Yesterday evening, Katherine and I went to the Ballpark in Arlington for the seventh time this season. As is our wont, we arrived at the ballpark early for tailgating (though with a car rather than a pickup). The sky was dark and foreboding overhead and to the north, but clear and blue to the south. With the wind out of the south, I expected the clouds to blow away before game time.
They did. The announcer even reported that the game would be played in sunny weather. Ha! In the fourth inning, with the Texas Rangers trailing the Chicago White Sox, 4-2, the entire upper deck was evacuated. The reason given was high winds. We later learned that there were tornadoes in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. This should have been reported to the fans, who could have decided whether to stay in the park or go home.
Since Katherine and I were in the upper deck, we had to move. We found covered seats in a lower level and sat back to watch the game. Just then it began to rain. The grounds crew had a dickens of a time getting the tarp on the infield with the high winds. One crew member, prostrate, held on to the tarp for dear life as it billowed more than 10 feet high, pulling him along the ground. It was quite entertaining, though not, I am sure, for those on the field.
Katherine and I waited about an hour before deciding to leave. As soon as the rain stopped (there was also hail), we hustled to my car and drove home. The game resumed after a delay of 2:58 and ended at 1:27 AM. I wouldn't have minded staying up so late if the Rangers had won, but they lost, 8-6. Carlos Quentin of the White Sox hit three home runs. By my calculation, the first and third of his home runs came six hours apart. Surely that is a record!
Josh Hamilton of the Rangers had three hits. Half of North Texas gasped when he slid head first into first base, for he is just coming off an injury (caused by sliding head first) that kept him out of the lineup for six weeks. As if to prove that he was unaffected by the slide, he slid head first into second base. And then—I kid you not—he slid head first into third base. I don't know whether he's brave or stupid, or some ungodly combination of the two. I'm just glad he's okay.
As for Katherine and me, the loss dropped our record to 4-3 on the year. Overall, the Rangers are 25-24. (With their victory this afternoon, they're 26-24.) The official attendance was 35,524. The game itself lasted 3:21. When you add the 2:58 rain delay, you get a long night (6:19) at the ballpark for the few hardy fans who stayed.
The image in this post (click to enlarge) shows Six Flags Over Texas from the upper balcony of the ballpark. You can see the dark sky in the background.
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 