Arlington

Rangers Fans Sweat Through Hottest Days of the Year

Thursday was the warmest day of 2016 so far, and that meant a sweaty afternoon for the Texas Rangers' most faithful fans.

The afternoon game was far from a sell out, and most fans who were willing to brave the sun refused to leave the safety of the shaded seats. Much smaller crowds than usual were even willing to step up to the sunny rail during warmups.

Vendors selling beer, snow cones and ice cream saw a lot of thankful customers, many who brought conversation straight to the sun that was beating down through the open roof of Globe Life Park.

It's days like this that many in the stadium also got vocal about a future for the Rangers that would include air conditioning, and that may happen in just a few months.

The Arlington City Council recently passed an ordinance to put a new $1 billion stadium for the Rangers on the November ballot.

Part of the designs for the new location, which would have costs split between the team and the taxpayers, would include a retractable roof.

"It would be a great idea to have some temperature control," said Rangers fan Jessica Kline. "They could probably double their occupancy on a day like this."

However, the issue has many in Arlington split.

Since talks about a new ballpark got serious last spring, many have joined two camps: one calling for the stadium to keep the team in the city, and another calling to keep the current setup and save the half-billion dollar taxpayer commitment.

Either way, fans on Thursday said they would stick it out for now to root on their team, several stating that the hot days are all just "part of the fun."

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