It was a grand day at the Rangers’ new ballpark — maskless! — even though my Astros came up short

While our trip to Globe Life Field today didn’t end the way we’d hoped with an Astros victory over the Rangers, it was cool to see the new indoor (retractable roof) stadium in Arlington for the first time. Kay and I had to leave after the Astros tied it 2-2 in the top of the 8th, so we missed the Rangers’ 3-2 walkoff in the 10th (kinda glad) to take the unexpected series sweep.

It showered on us during our walk from the distant parking lot to the stadium, but we used an umbrella part of the way. Two awesome things (besides getting to go to a ballgame w/my sweetheart): When we walked inside, we noticed almost no one wearing masks. We stopped to slip ours on … for about 30 seconds, then took them off. Kay said hey, we’re vaccinated, and the governor said it was OK. So we literally joined the crowd and spent the whole time maskless — and oh my gosh, did it feel awesome. We did see a few fans wearing them, but most were without, eating/drinking or not.

**I thought our seats, while near the top of the stadium in Section 307, still had a great view. That scoreboard is HUGE, and we were staring right at it!**

The other really cool thing was that not long after we arrived, we ran into a friend I graduated from Conroe High with, Myra Hogue, and her husband, Rusty! It was fantastic to see them for the first time since we ran into them at a Jimmy Buffett concert several years ago in Frisco.

**What a treat it was to run into my Conroe High friend and classmate Myra Hogue and her husband Rusty before the game! She’s such a sweetheart!**

One observation about the game: Our seats were near the top of the stadium in Section 307, along the third-base line, so we weren’t in a position to see any signs directed toward the Astros regarding their electronic sign-stealing, trash can-banging cheating scandal.

Before we went inside the stadium, Kay took a photo of two women standing with this awesome statue of none other than the great Nolan Ryan. Then one of them took a photo of US with Nolan too!! Kay and I were at the game 8/4/93 when Nolan, at age 46, pummeled Robin Ventura of the White Sox during Nolan’s final season … and it was glorious! I was also at the game in 1989 against the A’s, with my great friend and former Texas A&M roomie Gerald Gummelt, when Nolan recorded his 5,000th strikeout — against Rickey Henderson at the old Arlington Stadium. Hard to believe that was two Rangers stadiums ago!

But even though every time I’ve been to an Astros-Rangers game in Arlington there are LOTS of Astros fans in attendance (and today was no different), it was actually sorta fun to hear all the boo-birds giving hell to the players who were on the 2017 World Series championship team that broke MLB rules. That would be Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman and Yuli Gurriel. The fans were decent enough not to boo other players who weren’t on the roster back then.

I realize that quartet is gonna be booed in every ballpark the rest of their careers, and I have no problem with that. I really think they’ve already tuned it out anyway, and the fans should be able to have their say and have some fun.

But after this &%$#@*! three-game sweep, all I can say is, OK, Astros, it’s time to go home and get back to winning — against the Dodgers, of all teams! That two-game series Tuesday and Wednesday, in which the Astros will face Clayton Kershaw and Trevor Bauer, should be *very* entertaining!

Go Astros!

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