Arlington Stadium

From SoSH

Arlington Stadium

Location:	Arlington, Texas
Opened:	April 23, 1965
Owner:	City of Arlington
Surface:	Grass
Architect:
Current Capacity:	43,521
Build Cost:	$1,900,000
Tenants:	Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs (Texas League) (1965-1971) Texas Rangers (1972-1993)

1 Stadium History
2 Trivia
3 Field Dimensions
4 Wall Height
5 External Links

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Stadium History

The Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs called Arlington Stadium home (as well as calling it "Turnpike Stadium") for the latter part of the 1960s. The point of the stadium was actually to attract a major league team to the area; it had been built to major league specifications and required minimal renovation in order to become ready for a major league tenant. In 1971, the expansion Washington Senators announced that they would move to Arlington, and so the park was renamed Arlington Stadium and expanded to seat 35,700 people.

The stadium frequently proved itself an inadequate home for a major league baseball team. It had no roof, so fans and players were exposed to the sweltering summer heat during day games. It did not even have an upper deck until 1979. As the ballpark aged, its inadequacies grew, and so the City of Arlington approved a new ballpark for the Rangers. The last game played at Arlington Stadium was on October 3, 1993 against the Kansas City Royals. (The Rangers lost, 4-1.) The team moved to The Ballpark in Arlington, taking the foul poles and home plate with them from Arlington Stadium.

Arlington Stadium was demolished in 1994.

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Trivia

Arlington Stadium never hosted an All-Star Game or a playoff game in its 22 seasons as a major league park.
Site of the 11th perfect game in major league history, when Mike Witt of the California Angels defeated the Rangers 1-0 on September 30, 1984.
Home to two of Nolan Ryan's greatest pitching feats: his 5,000th strikeout on August 22, 1989 and his seventh no-hitter on May 1, 1991.
Birthplace of ballpark nachos.

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