Area of fair territory: 113,000 sq. ft

Area of foul territory: Below average

Fences: LF -14 ft.

            CF and RF - 8 ft

Elevation: 551 feet

General Information

Address:
1000 Ballpark Way
Arlington, Texas 76011
Tickets: 817-273-5100

Who Plays Here: Texas Rangers (AL)
First opened: April 1, 1994
Surface: Bermuda Tifway 419 grass
Capacity: 49,166

Architects: David M. Schwarz Architectural Services (Washington, DC); HKS, Inc. (Dallas)
Construction: n/a
Owner: City of Arlington

Cost: $191 million
Public financing: $135 million (71%) from a one-half-cent sales tax increase in the city of Arlington over 12 to 15 years
Private financing: $56 million (29%) from the Rangers owners

Click to purchase stadium replica from the Danbury Mint Collection

History

   The agreement between the Rangers and the city of Arlington, Texas to build a new ballpark was announced on October 24, 1990. The ballpark was named on September 28, 1993. The first game was an exhibition between the Rangers and the New York Mets on April 1, 1994.

   And the result - the Ballpark in Arlington - is a beaut.  It was one of the first to go classic - the columns are a throwback to turn-of-the-century ballparks like Ebbetts Field or the South End Grounds, trading intimacy for a few seats with obstructed views.  The architecture celebrates classical lines, with lots of granite, structural steel and brick.  The quirky outfield walls have lots angles, making it very tough to be an outfielder here.

   The ballpark is approximately 1,400,000 sq feet, a 17,000-square-foot baseball museum and a children’s learning center, open year-round.  Outside the park, visitors can wander up Nolan Ryan Expressway and stroll along the Rangers Walk of Fame, reading about each team in franchise history on the brick path beneath them.

   The field itself is located 22 feet below street level, in order to avoid summer winds; on top of the offices in center field stands a wind screen (measuring 42 feet by 430 feet) that minimizes the impact of stiff breezes.

Playing Field:
The field consists of Bermuda Tifway 419. The sod was grown on a farm in Granbury, Texas. Drainage lines are laid every 15 feet over the entire field. The playing surface is covered by 4-5 inches of pea gravel and 14-15 inches of sand mixture as the field is expected to have the capacity to drain 9-10 inches of water per hour.

The Ballpark in Arlington Firsts
Regular Season Game - April 11, 1994 vs MIL (Brewers 4, Rangers 3)
Pitch - Kenny Rogers 3:57 P.M.
First Batter - Pat Listach
Hit - David Hulse
Homerun - Dave Nilsson
Grandslam - Bernie Williams
Stolen Base - David Hulse
Strikeout - Doug Strange
No-Hitter - Kenny Rogers
Perfect Game - Kenny Rogers
Error - John Jaha

Analysis

   This ballpark consistently plays as the most lively, offensive park in the American League.  With game time temperatures in the 90s and 100s throughout the summer, the warm air can help the ball carry a fair bit.  Also, the right field wall is a reachable 325 at the foul pole, and slopes gently away, so even though the power alley is a goodly 381 feet, seemingly harmless fly balls can carry into the stands.  The left field wall is further away by 7 - 10 feet, from foul pole to the alley, so right-handed power hitters don't benefit as much as do left-handed sluggers.  In fact, the park typically has played roughly neutral for right-handed HR, going back to its inception in 1994, but boosts left-handed HR by roughly 20%.

   With its spacious dimensions and quirky outfield walls, this part boosts triples like few others in the majors.

Defense: The spacious outfield, plus the fact that the wall has many nooks and crannies that make for interesting bounces and tough angles for outfielders, makes it difficult to play outfield.  Odd caroms result in one of the higher error factors in the majors.  A center fielder with range, a left fielder with good range, and corner outfielders with sure hands are all appreciated.

Who benefits:  Left-handed power hitters fare best.  Rafael Palmeiro is a prime example - over the last two seasons, he has hit 54 of his 86 homers at home.  Rusty Greer has also done much better at home, both for average and power, by taking advantage of the right-field porch.  Hitters who can hit shots to gaps, and then use speed to turn doubles into triples, do well also.  Right-handed hitters see their batting averages rise here by as much as lefties (4 - 5%), probably because the spacious dimensions of left field and the tendency of the ball to carry in the warm air spreads out the infield.

Who gets hurt: With game time temperatures usually over 90 degrees, pitchers with high pitch counts who work slowly are not smiled upon.  Fielders have to have stamina - it's amazing that Ivan Rodriguez gets 140 starts a year.  Flyball pitchers suffer from the park's propensity to allow lots of extra base hits - right-handed pitchers are especially vulnerable to the LHR (see Rick Helling and John Burkett).

Park Factors

© 2001 STATS, Inc.

Seating Chart

Location

Arlington, Texas: Adjacent to Six Flags over Texas on the west side of the amusement park at the northwest corner of East Randol Mill Road and Ballpark Way. Left field (E) Ballpark Way, right field (S) E Randol Mill Road and parking lot, 1st base (W) Pennant Drive and parking lot, 3rd base (N) park, Copeland Road and I-30.

Dimensions

Left field: 334 ft.

Left-center: 388 ft.

Center field: 400 ft.

Right-center - deepest: 407 ft.

Right-center: 381 ft.; 

Right field: 325 ft.

Backstop: 60 ft.

Foul territory: small.

• Second highest run factor in the AL in 1999, 2000
• Highest run factor in the AL in 1998
• Highest home run factor in AL in 2000
• Highest LHB home run factor in AL in 2000
• Second highest error factor in AL in 2000
• Third highest triple factor in the AL in 1999
• Second highest RHB average factor in the AL in 1999

• The bullpens raised 5 feet above playing surface so fans can see who is warming up.