On April 23, 1965, the first baseball game was played at Turnpike Stadium in Arlington. The Dallas–Fort Worth Spurs of the Texas League defeated the Albuquerque Dodgers by a score of 4–0. Official attendance was 7,231 fans. That number may sound low, but it was over 70% occupancy and respectable for a new minor league team playing in a new stadium—especially one that wasn’t even totally finished on opening day.

Turnpike Stadium, aptly named because of its location along the Dallas–Fort Worth Turnpike, cost about $1.5 million to build. The bowl-shaped stadium was dug into the ground, with the field roughly 40 feet below street level. It originally had 10,000 seats, though it was expanded to hold more.

Even from the beginning, the stadium was intended to lure a major league team to Arlington. It soon did; the Washington Senators moved here in 1972 and became the Texas Rangers. The stadium was renamed Arlington Stadium and served as the home of the Rangers until 1993.

Construction at Turnpike Stadium, March 1965
Photo Credit: Fort Worth Star-Telegram – March 14, 1965
Newspapers.com

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Blog post 04-23-26