Upon entering the stadium, I was briefly haunted by the memories of November 2010, when I was on hand to witness the Giants and Madison Bumgarner silence the Rangers in Game 4 of the World Series.
The memories of losing were quickly cast aside, however, when I made my way through the center field entrance, and a stadium worker handed me one of these:
Oh yes. I had no idea, but Monday was Nelson Cruz bobblehead night at the ballpark. Talk about awesome.
Cruz responded by going 1-for-3 with a sacrifice fly, and the Rangers clobbered the Astros, 8-3.
My friend Drew Love from high school has season tickets for two seats in the home run porch in right field, and was generous enough to offer me his spare ticket for Monday. The view was pretty stellar. Third row, right field home run porch:
The highlight of the night was Rangers first baseman Mitch Moreland devouring a solo home run 450+ feet in the eighth inning. The ball was hit so far that we watched it literally sail over our heads and into the second deck. I've seen live, second-deck shots before, but watching the ball sail over my head from my seat in a home-run area was pretty bizarre. Towering blast.
Derek Holland earned the victory, pitching 7 1/3 innings, surrendering six hits, three earned runs and three walks, with four strikeouts. I started him in my fantasy league that night, so double points. Craig Gentry impressed with three stolen bases in a spot start, and Adrian Beltre went 3-for-4 to lead the offense, which produced a solid 12 hits.
I enjoyed a Bud Light and an oversized bucket of popcorn. Even better, after the game, we went into the Rangers store, where they had a sale on last year's AL Championship gear. I picked up a red American League champions T-shirt for $6.99. Talk about a steal. Drew also had a coupon for a free weekly program, so I came away with quite the haul.
An overall awesome time at the ballpark. Hello win column.
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