First impression of the new Globe Life Field in Arlington after Monday night’s Game 1 of Major League Baseball’s National League Championship Series between the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers: This place is a lot more interesting in person than on television.
From behind the pitcher toward home plate, television broadcasts frame a shot that shows empty, cave-like, ground-level field suites populated by this season’s ubiquitous cardboard cutouts of fans. But paying fans returned to Arlington for the first time this season Monday night, as did playoff baseball, which returned for the first time in several years, and the ballpark came alive. A fan’s perspective:
THE STRANGE
It was the Braves at the Dodgers, with Los Angeles being introduced as the home team on the Texas Rangers’ field. And after the Braves beat the Dodgers 5-1, scoring four runs in the final inning to break a tie, the “Tomahawk Chop” — the controversial Braves fan chant — echoed through the breezeways of Globe Life. Baseball admitted only 11,500 fans into Globe Life for the game, and a lot of those wore Dodger blue. The acoustics for the Chop were great. Rangers fans should come up with something like it. One note: My wife, a lifelong Cubs fan, did not appreciate the Tomahawk Chop and didn’t come off of that Monday night. “It’s Indigenous Peoples' Day,” she said.
OPEN ROOF
Globe Life has a retractable roof, which is closed for summer games, allowing air conditioning, which the Rangers are betting will drive attendance. Personally, I’d rather be able to take a train from Fort Worth right into the heart of the Arlington entertainment district, hop off, attend the game, hop on, and go home. With the temps no warmer than the low-80s on Monday, the roof for Monday’s game was open. It was spectacular baseball weather.
PARKING, TRAFFIC, AND WAYFINDING
Globe Life sits just to the south of the former Rangers ballpark. Getting into and out of the old park was not easy, which means getting into and out of the new one also will not be easy — which my 20-year-old daughter sensed, as she asked if we could leave after the Braves went up 5-1. “OK, the Braves are ahead by four points,” she said. “Can we go now?”
THE FANS
We were surrounded all night long by intelligent baseball conversation about the two teams and the game underway, which doesn’t necessarily happen at a typical Rangers game. Love great baseball talk at a baseball game.
SEATS
Our party of four sat in the outfield section 132, 11th row in right center field, above the home team bullpen and one section over from where the Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman parked the first playoff home run in Globe Life’s history. I had bet before the game the Dodgers’ lefthanded outfielder Cody Bellinger might be the first to put a ball there. The field plays longer than the old ballpark, which means you’re a bit farther from the action If you’re sitting in the outfield.
COVID STUFF
Baseball allowed in few fans, sold tickets in groups of four, spread the pods apart for social distancing, and strapped unused folding seats in their upright position and used yellow caution tape to rope off unused sections of seats closest to the field, to make sure nobody could switch seats. Masks were required except if you were “actively” eating or drinking, and fans generally seemed to comply.
FOOD AND DRINK
We’re burying the lede here. A limited number of concessions were open, and most types of the standard ballpark fare were available, even if we had to walk a bit to get to it. But it’s a new ballpark, so we took the opportunity in the middle of the pitchers’ duel to walk around a bit. The menu’s not adventurous: burgers, dogs, sausages, chicken tenders, chopped brisket sandwiches, pizza, fries, nachos, popcorn, Blue Bell, and snacks. We tried a bit of everything. We did shy from the two-foot long “Boomstick” dog, which you can cover with toppings like cheese, jalapeños and chili, because that looked like it might kill us. I helped myself to two Rattler sausages, one of my daughter’s chicken tenders, a cup of fries, and, finally, a brisket sandwich.
The new ballpark also makes it a lot easier to buy cocktails other than frozen margaritas, with bars in the breezeways. Late in the game, we left our seats and walked and took the escalators up to the Karbach Brewery, which sits above the left field foul pole, where we enjoyed a Blonde pull from the Houston-based brewery after having found only Bud Lite and Michelob Ultra near our seats earlier in the game. The Karbach skyporch has rocking chairs and looks like a great nosebleed spot to watch a game from — you’re staring right down the left field foul line toward home plate.
THE STROLL
This ballpark feels as if it’s going to make for a much more interesting mid-game stroll than the old one, with its ample shaded breezeways that are open to views of the field and are set up with dining vignettes. The new main Rangers merchandise shop has a much greater selection than the old ballpark offered.