My Visit to Globe Life Field in Arlington (Phillies Game 36 - Meh)

Padres 3, Phillies 0
Game 36 - Tuesday Night, May 17th in Philadelphia
Record - 17-19, Tied for 2nd Place, 6 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies looked completely flat in this 3-0 series opening loss to the Padres.

What It Means:  After showing such promise in the first 3 1/2 games of the Dodgers series, the team has now lost two in a row.

What Happened:  Zach Eflin returned from the Covid list and pitched well, going six innings and allowing a run on five hits.  James Norwood and Brad Hand allowed the other two Padres runs in the seventh inning.  The Phillies offense had five singles and couldn't figure out starter Mike Clevinger or reliever MacKenzie Gore.

Transaction:  Eflin (rhp) was activated from the Covid list and Francisco Morales (rhp) was optioned to Lehigh Valley.

Featured Cards/Field Report:  In Dallas for a work trip, and with a free night on Monday, I took a 25-minute Lyft ride to Globe Life Field in Arlington to watch the Rangers take on the Angels.  It was the 19th active ballpark I've visited, and I've updated my list below.  The Rangers' new facility does in fact look like a covered grill, but I was happy with the climate controlled interior given the temperature was in the 90s outside.  I did a few circuits of the ballpark, decided I needed some garlic fries with a beer, and settled into my seat in Section 11 on the lower level.  It's a lovely ballpark, and a great venue to see a game, but there wasn't much memorable about the facility other than the fact it seemed huge and very new.  There were multiple levels, various private corporate lounges, a confusing amount of food options and no seemingly easy way to get from one level to another.

Rangers' retired numbers were nicely displayed right inside one of the entrances, and moments from Rangers franchise history were sprinkled throughout the ballpark.  The Rangers beat the Angels, 7-4 in the game.  It was great to watch Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani from the Angels, and the most popular Rangers at this point seemed to be Corey Seager and Adolis Garcia.  Phillies Room Favorite Brad Miller played third and batted ninth for the Rangers, going 0 for 3.  Angels starter Noah Syndergaard allowed six first inning runs, and was pulled having retired only two batters.  My next work trip to Dallas is in September, and there's a really good chance I end up attending another Rangers game.

Team - Ballpark (First Game Visited) 
1.  Baltimore Orioles - Oriole Park at Camden Yards (5/23/1992)
2.  Colorado Rockies - Coors Field (5/29/2000)
3.  Pittsburgh Pirates - PNC Park (7/2001)
4.  Cleveland Indians - Progressive Field (8/2001)
5.  Chicago White Sox - Guaranteed Rate Field (9/17/2002)
6.  Kansas City Royals - Kauffman Stadium (9/26/2002)
7.  Chicago Cubs - Wrigley Field (9/28/2002)
8.  Detroit Tigers - Comerica Park (8/9/2003)
9.  Cincinnati Reds - Great American Ballpark (8/12/2003)
10.  Philadelphia Phillies - Citizens Bank Park (4/12/2004)
11.  Tampa Bay Rays - Tropicana Field (4/16/2006)
12.  Los Angeles Dodgers - Dodger Stadium (4/20/2011)
13.  Boston Red Sox - Fenway Park (8/16/2014)
14.  Washington Nationals - Nationals Park (8/24/2016)
15.  Atlanta Braves - SunTrust Park (5/17/2018)*
16.  San Diego Padres - Petco Park (6/30/2018)
17.  Arizona Diamondbacks - Chase Field (7/2/2018)
18.  San Francisco Giants - Oracle Park (8/8/2019)
19.  Texas Rangers - Globe Life Field (5/16/2022)

Crossed off the list, now inactive:

1.  Philadelphia Phillies - Veterans Stadium (7/15/1979)
2.  Atlanta Braves - Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium (8/1/1995)
3.  St. Louis Cardinals - Busch Stadium I (9/27/2002)
4.  Montreal Expos - Olympic Stadium (9/25/2004)
5.  New York Yankees - Yankee Stadium I (8/14/2005)
6.  Washington Nationals - RFK Stadium (10/2/2005)

*Game rained out, but I’m counting it since a hot dog and beer were purchased and I waited through the 2 1/2 hour rain delay.

2022 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2022 Season Summary Index / 2022 Chachi Set Checklist