The MLB Rangers have said that fans will be "closer to the action" when Globe Life Field opens next year, a point that "became readily apparent" when several players and manager Chris Woodward toured the interior of the ballpark for the first time since "risers for the majority of seating were installed," according to Evan Grant of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. Though the new ballpark will be "smaller than the Rangers current home, Globe Life Park, by about 8,500 seats, the seating bowl feels significantly smaller, partially due to a more severe angle of incline from the field." The seating in the lower bowl will "start at 43 feet from home plate, leaving it seven feet closer." On the main concourse, it will be "14 feet closer than at present." In the upper concourse, seating "begins at 184 feet from home plate, 23 feet closer" than the current ballpark. The trade off is a "more severe incline in the seating areas," and is "most pronounced in the upper concourse." The Rangers still have "not determined exact playing dimensions for the field," but have "indicated they will be similar to those" at the current ballpark (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 6/20).
