Globe Life Field

[Benjamin Grimm]

Remember how when Citi Field was being built, we were very aware of its progress? Of course, we were able to see it whenever we went to Shea, but we were getting updated on the construction during the telecasts of the games and also on SNY.



Well, the Texas Rangers have apparently built a stadium without anyone noticing what it looked like until this week. (About three months after it was scheduled to open? I'm not sure if it was built for 2020 or 2021.)



Here's what the fans thought the stadium would look like:



https://cdn.archpaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/xGlobeLifeField_HKS-645x362.jpg.pagespeed.ic.61kpCt_oOu.jpg>



And here's what it actually looks like. I've seen it described as a warehouse with a trailer parked out front:



https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/tVBHGezUZfgYZxzMtpx6HQ--~A/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9MTI4MDtoPTk2MA--/https://media.zenfs.com/en-US/nbcsports.com/a8f337edbe99b0147e9958c976a903f3>



It looks a lot better from the inside, and not so bad from outer space, but ugh, it really is an ugly ballpark. As surprising as it is that it got built, it's even more surprising that it's not getting any attention until now.



https://assets.simpleviewinc.com/simpleview/image/fetch/c_fill,h_800,q_75,w_800/https://assets.simpleviewinc.com/simpleview/image/upload/v1/clients/arlington/Globe_Life_Field_01_673e7fc1-44d4-41d2-9dc6-16890a4c8554.jpg>



https://usatftw.files.wordpress.com/2020/06/ap-virus-outbreak-stadiums-distancing.jpg?w=1000&h=600&crop=1>

[batmagadanleadoff]

Jeez, that looks like aluminum siding.



Which is a not good thing for a major league baseball stadium.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Retractable roofed stadiums because they need to be so tall almost always look terrible and not much like stadiums, from the outside. The dbacks stadium looks like an oversized beverage distributor or maybe an airplane hanger from the outside. It's only when you approach the entrance that it looks okay. But this Rangers thing looks worse.

[Frayed Knot]

I remember a friend of mine who, while out on a visit to Seattle, caught a game in the Kingdome.

He said it was like watching baseball inside a Costco so the warehouse & beverage distributor analogies worked there too.



Also, those seats just beyond the LF foul pole (both decks) look like they'd give you a great angle at seeing the LF'er and the CF'er ... and not much else.

[MFS62]

Looks like that right fielder is going to get a lot of glare and/or have problems finding a fly ball among the girders during day games.

Later

[Frayed Knot]

I also didn't realize that they were building that thing right next to the 'coin slot' roofed football stadium.

[TransMonk]

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: Retractable roofed stadiums because they need to be so tall almost always look terrible and not much like stadiums, from the outside. The dbacks stadium looks like an oversized beverage distributor or maybe an airplane hanger from the outside. It's only when you approach the entrance that it looks okay. But this Rangers thing looks worse.

This. Miller Park suffers the tall problem, too.



That Rangers stadium looks awful.

[Edgy MD]

It also suffers from the Nationals Park problem of trying to keep seats close to the field horizontally by building way up vertically. Tier on top of tier on top of tier.

[batmagadanleadoff]

MLB's Newest Ballpark Is A Shift Away From Retro-Era Stadiums



[FIMG=555]https://fivethirtyeight.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-1255300514-1-e1594837149499.jpg?w=575[/FIMG]



Excerpt:

The opening of Camden Yards in 1992 ushered in a retro era of MLB ballparks. The downtown Baltimore stadium was a game-changer in design, aesthetics and location. It sparked the greatest boom period in stadium construction since the openings of Shibe Park in Philadelphia, Sportsman's Park in St. Louis and Forbes Field in Pittsburgh marked the beginning of the concrete-and-steel stadium age more than 80 years earlier. But the retro era may be over. The architects of the Texas Rangers' new home say its structure is a step forward in ballpark design. Globe Life Field, they say, is something new.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/mlbs-newest-ballpark-is-a-shift-away-from-retro-era-stadiums/https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/mlbs-newest-ballpark-is-a-shift-away-from-retro-era-stadiums/

[Benjamin Grimm]

It does look much better from the inside. And yes, it's certainly time for the retro-era to end. It's too bad this one is so ugly from the outside. As I recall, the Twins' new stadium in Minneapolis isn't retro either, and I don't recall thinking it was ugly at all.

[whippoorwill]

Ye gads

[batmagadanleadoff]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: As I recall, the Twins' new stadium in Minneapolis isn't retro either, and I don't recall thinking it was ugly at all.

Marlins Stadium isn't retro, either.



[FIMG=555]https://static01.nyt.com/images/2012/04/02/sports/YKEPNER/YKEPNER-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale
[/FIMG]

[Benjamin Grimm]

I don't think I've ever seen a photo of the Marlins' stadium from the outside. It's not bad...

[Edgy MD]

Yeah, I think the idea that the retro era "may" be over is silly.

[whippoorwill]

I like that

[G-Fafif]

Exhibition game from GLF mentioned the dimensions are Ranger-specific.

Left-field foul pole: 329 feet (in honor of Adrian Beltre, No. 29) Left-field seats: 334 feet (in honor of Nolan Ryan, No. 34) Left-center field power alley: 372 feet (in honor of the franchise's first season in Arlington in 1972) Home and visitors' bullpens: 410 feet (in honor of Michael Young, No. 10) Straightaway center field: 407 feet (in honor of Ivan Rodriguez, No. 7) Right-center field power alley: 374 feet (in honor of the 1974 “Turnaround Gang”) Right-field foul pole: 326 feet (in honor of manager Johnny Oates, No. 26) Distance behind home plate: 42 feet (in honor of Jackie Robinson)

More info here:



https://www.mlb.com/news/rangers-new-ballpark-dimensions-honor-former-playershttps://www.mlb.com/news/rangers-new-ballpark-dimensions-honor-former-players

[Edgy MD]

They should have honored Ivan Rodrugez with the distance behind home plate. Seven feet would have been interesting.

[G-Fafif]

Edgy MD wrote: They should have honored Ivan Rodrugez with the distance behind home plate. Seven feet would have been interesting.

“I GOT...never mind.”