Game 15: Rangers Ballpark at Arlington, Arlington, TX
Oakland Athletics vs Texas Rangers – Tuesday, June 18, 2o13
Too bad we didn’t have an aircraft carrier to land on, but the Dallas Love Field Airport worked just fine. We arrived there from Houston around 12:00 noon for Game 15, which marked the halfway point of our goal.
We rented a car and headed directly to the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. This is among the very best museums that we have seen yet. It’s hard not to go through here without getting goose bumps and being gripped by an overwhelming sadness. This museum, in the former Texas School Book Depository, marks the site where President John F. Kennedy (JFK) was assassinated in broad daylight on Friday, November 22nd, 1963. We spent a full three hours at the museum, taking a guided tour. We saw the window from where Lee Harvey Oswald was said to have fired at the President and had a clear view of the spot where JFK was shot. We learned about Kennedy’s life and times, and followed the timeline of the events on that fateful day, nearly fifty years ago. The museum chronicled President Lyndon Johnson being sworn in aboard Air Force One, Oswald’s subsequent capture and arrest that came at the expense of police officer J. D. Tippit’s life, and the assassination of the assassin by nightclub owner Jack Ruby on live TV. Print, radio, and video news reports from those days, including those of Walter Cronkite, as well as accounts of eyewitnesses, were on display. The model-to-scale of the assassination site and nearby areas, constructed by the FBI, was especially impressive. Even for those who don’t believe that Oswald acted alone, or even that he was the real killer, the museum had plenty to offer. There was a whole segment on the Warren Commission, its report, and the criticism of its inconsistencies. Every important event leading up to the closure of the assassination investigation in the late eighties was accounted for nicely.
After the museum visit, we went over to the Hard Rock Café, which was only a mile away, for lunch. We then headed to Arlington, and on the way, we took the exact route as Kennedy’s motorcade including the sharp left turn onto Elm Street from Houston, past the spot where he was shot, and right by the nearby grassy knoll.
We checked into our hotel, posted the Astros blog, and then ran downstairs to catch the trolley that was going to take us to the ballpark. The trolley was just leaving as we came outside and we chased after it. Fortunately, one of the passengers inside saw us, got the driver to stop, and we were able to get on. Whew!
We arrived at the ballpark, about a half hour before the game was scheduled to start. That still gave us enough time to walk around the outside and take a few pictures before going in. We got two complimentary Rangers pitchers with glasses when we got in. It was a pleasant evening (although a bit warm) and it was nice to actually sit outside to watch the ballgame. We again had seats by the third base line, just a few rows back from the wall, and about two-thirds of the way between home plate and the left field foul pole.
This was a contest between the top two teams in the American League West. The second place Rangers were trying to gain some ground on the Oakland Athletics. The main attraction of the game, of course, was the Japanese-Iranian pitcher Yu Darvish, who was starting for the Rangers. In a well-publicized brouhaha a couple of years ago, the Rangers ponied up nearly $52,000,000 to the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters ball club just for the rights to negotiate a contract with Darvish. They then spent an additional $60,000,000 to sign him to a six-year contract. So we got to see a $100,000,000+ arm on the mound. Yu has pitched well for the Rangers this year and came into the game with a 7-2 record. He was, however, a bit off in this one. Although Yu pitched six frames and struck out ten, he also gave up five runs (four earned), which is the most he has allowed in a game this season. The A’s scored first when Brandon Moss hit a solo homer to right in the second inning. Later in the same inning, the bespectacled Eric Sogard laced a single to center that scored Josh Reddick. Reddick had singled earlier and then stole second. The A’s went up 3-0 in the third when Darvish gave up another home run, this time to John Jaso, who also sent it over the right field wall. The Rangers, however, responded with two runs in the bottom of the frame to make it 3-2 thanks to A. J. Pierzynski’s two run hit up the middle that scored Leonys Martin and Ian Kinsler. On the play, Kinsler collided with catcher Jaso and cut his chin on the catcher’s mask. He got stitches between innings and stayed in the game. Tough guy! Darvish just couldn’t keep the A’s down. He started the fifth by giving up a single and a double, and then uncorked a wild pitch that scored Josh Donaldson from third. Later in the inning, an unearned run scored in the form of Seth Smith, on a misplay by first baseman, Lance Berkman to make it 5-2. In the eighth inning, a lead-off triple by Brandon Moss and sac fly by Donaldson, made it 6-2, which ended up being the final score. The lesser known A’s starter Jarrod Parker pitched seven frames giving up just two runs to earn the win.
In the late innings, we walked around the park and took more pictures. After the contest, we took the shuttle back to our hotel and turned in for the night as we had to drive back to Dallas early in the morning to catch a flight to our next stop.
See you from there. Bye now!
