Take Me Back Tuesday: Texas Rangers and The World Series

Our Texas Rangers are going to the World Series....if you are from the DFW area, that is about the biggest thing right now next to sliced bread. Seriously. For the last week, these Texas Ranger fans have been on a baseball high like I have never seen. Proof of that came this past weekend when the lines for official American League Championship gear far exceeded the Cabbage Patch doll craze of the 1970's.

It was totally ridiculous...the mob of people waiting in excessive lines, the attitudes, the frantic store clerks and personnel trying to take charge of the crowds was at an all time high, we just left and went home. You would have thought Nolan Ryan himself was at the front of the line personally handing them out and then autographing them right on the spot. This type of frenzy is usually reserved for Black Friday sales....not for a Saturday afternoon in October.

Along with all the media coverage and the general excitement from almost everyone you meet about this once in a lifetime event coming, do I dare say less than 10 miles from my house in a couple of days....The World Series....less than 10 miles from my house......did you catch that????

....along with all of that, came memories from when the kids were smaller and we spent lots of time at the "old" Ranger Stadium. These were times long before even the concept of a World Series and the Rangers playing in it were even a mere thought. Remembering back to those days, brings a since of what true baseball has always been about....a smaller stadium, no real security at the park, just a simple baseball game with fans who enjoyed the game.

I remember taking my kids to the "old" stadium in the afternoons, when there was batting practice, or pitching practice. We were able to sit right on the front rows and watch the players practice up close and personal. I don't even know if you can do that now, but back then it was a big deal. I know for sure you could not get as close to the field or players in the new stadium as we could in the old one. That was a special place back when my kids were younger.

My son got his Ranger hat autographed from several players at these practices, the hat is still here in his closet....baseballs were dropped in my lap by players more than once when practice was over, we still have those too and more times than not, the player would also sign the ball for us before they left the field. Thinking back, that seems like such a long time ago, a much simpler time for sure.

We spent lots of time at the Ranger Stadium watching games, birthday parties, and taking family who was visiting from out of town. I remember it being a lot less expensive than it is today....the news said tonight that there were a few tickets left for game 3 of the World Series....at the rate of $800.00. Nose Bleed Seats. Certainly not the lower level seating we were used to all those years ago.

But aside from the cost being so much less....we certainly have lots of memories of spending family time at the baseball games so close to home. For my daughter, the food staple was always nachos and a coke, my son and husband, hot dogs and beer for my husband and coke for my son. Consequently, my son thought we could not leave the park without cotton candy and for me...well, I always wanted the roasted peanuts. Classic baseball food....always tasted best in the stands.

Every young boy my sons age during that time claimed Nolan Ryan as their hero. We certainly remember the games well when he was pitching. I have lots of photos of Nolan Ryan on the mound, wish I would have had the camera I have now back then...the pictures most likely be that much better. Over the years, we have collected signed baseballs, baseball cards, t-shirts, newspaper clippings.....the kind of things that went with the frenzy of the Nolan Ryan dynasty and the Texas Rangers. Today, it is a much more dramatized and media hyped frenzy with the World Series coming here...but it seems so fitting that the Hero who Pitched for the Texas Rangers back then, is still a part of this great organization and this once in a lifetime wonder.

My son has tickets to the World Series and I think my husband is going with him. Another great opportunity for a father and son to make a new memory, living the reality of Ranger baseball on a whole new level...the largest playing field for baseball of all time....less than 10 miles from my house. The World Series.....unbelievable.