Texas Rangers planning to have fans at Globe Life Field in July. Just not real ones
The Texas Rangers don’t expect to have fans at Globe Life Field to start the abbreviated 60-game 2020 MLB season, but they do have plan to have fans at Globe Life Field.
Huh?
The Rangers announced Friday that fans can have their likenesses captured on a DoppelRanger, a two-dimensional cutout that will sit in a vacant seat in the lower bowl at the $1.2 billion ballpark.
Fans can submit photographs at texasrangers.com/DoppelRangers and order their DoppelRangers through Wednesday. It costs $50, and all proceeds will go to the Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation.
The Rangers are scheduled to open the season July 24 at home against the Colorado Rockies.
“I don’t think it’s creepy it all,” manager Chris Woodward said. “We’ve got to get creative. If that’s what it takes for a little sense of normalcy, I’m down for it. I’ve watched the games in Korea where they’ve got [stuffed animals] in the stands. It’s pretty cool.”
If fans are eventually allowed into games at a reduced capacity, the cutouts would be moved to other areas of the ballpark.
The Rangers also started experimenting Friday with piped-in crowd noise, which will be used during the season, and public-address announcer Chuck Morgan introduced hitters and the starting battery for each team in the daily intrasquad game.
The Rangers had been playing music during games to generate some atmosphere.
“I think everybody kind of liked it,” Woodward said. “As we go forward, as we get used to it, I don’t know if guys are going to have any different kind of feelings. But for today, I thought everybody kind of had really good reaction to it. It was different, that’s for sure. It feels like there’s a crowd there, but there’s nobody in the seats. I thought it was kind of nice, actually.”
This story was originally published July 10, 2020 at 6:21 PM.
