April 21, 1972. The first time folks got to sit in Arlington and watch their brand new team, the Texas Rangers.

History of the Texas Rangers

Back in 1970, a man by the name of Bob Short was the owner of the Washington Senators. He made it clear that year that if someone did not buy his baseball team for 12 million dollars, he would be moving them elsewhere. That deal never happened and he began shopping the team around. Apparently Arlington Mayor Tom Vandergriff made a compelling proposal to bring the team there.

Original Texas Rangers Stadium

I found this old news footage today of the Texas Rangers getting ready for their first ever opening day. This stadium was actually already a thing in Arlington, it was called Turnpike Stadium back in the day and was used by the Dallas/Fort Worth Spurs. Now throughout the years the stadium expanded several times. It originally only held 10,000 people, then it expanded to over 35,000 by the time the Rangers took over. At it's final expansion, it was able to hold over 43,000 fans.

The Dallas Cowboys Almost Played Here?

According to Wikipedia, this stadium was designed to be multipurpose. So it could have held a football field it it wanted. However, it does state that the Cowboys were never interested in moving in here. It is crazy several decades later the Dallas Cowboys would move into Arlington and nowadays are right next to where the current Texas Rangers Stadium is.

Not the Best History at Arlington Stadium

In all their time at this stadium, the Texas Rangers never saw a playoff game at this venue. It's mostly known for Nolan Ryan achievements throughout the years. Not just his 5,000th strikeout or his no hitters thrown at the stadium. Probably one of the most famous fights in MLB history as well.

I know most folks are quite happy with the new Texas Rangers home, on this date back in 1972, you finally had a home baseball game in North Texas for an MLB team.