Ameriquest Field
Arlington Stadium
Originally known as Turnpike Stadium, 1965-71
Arlington, Texas
Groundbreaking: April 15, 1964
First Texas League game: April 23, 1965
First American League game: April 21, 1972
Last American League game: October 3, 1993
Demolished: 1994
Surface: Natural grass
Seating capacity: 10,500 (1965); 35,185 (1972); 41,097 (1979); 43,521 (1991)
Owner: City of Arlington
Cost: $1.9 million (1965); $19 million - subsequent expansions
Dimensions:
Foul lines: 330 ft.
Power alleys: 380 ft. (1972), 370 ft. (1974), 380 ft. (1982)
Center field: 400 ft.
Height of fences: 11 ft.
Hosted World Series: Never
Hosted All-Star game: Never
Arlington Stadium was not a venue for the faint of heart. It was uncovered and vulnerable, an erector-set facility that dared to challenge the scorching Texas sun. If the 100-plus-degree heat didn't get you, the inelegant teams that competed there would. It wasn't easy to be a Rangers fan, but it was hard not to like Arlington Stadium.
Located in an entertainment strip of suburban Arlington next to the Six Flags amusement park, this was a no-frills stadium with a simple charm behind its plain, patchwork exterior.
Much of that charm was a byproduct of Arlington's humble roots. It opened in 1965 as Turnpike Stadium (Below), the 10,600-seat home of the Class AA Texas League's Spurs on the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike. It was constructed with an eye toward expansion, the first of which took place in 1970 and raised seating capacity to 21,000. When the former Senators were moved from Washington D.C. to Arlington before the 1972 season, emergency construction lifted capacity to 35,694 and gave the stadium the basic look it would retain throughout its history.
A special "plaza" deck, built atop the stands behind the plate in 1978, raised capacity to 41,284 and captured the essence of a makeshift construction that resulted in peculiar nooks and crannies as well as unexpected open-air windows to the outside world.
If Arlington wasn't the most sightline-friendly ballpark in the majors, it had to be close. It also was the hottest, with little shade to compensate. More than a third of its seats were in the expansive outfield bleachers-sun-blistered aluminum benches that dispensed their heat to general admission fans. From mid-May to September 1, the Rangers were forced to play all their games at night, with temperatures seldom getting out of the 90s.
The left field bleachers were topped by a distinctive 200-by-60-foot scoreboard, a piece of which was shaped like the state of Texas. The field, with lush green grass that somehow withstood daily assaults from the sun, featured hitter-friendly 330-400-330 symmetrical dimensions, but swirling winds blowing over the center field fence made life easy for pitchers.
That changed after the 1983 season, when the Rangers removed the scoreboard and topped the outfield rim with a 30-foot wall that stretched from foul pole to foul pole. Not only did the barrier block the winds and make life tougher for pitchers, it gave the park a whole new personality. Five state-of-the-art video and scoreboards were spaced along the wall, separated by huge advertising billboards. On one, the Marlboro Man gazed down with apparent disinterest from his right-center field perch.
Sights and sounds were important to Arlington fans. They still remember the right field temperature board, the sound of roller coasters and other rides from nearby Six Flags, superfan Zonk behind the first base dugout, Lone Ranger clips on the video board and Dot Races -- an Arlington invention, according to some Texans. But nothing stirred emotions more than the first musical notes of "Cotton-Eyed Joe," a stadium staple during the seventh-inning stretch. Sun beaten and worn beyond its years, Arlington Stadium gave way to a modern new facility, The Ballpark in Arlington, after the 1993 season.
Notes, Facts and Features
Turnpike Stadium was built at a cost of $1.9 million. Because the stadium was built in a natural bowl, it was estimated that an identical park built elsewhere could have cost as much as $15 million.
When the Rangers moved in, it was suggested that the stadium be renamed Vandergriff Stadium in honor of the Arlington mayor who labored to make the stadium a reality. Tom Vandergriff rejected the suggestion however, and the park was named for the city instead. He did agree however to throw out the first pitch in the Rangers first game at the ballpark, April 21, 1972.
Nolan Ryan got two of his biggest milestones at Arlington Stadium. On August 22, 1989, he struck out Rickey Henderson for 5,000th strikeout. On May 1, 1991, at age 44, Ryan celebrated "Arlington Appreciation Night" (Below) by beating the Blue Jays with his seventh no-hitter.
First game:
April 21, 1972. The Rangers, with their April 6 home opener canceled by a players' strike, defeated the California Angels, 7-6. Before 20,105 as Dick Bosman got the win and Frank Howard hit a first-inning home run.
Final game:
Gary Gaetti's two-run homer off Tom Henke gave the Royals a 4-1 win.
A huge Texas-shaped scoreboard stood behind the bleachers in left center until 1983, when it was replace by a Diamond Vision scorebaord.
The bleachers were the largest in the majors, spanning the entire outfield, from foul pole to foul pole.
Like Dodger Stadium and the Roman Colosseum, the field is located below the surrounding parking lots. Before the upper deck was added in 1978, fans would walk in at the very top of the stadium.
Although the wind usually blew in the direction from the outfield, the ball carried well because of the heat.
Because this was at one time the hottest park in the Majors, with temperatures regularly soaring into the 100s, almost all games (even Sunday games) were scheduled at night.
The seventh-inning stretch featured the song "Cotton Eye Joe" for the fans to dance to instead of the traditional "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."
Arlington Stadium was the birthplace of Dot Racing and ballpark nachos.
The California Angels' Mike Witt threw the first no-hitter and only perfect game at Arlington Stadium, against the Rangers on the final day of the season, September 30, 1984.
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