis Harbor Hawks game in the fabled Cape Cod League.
If you are a true baseball enthusiast, though, few experiences can compare with a ball game at Kokernot Field in Alpine, Texas. Constructed in 1947 by Big Bend rancher Herb Kokernot, this beautiful park was built from native stone quarried on the Kokernot Ranch, with red clay for the infield brought in by boxcar from Georgia. With a seating capacity of 1,400, fans in this idyllic setting are often treated to the sight of a homerun ball disappearing over the outfield wall in the general direction of the majestic Chisos Mountains just beyond. Called the “Yankee Stadium of Texas,” Kokernot field is home to the Sul Ross University Lobos, and the Alpine Cowboys of the Pecos League.
In 2020, Covid-19 has affected broad swaths of life and, no surprise, discussions about any possible start to the MLB season remain deadlocked. What this means, of course, is that this year, instead of heading to the ballpark for an evening of Crackerjack, cold beer and yelling at umpires, we are left to contemplate the sorry spectacle of billionaires feuding with millionaires over the fate of an enterprise we used to know as “The American Pastime.”
While disappointing, there is one distinct “up” side to this debacle … my 1994 decision to avoid MLB games has been renewed and strengthened. The unbridled avarice of owners and players alike has reminded me, once again, of how completely out of touch these folks are with the world of the ordinary citizen and baseball fan.
During his tenure as manager of the New York Yankees, Casey Stengel became known for his sage witticisms. One of his observations about baseball seems especially appropriate today: “There are three things you can do in a baseball game. You can win, or you can lose, or it can rain.”
There is not much doubt … the 2020 season has been postponed because of rain.
DanBonBooks 