When I snapped this photo I was standing in the Texas Rangers dugout on the very spot where manager Ron Washington does his little booty-shake routine during games (see video) when his Rangers are excelling on the field. I'd seen a game at Rangers ballpark about ten years before, but decided to do the stadium tour, just for fun. Didn't get to see as much of the place as I would've liked, but I enjoyed standing at Washington's perch for a spell. Was hoping to see the Nolan Ryan statue out in centerfield, but some renovations were being done and we couldn't access that area.
I couldn't help but chuckle when I passed by this establishment near my hotel in Big D, where you can pick out your very own wooden overcoat. As Fred Sanford once said, "That's a tough item to sell--sorta like selling Christmas trees the day after Christmas." Two doors down to the left of it is a store called Boxes To Go. Not sure if they're affiliated with each other, but I guess they have us covered either way. Too bad there wasn't a Kum & Go convenience store on the same block too...
Outside of Southern Methodist University's Gerald Ford Stadium (named after an SMU benefactor, not the ex-Prez) stands this statue of football legend Doak Walker. The Doakster starred in the late '40s at SMU and for the Detroit Lions in the '50s and even has an award named after him given annually to the best college running back. I've never heard of anyone named Doak outside of the realm of football, tho...
...took place right here in 1963. This is the Emergency Room entrance to Parkland Hospital in Dallas (well, the current Parkland ER, anyway) where President Kennedy was officially declared dead at 1:00 CST on 11-22-63, although he was dead for all intents and purposes the second that shot ripped through his skull. I'm not sure if this is the exact same part of the hospital campus where JFK was taken or not, but it sure looks similar to the one I see in the old newsreels from the day. It was rather interesting driving the exact same route the motorcade followed after Oswald's shots were fired. According to then-Governor John Connally's wife, Nellie, there was a eerie silence in the limo during that five-minute ride from downtown to Parkland.
The Stadium Stalker claimed one last victim during the 2012 Worldwide Texas Tour, FC Dallas Stadium in the town of Frisco, way the hell up north of the Metroplex (seemingly closer to Oklahoma than Dallas-Ft. Worth). I wasn't expecting to encounter anyone I knew there when I saw Lamar Hunt's statue standing guard at the north end of the stadium. We Kansas Citians tend to claim Mr. Hunt as one of our own, thus I'd forgotten that in addition to bringing the Chiefs (and later the Wizards) to KC, that the man also spearheaded the formation of the old North American Soccer League and Dallas Tornado franchise in the '70s. I actually almost like this statue of him better than the one outside Arrowhead Stadium, too. Nice little soccer facility they have in Frisco, which opened in 2005, but I can't believe it doesn't have a roof over its stands like the Wizards new joint does. If there was ever a place were sports venues desperately need shade, it's Texas, and this one was known tongue-in-cheek-ly as "The Oven" when it was called Pizza Hut Park. Then again, they were shrewd enough to include a permanent stage with a roof (right behind Lamar) for concerts and other shows when there's no soccer.
...and we got to get down to--Stringtown?!? Stringtown, OK is the home of Country music legend Reba McEntire, as well as former Royals shortstop/toothpick connoisseur U.L. Washington. When my good friend Tom and I passed through Stringtown in 1984, a city limit sign alerted motorists to that very fact. Now, it's no big shock that U.L. doesn't rate a city limit mention anymore since his career wasn't terribly memorable, but I was rather shocked that Reba ain't gettin' no love either these days.
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