Newbies at a baseball game

Last night, my family and I were fortunate enough to attend one of our very first MLB games at Globe Life Park in Arlington. It was my second MLB game, and my boys' first. I should state here, in case you don't know us... that despite the societal pressures of living in Frisco, we are not a huge baseball family.- which is probably obviously from the scarity of aforementioned MLB ticket stubs. I mean, we enjoy it, but we don't necessarily tune into to games or hang out at the ballpark, unless we have a dog in the fight... in this case- the Rangers.

I should also mention that Rangers fan wear is bit scarce around here, as well. C, my youngest son is definitely the biggest fan, but even his fan wear had been through the ringer on the playground. So, when Husband said, "Hey, someone gave me tickets to the Rangers game", I did what I always do, and sent my mind immediately into the closet to plan everyone's attire. (See the pantless Seine cruise post, haha!) You might not think this was a big deal, but trust me- it could have ended up that way, so bear with me. My last Rangers fanwear was a Hamilton tshirt, that I ended up donating after he left- only to have him yo-yo back and make me regret my decision.

Now, C had been counting down the days to this game, and reminding us daily about it, so he was psyched. We considered picking up fanwear, but looking at Target, Husband said, "Nah" to the $20-30 price tags for each of us. But when I woke up yesterday, and C was dressed to the nines in his Rangers ball cap, and a FC Chelsea soccer jersey from England (because, hey, it's the right colors!)- I said, NO. This will not do. They are playing the Toronto Blue Jays for crying out loud, and let's not have any mistaking our commonwealth affiliation; while I love anything attached to Her Majesty, we are Texans for crying out loud.

I hightailed it to Walmart, and they did not fail me. I was able to pick up a couple of Rangers tshirts for about $12-15 (which was the perfect price point for "temperate" baseball fans); the women's selection was limited so I just went with a generic Texas shirt and improvised with Rangers colors.

As I began researching the ballpark and what was permitted- (could I bring in a bag? Did it have to be a certain size?, etc) I came across the realization that soft-sided cooler bags were permitted. I texted a friend because the website did not specify what exactly could go in said cooler. She recommended bringing in as many waters as possible, and this turned out to be the best advice ever, because waters were for sale for $5.25 each in the park. I estimate that we saved around $60 by bringing in two soft sided coolers of water.

Also, researching the concession options, we knew that it could add up quickly. You can view their menu here. However, I came across the mention on the site that you could tailgate as long as you don't have an open flame. Now, I know you can do that for Cowboys games, so I'm not sure why that didn't occur to me before- but at that point, I was gung-ho for tailgating. We loaded up the Boy Scout camping grill, and made a run to pick up the usual suspects of hot dogs, chips, fruit, and sodas. Turns out we forgot to bring lawn chairs, but we made do with the back tailgate in true form.

Not bad for $12-15 fanwear. Tailgating at the ballpark was a great idea. 

There were quite a few people tailgating in the parking lot for a Monday night, and plenty of spaces to park. You can read the tailgating tips HERE. Tailgating and bringing in water allowed us to go into the park and use our budget on more important things like cotton candy, and peanuts, and the ultimately elusive bacon on a stick.

The Rangers lost by one point, but we feel like we won the night with the money we saved, and you can't beat the experience for some family fun- even if you are a "tepid" baseball fan.