Well, this was going to be the last regular season home game for the Rangers. It was also Fan Appreciation Day, which means every half inning the video board would show a section, row, or specific seat that would win anything from autographed memorabilia to discounts at the gift shops. It’s always fun to wait and see if you win something. This will be my third consecutive year to go on this day, and I have yet to win anything (today included).

I attended this game with my daughter Sarah, my friend Dirk, and his daughter Kaitlyn and son Connor. I had purchased these tickets last weekend at the Angels game, and bought upper deck seats knowing we would be bringing the kids and expecting to be in the shade.

This is what it looked like from our seats….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looks like I made the right choice!

Here’s our view of the action….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes they’re tiny, but we knew what was going on.

I was really hoping to add to our ice cream helmet collection today, being the last game of the season and everything, but today the Rangers decided to do away with using all the MLB teams as they have done recently and use only red Rangers helmets.

We already have some of those, but I noticed something different about these. Here’s a picture that I took later to show what I mean….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have never seen an ice cream helmet with the MLB logo on it. I thought it was pretty cool, and worthy to be included in this entry.

The game was good. The Rangers jumped out to a 5-0 lead and held it most of the game.

Here’s some more shots from the upper deck….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love that last one.

And here’s one of the kiddos….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of the 7th inning we moved down to the third base side to try one last time for a foul ball, but got nothing. This was our view though….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Rangers lead 5-0 until the top of the 8th when the Rays cut that lead down to 5-3. Marlon Byrd added a solo homer in the bottom of the inning, which brought out Frank Francisco to save the game in top of the 9th. Sounds easy enough right?

Wrong.

He allowed the tying run to score before Ron Washington pulled him with the bases still loaded and only one out. Rookie Neftali Feliz came in a got a ground-out, but the go ahead run scored on the play. The Rangers would go 3 up, 3 down in the bottom of the 9th and lose 7-6.

That one hurt.

It should have been a sweep, but instead they fell another game behind the Angels in the west.

Here’s a picture of a helmet I found after the game that I have absolutely no idea what it was used for, but I thought it was cool so I kept it….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time of game: 3 hrs. 3 mins.

Attendance: 37,905

Next game: Playoffs? Or April 5, 2010. Opening Day vs. the Blue Jays