In mid-August I went to a Rangers game where it appeared even the Rangers front office had tossed in the towel. So few fans were going to the Ballpark that they decided not to open about a third of the concession areas. It seemed abandoned. And there was still a month and a half left in the season.  Here is a re-post from August 11, 2014. Enjoy.

—–

Has everyone associated with this team given up? If last night was any indication, the answer is yes.

I am not asking whether the team on the field has given up. They might have the fight, but they don’t have the firepower. It’s sling shots against bazookas.

I am talking about the front office. Have the people running the team just pulled down the shades and left out the proverbial “Do Not Disturb” sign?

It looked like downtown Detroit at the Ballpark last night.

Contrary to the announced paid attendance of 28,000, maybe 12,000 showed up. All twelve Rays fans were there.

By the last inning, maybe two thousand people stayed. It was so empty, if a foul ball came your way, you’d wait until you were ready to leave to go pick it up.

It was so empty, when I yelled at Leonys Martin to go back to Cuba, they actually heard it in Havana.

It was so empty, Choo could hear himself strike out.

It appears the Rangers staff anticipated this.

When I walked into the concourse, I was surprised to see how many of the concession stands were closed. Boarded up like an abandoned summer tourist attraction in winter.

Entire sections were dark. Why bother turning on the lights? I asked what was up. They told me they were not expecting a crowd, so they are not staffing up.

When the national anthem came on, they stopped showing the lyrics halfway through the song. Apparently, even the scoreboard operator got bored and shut it down for the season. “Oh say can you…ah, screw it, let’s just get on with it.”

In the bottom of the first inning, on the left field scoreboard, an ad for Rangers tickets ran: “Yankees coming July 28, 29, 30.”

Now, they were either too lazy to change this from the last home stand. Or they figured, hey, let’s have a tribute to the good old three days when fans would fill this park on a nightly basis. Never mind they were Yankees fans.

I think the Rangers offense started making plans for the offseason as well. Three lousy hits is all they could generate out of a lot of lousy at bats.

The only highlight tonight came in the top of the second inning when Desmond Jennings laid down a bunt. Colby Lewis, who is buntally challenged, had already coughed up a bunt attempted his way two batters prior. He turned an easy force play at third into a run scoring error. Three runs ended up scoring that inning, in fact.

The highlight came when Desmond Jennings, wanting in on Colby Lewis give away runs night, laid down a bunt with runners on first and third.

But Colby played this one perfectly. He left it alone and let Adam Rosales handle it. Rosales threw the runner out at home trying to score.

Being a spectator on a bunt play is Lewis’s best strategy.

Being a spectator at the Ballpark is considerably more challenging.