Texas Rangers’ lefty hitters eyeing 326-foot sign in right-field corner at new stadium
The Texas Rangers aren’t sure how their new ballpark is going to favor hitters or pitchers, and likely won’t know until after playing the 2020 season in all the variations Globe Life Field will offer.
Roof open. Roof open on a windy day. Roof closed. Roof open, then roof closed, then opened again. Roof closed.
But the hitters now know how far they will have to hit a ball to clear the fence.
The left-field corner will measure 329 feet from home plate, the right-field corner will be 326 feet away, and the deepest part of the part will be 410 feet in right-center.
“You’ve got to love seeing 326 down the line,” All-Star Joey Gallo said. “That’s nice.”
The Rangers unveiled the field dimensions Wednesday, along with details about wall height (8 feet), scoreboard height (131 feet, 4 inches) and how high above the playing surface the roof will be (210 feet, 6 inches at second base).
The Rangers honored the franchise’s best players with the distances. The 410-foot sign is an ode to Michael Young and Jim Sundberg, who wore No. 10. The next deepest part of the park is 407 feet in center field, for No. 7 Ivan Rodriguez.
Adrian Beltre’s No. 29 is honored in the left-field corner (329 feet) and former manager Johnny Oates’ No. 26 accounts for the right-field corners (326). There will also be a marker in left field at 334 feet to honor Nolan Ryan.
The dimensions aren’t much different than they were at Globe Life Park, with the biggest difference in the left-field power alley. It was 390 feet across the street. Now, it’s 374 feet.
A handful of players, including Gallo, took batting practice at the media event. Yes, he hit a few home runs.
“It’s kind of like what we expected it to be,” he said. “It’ll be a lot different when you see the walls up.”
Construction is 87% complete. Wednesday’s event was the first in which the media saw the field mostly cleared, save for a crane near the left- and right-field lines.
The first game at Globe Life Field is scheduled for a March 23 exhibition against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Rangers will play their 2020 home opener March 31 against the Los Angeles Angels.
Gallo said the ball seemed to be carrying well to all fields. Catcher Jose Trevino, a right-handed hitter, connected for seven home runs during an abbreviated BP session, while the lefty-hitting Gallo and Willie Calhoun found the seats multiple times in right.
Game conditions, though, will be different, and then there’s the unknown of how the ballpark will play depending on the status of the roof.
“It’s so hard to tell,” manager Chris Woodward said. “Guys hit homers in BP all the time, no matter what field you play on. Our analytics team is going to have to do some digging every week. If anything, I think it’s going to be more pitcher friendly than our old ballpark.”
Executive vice president Rob Matwick said the Rangers put the ballpark design through wind-tunnel testing, but that isn’t definitive because weather conditions can vary wildly.
For the first time, though, Globe Life Field looks like a ballpark instead of construction zone, and excitement for the first game is building.
This story was originally published December 4, 2019 at 2:12 PM.
