9/4/09 at Dr. Pepper Ballpark

My friend Sam, who I attended this game with, invited me to join him and his company to this game. The company he works for had rented a suite for this game, so all but parking was free. I love free!

To those that may not know, Dr. Pepper Ballpark is home to the Frisco Roughriders, the AA affiliate of the Texas Rangers. Frisco is approximately two to two and a half hours from where I live. It’s always seemed too far to go for a minor league game, but “free” changes everything.

Thankfully, I work about halfway between my house and Frisco, so Sam and his neighbor Kevin picked me up on their way to the game. After taking two different toll roads and about one hour of driving, we made it. We found a parking spot and started walking towards the stadium and this is what it looked like as we got to the gate….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From that view you would never know there’s a ballpark in there. (“Except for the fact that it says “ballpark” on the sign”, I know what you’re thinking!)

We made our way from the gate to the field level concourse and this was our next view….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had driven by this ballpark a couple times over the past few years, but I had not yet been inside. I didn’t know what to expect, or if I should have any expectations, but after this first view of the field and walking around a little, I was impressed.

The next plan of action after taking that photo was to find the suite we were supposed to be in, and since none of us had been there before, we wandered for a bit before asking someone for help.

It’s a good thing we asked too, because we never would have found it. I wish now that I would have photo-documented this better, but to give you an idea, there are basically an inner and outer concourse.

The inner concourse, where I took the previous photo from, continues all the way around the park. The outer concourse mirrors the inner, but does not go all the way around. More like foul pole to foul pole along the baseline sides. The outer concourse walkway is not concrete either, instead it looks like what they use on the warning track. Different but cool.

All of that was explained to give you a mental picture of what we were dealing with. The usher that we asked where we needed to go, led us around part of the outer concourse to where the suite was. I didn’t take any photos along the way, because we were trying to keep up with the fast walking usher, and I didn’t think about it.

Once we got inside the suite, I snapped this picture….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this one too….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You see behind homeplate in the first picture? I think that’s pretty cool looking. That’s where the broadcasters/media people watch the game from.

If you look behind the dugout along the first base side, you’ll see the smaller sized buildings. Those are the suites.

And that’s where we were, except on the third base side.

After taking some obligatory photos of us standing by the railing, we ate some free burgers and hot dogs, and drank some free soda and beer (not all of us drank beer). We also received complimentary caps and visors.

Pretty cool deal if I say so myself!

We watched the first inning or so of the game, and then I wanted to wander. The first photo I took was of the left field/centerfield area….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can see in those photos that there is lawn seating in left center. They have the same thing in right center.

Here’s a view from the left field side of the batter’s eye….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love the way that looks!

I mentioned that right center had lawn seating, here’s something else that’s in right center….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s the best view I could get, and that’s with me sticking my camera through the wrought iron fence. That area is the Leslie’s Pool Zone, and you can get an idea where it is in the 1st field photo in this entry. It’s right above the word “Roughriders” in the right field wall. There’s a whole deck area out there that I guess you can rent by the game. There’s a grill and everything. That would be a cool experience!

I continued wandering and took this photo from the first base side….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you notice people on the field in the previous photo? On the lower left, right in front of the dugout? That would be three mothers with infants, and they are about to give them their first tastes of lemon juice. They showed the reactions on the video board and it was pretty hilarious. Gotta love the minor leagues!

I worked my way back to the suite and took this photo of the ‘Riders’ bullpen….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pretty cool! The visitor’s bullpen is in the same location on the first base side.

Next, I wanted to check out the team store that was right below us, and took this photo of Sam and Kevin just before I went inside….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love the layout of this stadium!

The team store wasn’t anything impressive. 30% end of season sale on some items, and they were still overpriced for my taste. An “official” Texas League ball for $10? No thanks.

At one point during the game, we were visited in the suite by one of the two mascots….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the female mascot named Daisy. The other one is male, and his name is Deuce. Sorry if she freaks you out, she had that effect on me too.

The later in the game it got, the more I wanted some ice cream. I had noticed earlier when I was wandering, that some people had ice cream helmets. Hmmmm….

Little did I know that the “ice cream” in the helmets was Dippin’ Dots. I had never tried those before, so I wasn’t real excited after that, but after eating it I must say I still prefer ice cream, but I’ll eat Dippin’ Dots again. They’re okay. Also, the helmets were MLB teams which made it even better! I had the Indians and someone gave me a Boston helmet after the game. (My daughter, Sarah, and I are trying to collect all of the teams, just so you know why I mentioned that.)

As for the game itself, Frisco beat the Corpus Christi Hooks 4-1. This was the final home game of the season for Frisco, and it was also fireworks night, so the crowd was larger than normal, but I couldn’t tell. This was my first trip to this ballpark, and all I was concerned with was taking pictures and eating the free food. Now that I know how cool this place is, I’ll make it a point to go to a few more games next season.

Here’s my obligatory “by the railing” photo….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time of game: 2 hrs. 22 mins.

Attendance: 11,609 

And here’s the only shot of the fireworks that came out halfway decent….