The Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation, Major League Baseball Charities, the city of Arlington, and Corey and Mady Seager broke ground Friday on a renovation project at Senter Park.
Senter Park is a small 3.2-acre park located near downtown Arlington, just a couple of miles from Globe Life Field, with a long generational history of hosting youth baseball games. The park has a picnic area and two baseball fields that have been leased to the Optimist Club since the early 1950s.
As part of the renovation, the park will get new turf, new drainage, new dugouts, bullpens, fencing, scoreboards, and even a new name -- All-Star Legacy Park. Covered bleachers will also be installed along with improvements to the parking lots and sidewalks.
The remodeled park will also be home to new batting cages named in honor of Rangers shortstop and World Series MVP Corey Seager -- the Corey Seager Batting Cages will be installed where the current western parking lot is and will include four lanes, lights, and a hard-covered warm-up area.
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The funding for the batting cages was donated by Mady and Corey Seager as a way to give back to the Arlington community.
“It's just something we're really passionate about, you know, just kind of giving back to the community. It’s something we love, something we know kids can enjoy in the future, and it just, kind of really touches home," Seager said. “That's kind of what it's all about is the next generation. We were this generation a couple of years ago, so it's always about giving back to the kids and trying to inspire people just to come out and be active and play and see if they like it as much as we do.”
Texas Rangers - World Series Champions
The Texas Rangers tweeted Friday morning that on Thursday night Seager was hosting his second Rangers Youth Academy hitting clinic.
“This city, this community, has supported us tremendously throughout the years,” Seager said. “So to be able to just give back a little bit to them and to be around people, to get to meet people, shake people's hands and stuff like that -- it's really fun, especially with the kids. Our camp last night, it was a lot of fun, you know, just to be around those kids and see how they interact and see how much they enjoy the game. It kind of brings the child back in us. So it's something fun to be a part of.”
The park's renovation is the first of several All-Star Legacy Projects in the Metroplex that are part of the 2024 MLB All-Star Week. The 2024 All-Star Game is being held this summer at Globe Life Field.
The ribbon cutting is expected to take place during All-Star Week.
