Rangers Caravan Dr Pepper Ballpark 2016

Tom Wilhelmsen

Jeff Bannister

I’m sure most ball teams do a barnstorming publicity blitz just before Spring Training. The team sends a few players to local towns to make appearances.  The players sign a few autographs and generate interest in the upcoming season.  After a long hard 3 months without any worthwhile sports to watch, fans get excited.  The team is able to convert that interest into season tickets sales.

Steve Buechele

For a rather lazy baseball fan like me, this is a great way to gather some autographs.  It’s even better when the Texas Rangers send 7 people to the Dr Pepper Park in Frisco.  Frisco is my home town.  I can drive to the event in 5 minutes. 

Robinson Chirinos

The crowds were light this year.  I got to the event too early but decided to hang out in my car and relax for almost an hour.   The weather was great. Being January, you never know what the weather will be like.  We were queued in the sun and the wind was mild.  It was a good morning.

Sam Freeman

Once the event started things were smooth.  They had three signing stations. Over the next 90 minutes or so I worked my way through the 3 stations and picked up 7 signatures.

Tom Wilhelmsen commented on my UofA shirt. I found out he comes from Tucson.

Alex 'Chi Chi' Gonzalez

When I commented on Jeff Bannisters’ MLB batting average, he gave a wry smirk. He has a 1.000 batting average. Something to be proud of, even it’s a dubious stat. He only has 1 plate appearance but he made something out of that; more than I’ll ever do.

Keone Kela

The other signers were:
Robinson Chirinos
Alex ‘Chi Chi’ Gonzalez
Sam Freeman
Keone Kela

Steve Buechele

I nice haul of autographs.

AH

Ranger Winter Caravan Dr Pepper Ball Park 2013

So, the second weekend in a row, the Rangers had some players in Frisco. This time at that Dr Pepper Ball Park, which is just a few miles down the road. Also this time 6 players were in attendance but they were broken into three groups of 2. You got to stand in line for one group at a time.

Last year I arrived about 2 ½ before the signings and was way way way in the back. I was so far back I was likely not to get a signature.  Luckily I bumped into a few friends as I wandered to the back of the line and they offered to let me cut in with them.

I have mixed feeling about cutting in. For some collectors, it’s the ultimate sin. For others, it is normal operating procedure. I prefer not to do it when it means someone else might not get a signature. If it’s just a question of saving time, which I can use to move onto another signing, I’m less squeamish.

I also know the first 20 people or so in line are often holding places for another 20 or so people. So others cutting in line really doesn’t affect the scheme of things that much.  Is that a rationalization?  Yes. Do I get upset when others cut in front of me?  I‘ll admit I used to get very upset.  Now it depends on my mood.  And my mood is often being driven by how tired I am or how poorly I’ve eaten.  If I’m full of empty carbs and sugar and caffeine and I’ve been on my feet for several hours, I get irritated.  If I’m awake and have some protein and water in me, I can go with the flow without a blip in the blood pressure.

This year, I wanted to take better control of my destiny and I got to the ballpark at 6:45AM.

It was still very dark.  I didn’t see a line. So I drove around the place making sure the line wasn’t somewhere else. I’ll admit, I have queued up in the wrong place before.  Besides being embarrassed, you also lose time and opportunities.

After I confirmed the line wasn’t somewhere else, I parked and sat in my car. As time crept by a few other cars arrived and people started placing their camping chairs in front of the gate to save their place.

The empty camping chair is a common practice. This way you are ‘there’ but just not in your seat. You can stay warm in the car and listen to music and not bother anyone.  I wasn’t too concerned about being first or fifth or tenth so I just stayed where I was and enjoyed being warm.