This day in baseball: Nolan Ryan joins the Rangers
Posted: December 7, 2019 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Baseball, California Angels, Houston Astros, Houston Colt .45s, Major League Baseball, MLB, New York Mets, Nolan Ryan, sports, Texas Rangers, Washington Senators Leave a commentFree agent Nolan Ryan signed with the Texas Rangers on December 7, 1988, making him the first major leaguer to play for all four original expansion teams. (The Rangers organization had played their first 11 seasons as the Senators in Washington, D.C.) Ryan first broke into the big leagues with the Mets in 1966, then went to the Angels in a trade in 1972 before signing with the Astros, who were originally known as the Colt .45s.

Brittanica.com
History of Kauffman Stadium
Posted: September 12, 2018 Filed under: 20th Century, 21st Century | Tags: American League, Arnold Johnson, Arrowhead Stadium, Baseball, Charles Finely, Dick Howser, Ewing Kauffman, Frank White, George Brett, history, Kansas City Athletics, Kansas City Chiefs, Kansas City Municipal Stadium, Kansas City Royals, Kauffman Stadium, Major League Baseball, MLB, National Football League, Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Athletics, Royals Stadium, sports, Stuart Symington, Texas Rangers, Truman Sports Complex 5 CommentsKauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri first opened as Royals Stadium on April 10, 1973. Construction for the stadium began in June 1967, when a $102 million bond was issued by Jackson County for construction of two sports stadiums. One of those stadiums was for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League. The other stadium, meanwhile, was intended for the Kansas City Athletics.
The Philadelphia Athletics, owned by Arnold Johnson, had moved to Kansas City in 1955, bringing Major League baseball to the city for the first time. The Athletics moved into Kansas City Municipal Stadium, a facility originally built in 1923, which was then rebuilt and expanded for the A’s. Johnson passed away in March 1960, and on December 19, 1960, Charles Finely purchased a controlling interest in the Kansas City Athletics from Johnson’s estate.
In the early 1960s, Finely began looking to move the team to a new city. In an effort to keep the Athletics in Kansas City, the Jackson County Sports Complex Authority was established to oversee construction and funding for a new sports complex for the A’s and the Chiefs, who also shared Municipal Stadium. Original plans called for a multipurpose stadium, but these were scrapped due to design and seating capacity issues. Going against the trend in other cities that were building multipurpose stadiums at the time, the county decided to build two new stadiums, one for the A’s and one for the Chiefs.
Charles Finely, however, did not want to wait for the construction of a new stadium, and in October 1967, Finely took the A’s to Oakland, California, where a new multipurpose stadium had just been erected. After the move, United States Senator Stuart Symington of Missouri threatened to press for the revocation of baseball’s anti-trust exemption if they did not give Kansas City a new team. The MLB responded by hastily granting expansion franchises to four cities, including a Kansas City team owned by a local pharmaceutical magnate, Ewing Kauffman. The new teams were scheduled to start playing in 1971.

Ewing Kauffman (Wikipedia)
However, pressure from Symington and other officials prompted the MLB to allow the expansion franchises to begin playing in 1969. The new club in Kansas City was named the Royals, and they played their first four seasons in Municipal Stadium. Meanwhile, construction on the Truman Sports Complex, including the Royals’ new stadium and the Chiefs’ facility, Arrowhead Stadium, began on July 11, 1968. The Royals played their first game in their new ballpark, originally named Royals Stadium, on April 10, 1973 against the Texas Rangers.
Royals Stadium was the American League’s first ballpark with Astroturf as the playing surface. It held 40,793 seats, which all faced second base and were arranged in three tiers featuring maroon, gold, and orange seats. The stadium’s most unique feature, however, was the display of fountains and a waterfall beyond the outfield fence. Stretching horizontally for 322 feet, it remains the largest privately-funded fountain in the world. The fountains are on display before and after the game and in-between innings, while the waterfalls are constantly flowing. A twelve-story scoreboard, in the shape of the Royals’ crest, was placed beyond the center field fence.
In 1993, the stadium was renamed in honor of Ewing Kauffman. Two years later, the Astroturf was replaced with grass. Then, after the 1998 season, Kauffman Stadium was given a full makeover. The renovation included the addition of Crown Seats, Dugout Suites, new clubhouses, and an exclusive restaurant and lounge known as the Crown Club. All of the formerly-brightly-colored seats in the stadium were replaced with blue seats.
Then, on April 4, 2006, Jackson County, Missouri voters approved a 0.375% sales tax increase to fund plans to renovate the Truman Sports Complex, including a $256 million renovation of Kauffman Stadium. Along with this, the Royals committed to a lease that will keep them in Kansas City until 2030. The renovation included a reduction of capacity to 37,903, a new high-definition scoreboard in center field (known as “Crown Vision”), new bullpens perpendicular to the field, expansion of the seating in the Crown Club and Dugout Suites, and new fountain view terrace seats in the outfield. New fan attractions included a kids’ area known as “the Little K” and a new Royals Hall of Fame in left field.
Four statues stand in the outfield concourse behind the fountains. Three of the statues are located in right field (featuring George Brett, Dick Howser and Frank White, all of whom have had their numbers retired by the Royals), and in left field is the former Royals owner Ewing Kauffman and his wife Muriel.

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This day in baseball: Ranger danger
Posted: August 22, 2018 Filed under: 21st Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Baltimore Orioles, Baseball, history, Major League Baseball, MLB, sports, Texas Rangers Leave a commentOn August 22, 2007, the Texas Rangers became the first major league team in over a century to score thirty runs in a game. The Rangers defeated the Baltimore Orioles, 30-3, setting a club record with 29 hits in the game. This match was the first of a doubleheader, and the Rangers also won the second game, 9-7.

glogster.com
Giants fans at McCovey Cove, 2010
Posted: February 24, 2015 Filed under: 21st Century | Tags: Baseball, McCovey Cove, San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers 3 CommentsThis news report from the 2010 World Series, when the San Francisco Giants took on the Texas Rangers, focuses more on the antics of San Francisco fans than on the World Series itself, though I think it’s good to put a little focus on the fans once in awhile. Without the fans, professional baseball would not exist, because there would be nobody to pay to see the games.
Granted, baseball began as a “gentleman’s game,” and fans used to dress up to go to the ballpark. By the way, this isn’t meant to knock on San Francisco fans, because honestly, you see this kind of behavior in any ballpark, and really, at any sporting event these days. I guess that’s evolution for you.
Happy New Year!
Posted: January 1, 2015 Filed under: 21st Century | Tags: Baseball, fireworks, New Year's Day, Spring Training, Texas Rangers 1 CommentWelcome to 2015… Only fifty days until pitchers and catchers report!
“That’s the Way Baseball Go,” Merle Haggard
Posted: August 18, 2014 Filed under: Pop culture | Tags: Baseball, Bob Simpson, Major League Baseball, Merle Haggard, MLB, music, sports, Texas Rangers Leave a commentIn 2011, Texas Rangers club co-chairman Bob Simpson and his wife, Janice, had the idea to modify Merle Haggard’s “That’s the Way Love Goes” into a baseball song. The result was “That’s the Way Baseball Go,” and Haggard was good enough to record the song with the new lyrics.
This day in baseball: Benching fury
Posted: March 28, 2014 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Baseball, Frank Lucchesi, history, Len Randle, Major League Baseball, MLB, sports, Spring Training, Texas Rangers Leave a commentOn March 28, 1977, an angry Len Randle attacked Rangers manager Frank Lucchesi for benching him during Spring Training. Sent to the hospital, Lucchesi wound up with a fractured cheekbone. Supposedly, Lucchesi instigated the attack by calling Randle a “punk.”

Baseball Almanac
This day in baseball: Ten-cent beer night
Posted: June 4, 2013 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Baseball, beer, Cleveland Indians, Cleveland Stadium, history, Major League Baseball, MLB, Nestor Chylak, sports, Ten Cent Beer Night, Texas Rangers 2 CommentsOn 4 June 1974, it was ten-cent beer night at Cleveland Stadium as the Indians took on the Texas Rangers. As the game progressed, Indians fans grew increasingly inebriated, resulting in a riot during the ninth inning of play. As a result of the crowd’s unruly behavior, the game was interrupted and could not be resumed in a timely manner. Home plate umpire Nestor Chylak stopped the game, which was tied at five runs a piece, and pronounced a forfeit by the Indians, thus declaring the Rangers victorious.