Texas Rangers, live!

Heros.

Every little boy has them. Maybe it's a sports figure. Maybe it's a community hero. Maybe it's an action hero.

This little boy's hero . . .

is this man!

Josh Hamilton. Number 32. All Star outfielder for the Texas Rangers.
2010 MVP of the American League Championship Series. 2010 American League MVP. 2008 Home Run Derby participant, where he hit a record 28 home runs in the opening round and finished with 35 home runs, which was second-most all-time in derby history.

 Mitch and his dad took Will to a Rangers game last summer and he was hooked from then on. He even dressed up like Josh Hamilton last year for Halloween. This year we decided that the girls should go too, so we went to Dallas during the first weekend in July. We drove out on Friday and went to that night's game. Our first stop at the Ballpark was at the team shop for shirts. We stopped at this statue of Nolan Ryan for pictures.

We changed, got popcorn and found our seats. We had great seats about 24 rows up behind the Rangers dugout. We watched the mascot, Captain, and the "Six Shooters" get the crowd energized.

We watched the players warm up and took in all the sights and sounds of the stadium.

The players were wearing black ribbons on their uniforms after the tragic accident that had happened the night before. A ball was hit into left field, caught by Josh Hamilton, who then tossed it to a fan in the stands. The man leaned too far forward and fell out of the stands. He was taken to a hospital and later died. Josh Hamilton was understandably upset and we were unsure if he would play that night. We were glad for Will's sake that he did, even after such a sad accident.

Finally the game was underway. Will is very serious about singing the Star Spangled Banner.

We had a good view of home plate.

Finally when Will's "favorite player" came up, he had to get the binoculars. He was yelling "Hey Josh! Turn around and see me!" :) Oh how I wish that boy could meet Josh Hamilton.

The kids were both really good at the game, even though it was really hot (it was 106 when the game started and 99 at 9 pm) and late. We got to see a cool fireworks show after the game for "Friday Night Fireworks". They were set to TV theme songs, so it was kind of fun to sing along. The kids were not crazy about how loud they were, but they made it through the show. The best thing was that the Rangers won!

The next morning we were able to take a tour of the ballpark. There were a handful of other people on the tour with us and we were shown around the park by a tour guide with lots of interesting facts. We were not able to go in the team locker room but were able to see lots else, including the pressbox,

suites

 (we were able to go in the Mayor of Arlington's suite, but none of the others)

the batting cages

This was a scripture on a dry erase board in the batting room written by Josh Hamilton:

We went into the media room and were able to sit at the interview desk. (We could sit at the desk where the coaches and players sit, but we were not allowed to sit in the chairs directly across from that where the media sits. It didn't make much sense to us, and even the tour guide didn't really know why, but we did as we were told).  Will did his best Ron Washington (the manager) imitation. Ron frantically chews on sunflower seeds and gum the entire game. You can't really tell in the picture, but Will was pretending to chew like that!

 

We went to the dugout last. There is a room behind it where we were told there is usually a table set up that holds Ron Washington's sunflower seeds. That's also where we saw one of Josh Hamilton's bats, which I couldn't resist touching.

the view from the dugout

Will "hanging over the fence like Ian Kinsler"

It was a fun trip!