Disappointing Rangers
Sportsdate 7 – 1 – 2009
No this is not going to be another of those the heat is here so the Rangers are folding columns. I will leave that to the sports commentators in the Metroplex. This is more personal. I wrote a piece a couple of months back about going to see the Rangers. I praised the franchise for finally getting it. Much like on the baseball side of operations, the business side takes a step forward and two steps back in the ever going Texas Rangers two step.
I thought when I saw the Rangers discounting tickets and parking they were getting the fact that the new had worn off the ballpark and they needed to be more fan friendly. It was with that in mind that I had decided to return to the ballpark tonight with my father and my son.
Last week my step mother passed away after seven long months of post stroke disability. My 76 year old father had spent that time going the the nursing home three times a day to see after her. The only days he took off were four days to go with me to Talladega back in April while her daughter came to town to see after her. I felt he needed the time away.
This last week we have had to go through all the things a family needs to go through when a loved one passes. I had planned to return to Greenville to check on him yesterday evening. When my eleven year old son mentioned for the first time recently that he might wish to attend a Ranger game, it made sense to me that I needed to leave the radio show behind for a day and take them to see the Rangers. What could be better than a grandfather, son, and grandson attending a baseball game together?
Wednesday nights are Ozarka Half Price nights brought to you by Ozarka Water, the people who sell us water from the mountain springs of Henderson, Texas. The only catch is to get the tickets you have to buy them on the Ranger’s website. So beginning Monday I began to look at seats that would be available for the three of us. On Monday using the Ranger website was a snap. I could check out every seat option.
After talking to Dad by phone I learned that he would prefer something in the shade of the home run porch or at least on the first base side so we could have the shade once the sun began to go down. This seemed like a reasonable request. Also since for the first time ever my son had decided he might want to go to a game, I wanted the experience to be pleasant hoping that he would want to return.
I even e-mailed the Rangers to see if they might allow me to park in media parking to cut down on the walk in for Dad. They agreed to allow me to do so. I had planned to share a blog that would capture the joy of such a night.
Then came Tuesday night when I needed to purchase the tickets before heading to Greenville. No longer was the website so fan friendly. I started by checking out the seats in the club level on the first base side. The site directed me to seats on the left field side in the sun. As I had done on Monday, I went to check out another seat option, but was not allowed to do so.
For the next 45 minutes I tried logging on and off, clicking different options and all I ever got were the three seats in the sun down the third base side. Finally I found a phone number to call. Interesting enough one of the options was press one if you are having trouble ordering on the internet. When I pressed one, I got Dave the I could care less ticket salesman.
I explained my problem to which he replied that club level seats were not even part of the promotion. I told him that their site indicated that they were. He informed me that they were not last year. Always good to get someone who is aware of their product.
He told me I could buy field level corner seats only, I tried to explain that I could not buy anything the website would not let me buy anything but third base side tickets. He basically said sorry that is all I can do for you. I asked if nothing else was possible on the first base side and was told no.
This was a shock to me since on Monday night with the division leading Angels in town the Rangers had drawn less than 17,000. On the previous Saturday night the team had the lowest attendence in all of major league baseball for the evening at 25,000.
I told Dave thanks for the help, he could have cared less. I then had to tell my disappointed son and father that our evening at the ballpark together was not going to happen unless we drove over and paid for full price tickets on Wednesday night. We passed on that. Instead I sit home tonight blogging this. I am not disappointed at the team’s June swoon. I am disappointed that they still don’t seem to care about their fans, and the numbers seem to indicate that the feeling is beginning to be mutual.
T. Kirk
Filed under Captain's Blog, Rangers / Baseball : Comments (1) : Jul 1st, 2009
July 1st, 2009 at 9:44 pm
I feel your pain Bro………I have been a Astro fan for 40 years and sometimes you can really get disgusted with your team……Sorry for your loss in your family……….