In honor of the World Series beginning today between the Texas Rangers and the St. Louis Cardinals, I thought I would reminisce about the team, this time last year.

Last year, on October 30th, 2010, we were lucky enough to score tickets to the 2010 World Series between the Texas Rangers and the San Fransisco Giants. Standing room only tickets, but tickets no less. Sy had to work so I headed down to the stadium with a couple friends to stand in line for our prime seats or spots.

We weren’t alone in line and that wasn’t a surprise. Texas Ranger fans have been waiting a long time for this moment. The team went from never having won a playoff game in the history of the team to making it to the World Series. These fans were pumped up and ready to go. Sporting their “That’s how baseball go” t-shirts, foam hats and antlers and other homemade memorabilia that they would be holding on and passing along to their grandkids.

Once inside, we headed to center field. The ESPN booth was already set up next to the visitors bullpen. I found my spot in a small corner. “No one should be coming thru here” was my only thought. Staying away from being trampled over the for the next 5-6 hours was my goal. We had a couple hours to go before game time. Little did I realize, that I just scored the best seats in the entire stadium.

For the next two hours or so, we not only got to watch the teams warm-up and mingle with some fans, catch a few glimpses of some great attire.

Before we knew it, it was game time! Kelly Clarkson, a “local” did a fantastic job of singing.

 

Let’s play ball!  

 

Now, you are probably thinking its pretty exciting to be attending a World Series game but to top it all off, we were standing right in front of the ESPN booth. What’s that mean? It meant that if you are a true baseball fan, you had the seats (standing room only spot) of your life. Not only did you get to watch a game that would be going down in history, all you had to do was turn around and talk to some of the biggest names in baseball.

Bobby Valentine – Local favorite who owns “Bobby V’s” restaurant in Arlington, former Rangers Manager and Manager of a baseball team over in Japan.

Nomar Garciaparra – Former Red Sox short stop.

Dave Winfield – Baseball Hall of Famer

Karl Ravech – Baseball Tonight broadcaster

Tim Kurkjian – ESPN Baseball Guru

Buster Olney – ESPN Baseball Guru #2 (according to Tim Kurkjian)

John Kruk – All-Star First baseman for the Phillies

  

 

They were gracious enough to joke around with us, take a few pictures and even sign some autographs.

 

We had to bring the hat…. and it worked!

 The Rangers ended up winning the game, 4-2. It would be the only game they won at home and would end up losing the series.

Now they’ve been given a second chance!

Let’s go Rangers!