Game 13 was a reminder why the sport of baseball is one of the best. When all looks lost on a hot Sunday afternoon, when it felt as if the visiting team would pull one over the locals, things can change in a heartbeat and the game is turned on its head.
Dave, “Matt 2” and myself arrived at a red hot Texas Rangers game following a tour of nearby AT&T Stadium (home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys), which was an amazing tour and a stadium unlike anything I’ve seen before – once again, I’m no wordsmith meaning I’ll screw up any description, so just check the pics below.
As is tradition in these parts, we tailgated with our rental truck in the parking lot before making our way into the stadium for the Texas Rangers vs Colorado Rockies game.
Upon arrival in the stadium we did a couple of laps, avoided the heat and tucked in for what we thought would be a typical father’s day game on a hot afternoon in Dallas Texas (shout out to any Dads who may be reading this). With my new Texas shirt on, Dave in fine (read: vintage) form, and “Matt 2” keeping us hydrated, we were all witnesses to one of the funnest and exciting games of baseball I’ve ever been to.
With the home town Rangers trialling the visiting Colorado Rockies 10-9 leading into the ninth inning after a plethora of hits from both teams (super exciting stuff), all hope looked lost with Colorado tacking on 2 more to make it 12-9 and giving the feeling that the Rangers would ultimately come up short.
Then – baseball happened. [please hit play and continue reading]
In a magical turn of events, in the bottom of the ninth inning (and final in case you’re unaware), the Rockies closing pitcher Wade Davis would allow four walks (forcing in two runs – score 12-11 now), before giving up a bases loaded two run hit to send all of Texas into hysteria and a HUGE walkoff win that ended the game at 13-12 in favour of the Rangers.
Moments like these simply reaffirm my position that baseball is one of the best sports because it doesn’t have the clock element where a team who is leading can simply hide and play a style to run out time and lead itself to a win. “Man on man”, with no clock to hide behind always makes for an exciting spectacle and an “anything can happen” mantra that you don’t typically see with other sports.
Additionally, whilst in the stadium and perhaps somewhat under the influence (I also couldn’t say no to her), I decided to make an irrational purchase of a game worn jersey by former Rangers player/manager Josh Bonifay – who in one of the weirdest coincidences of all time actually threw a game ball to Dave back in 2002 during a minor league game – truly wild!
Other highlights within the stadium included a Texan sized dog with all the trimmings that fed the three of us (read: I’ll be sick for a week), an awesome indoor bar where we posted up, and just the great people of Dallas who welcomed us all and made it a very memorable experience.
Aside from all of the excitement at the ballpark, Dallas delivered in many other aspects with both Dave and Matt (the Matt from Chicago not Matt 2 who was at the Rangers game) visiting me and once again lighting it up and showing me an awesome time on Saturday night – also shout out Dave for coordinating the Air BnB + rental truck, and Matt (the god damn legend) who shouted me a hotel tonight on his points before I fly back to Kansas City to grab my car tomorrow morning.
The Saturday night also had a bonus appearance from another mate from Atlanta Mitch. Mitch was passing through Dallas on his way to Las Vegas where he is beginning a 6-year cadetship working with some of the world’s best plastic surgeons to kick start his career in this field – Mitch, it was awesome seeing you, and remember what we talked about (once he’s a big dog in the industry he’s going to make me into a modern Hercules).
This is a difficult blog post to write for me because not only the game but the city of Dallas was so much fun and I wanted to highlight it correctly (amongst other factors), however in two days I managed to cram so much into an awesome weekend and I can’t wait to get back here soon – they’ve for sure won a fan here!
I’m pumped for the next game in a city I’ve always wanted to visit – Minneapolis – so make sure you keep that dial tuned into GD Thirty before 30!
*editors note – these are getting harder to write so please excuse me if the quality is deteriorating, I swear I’m getting dumber or something!
Thirty before 30 