Ameriquest Field

From BR Bullpen

Home of the Texas Rangers, 1994 to present

(also known as The Ballpark in Arlington or Rangers Ballpark in Arlington)

BUILT: 1994

CAPACITY: 49,115

FIRST GAME: April 11, 1994, vs. Milwaukee Brewers (Brewers 4, Rangers 3)

• Jaime Navarro (W) vs. Kenny Rogers (L), Bob Scanlan (Sv); HR: Dave Nilsson

• First Hit: David Hulse
• First Double: Dean Palmer
• First Triple: Kevin Seitzer
• First HR: Nilsson (off Rogers)
• First Run: Nilsson
• First RBI: Nilsson

DIMENSIONS: 334-(354)-388-(404)-400-(407)-(377)-381-(349)-325

LOCATION: Pennant Drive, Copeland Road, Stadium Drive East (LF) and East Randol Mill Road (RF), Arlington, TX.

AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 32,949 (through 2004)

GOOGLE EARTH: View Ameriquest Field in Google Earth

Ameriquest Field is a park that, along with Jacobs Field in Cleveland, tries to capture the "retro-era" feeling of Oriole Park in Baltimore. Former Rangers' managing general partner (and now President) George W. Bush says the design of the park reminds him of the Texas state Capitol. The granite and brick facades and murals are strictly Texan (longhorns, Lone Stars, cowboys), and the park includes a 17,000 square foot baseball museum and a children's learning center, both open year-round. There's also a ballroom offering the largest banquet seating in Arlington (more than 2,000), to also be used year-round. A 14' high manual scoreboard in left can make things difficult for right handed hitters.

David Schwarz, the architect of the stadium, declared that "We're the only stadium that I know of that is building the ballpark and then the neighborhood around it." Park has three decks and a roof all around except in center field, where beyond the wall is a four-story office building housing the Rangers' offices, local businesses, retail shops and ticket windows.

The financial company Ameriquest payed $70 million through 2034 for the naming rights to the stadium which is located 22 feet below street level to avoid the summer winds that tortured Arlington Stadium. As for foul area – what foul area? The seats between the dugouts are the closest of any in baseball.

The park is part of a complex that features two man-made lakes (one named "Mark Holtz Lake"), walking area/jogging path, shops, restaurants, an amphitheater, and a little league field (built in the same "shape" as the big park). In right field, the second deck becomes the upper deck with a lower roof and a "short porch," called a "home run porch" similar to Tiger Stadium.

Initially, the ballpark was to just be called Rangers Stadium, and some got the idea it would be named after Nolan Ryan, but management decided to simply name it "the Ballpark" until securing a lucrative deal for naming rights. The 1995 All-Star Game (won by the NL, 3-2) was played here.

Other bits of history:

• Kenny Rogers threw a perfect game on July 28, 1994 vs. the California Angels, showing that despite the odd distances, this is (theoretically) a pitcher's park.
• The park was the site of the first inter-league game in major league history (a 4-3 loss to the San Francisco Giants on June 12, 1997)
• Rafael Palmeiro hit his 500th career homer here early in 2003 into the right field pavilion that, like Tiger Stadium, actually overhangs right field.

After a few seasons of being the toast of the AL (and the club's first three division titles in 1996, 1998 and 1999), the Rangers have had less success since the turn of the millenium. However, the confines of the park helped Alex Rodriguez (A-Rod) break the single-season home run record for shortstops (52) in 2001 – and break his own record again (57) in 2002.

The Rangers will be getting a neighbor in a few years, as the Dallas Cowboys are planning on building a new stadium next to the Ameriquest complex.

Current ballparks in Major League Baseball
National League		American League
AT&T Park | Busch Stadium | Chase Field | Citizens Bank Park | Coors Field | Dodger Stadium | Dolphin Stadium | Great American Ball Park | Miller Park | Minute Maid Park | Nationals Park | PETCO Park | PNC Park | Shea Stadium | Turner Field | Wrigley Field		Ameriquest Field | Angel Stadium of Anaheim | Comerica Park | Fenway Park | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | Kauffman Stadium | McAfee Coliseum | Oriole Park at Camden Yards | Progressive Field | Rogers Centre | Safeco Field | Tropicana Field | U.S. Cellular Field | Yankee Stadium