Globe Life Field, Arlington (Why are they called southpaws? And we saved the most exciting game for near the end of the trip)

Why are left-handers called “southpaws?” I'd always heard it was because ballparks were laid out with home plate in the southwest for the sun angle - in particular, the sun is never in the eyes of the hitter or the pitcher during a summer's afternoon or evening. That would mean a left-handed pitcher’s throwing hand is to the south. However, Merriam-Webster's on-line dictionary has a nice etymology of "southpaw" that debunks that idea, at least partly. It starts by explaining that, "Supposedly, late 19th century ballparks were laid out so that the pitcher faced in a westerly direction," but then says there are instances of the term "southpaw" being used as early as 1848. That's well before anything about baseball was remotely standardized.

About that "supposedly." I don't know about late 19th century ballparks, but we’ve been to 10 ballparks so far this year, and I just checked on a few other 20th and 21st century parks, and they're all laid out in roughly the same direction, at least the open air ones (it's hard to tell on Google maps about the interior of stadiums with roofs on them). Fenway Park and Wrigley Field from the 1910s, Dodger Stadium from the 1950s, Coors Field from the 1990s, Busch Stadium and Nationals Park from the 2000s, every single one has home plate in the south or southwest. There's always a sun field, but that layout puts it in right field in late afternoon and sunset. The sun might be at the batter's back in the early afternoon, but since every stadium has a grandstand behind home plate, it's only a problem for ball hit high in the air. Of course, maybe it's all superstition, but I've played slow-pitch softball on fields where the sun was in my eyes, and I sure wouldn't want to deal with 100 mph pitched or batted balls while looking straight into the sun.

The only recent high-level park I’m aware of with a different orientation is the Rangers’ former park, now known as Choctaw Stadium, where home plate was in the northwest corner. However, when the Rangers built the new stadium, which opened in 2020, they oriented it in the traditional way, even though the seating area extends quite a ways vertically (and it’s got a retractable roof).

The game:

When the Astros took a 10-2 lead over the Rangers in the 4^th inning, I thought this was likely to be the least interesting game we’d attend, even though it was two teams fighting for first place in their division. When the Astros tied the score at 11 in the 9^th inning, I concluded that just the opposite was true. I enjoy the twists and turns of the plot of a baseball game, and this one had more than usual.

In the top of the 1^st, the Astros didn’t score, but three of the five batters hit a ball that left the bat at more than 100 mph. You usually see only a few of those in a game, and they’re often home runs, but these three included a ball that hit the second deck down the left field line that was barely foul, one that led to a leaping catch by All-Star Adolis García as he crashed into the fence, and a double off the top of the wall. I told Kerry that if Martin Perez, the Rangers’ starter (a southpaw, by the way), didn’t start pitching better, he was in trouble.

He was in trouble.

In the next inning, he gave up three home runs, the third a grand slam by Kyle Tucker, and left with only one out in the 2^nd and the Astros ahead 6-0. Chas McCormick is the Astros’ center fielder, a good fielder who bats low in the order because he’s not a great hitter. But yesterday, he had the crucial bases-loaded triple in the 8^th inning, and then he hit the home run to get the scoring started for them today. That’s a good week for him, in just two at-bats, and his day wasn’t over.

The Rangers came back with two runs in the third against the Astros’ starter, Christian Vasquez, so I thought it might become a close game, but then the Astros got four more in the 4^th to make it 10-2. Unfortunately for them, Vasquez wasn’t fooling the Rangers hitters much either. The Rangers’ backup leftfielder, Travis Jankowski, hit a three-run homer in the 4^th, and then the Rangers had scored one more run, and had two more runners on base in the 5^th when the Astros brought in Phil Maton, who had pitched a 1-2-3 inning yesterday. But not today. The first hitter walked, then Jankowski got a hit to drive in two more runs. Suddenly, it was 10-8, and the Rangers got one more run before Maton was able to finish the inning, to make it 10-9, with four more innings of baseball left.

Right after the 7^th inning stretch, García hit a dramatic game-tying home run (the seventh homer of the game), and the sell-out crowd went wild. Then in the 8^th inning, the Rangers scored again, to go ahead 11-10, and it looked like they were going to escape with a win.

The Rangers brought in their closer, Will Smith (one of two Will Smiths in MLB, neither one related to the actor, as far as I know), and he promptly gave up a hit. He got the next batter out, but then the Astros’ Jose Abreu hit one deep to leftfield. Jankowski, the backup outfielder who had been an offensive star, struggled to get to it, and it ultimately went just over his glove for a double. The runner scored from first, and the game was tied again. The portion of the crowd cheering for the Astros went wild.

Then Chas McCormick (remember him?) hit one into the gap for a double to put the Astros ahead, 12-11.

Now it was the Astros’ turn to bring in their closer, Ryan Pressly, and this had the feel of a game where batting last was a huge advantage, because even the good pitchers seemed to be getting hit hard. Pressly got the first hitter out, but then Josh Jung lined one into the gap in left-center field that looked like it would be at least a double. McCormick (him again) sprinted over and made a spectacular diving catch, and the game was, for all practical purposes, over. Pressly struck out the final hitter, and the Astros escaped with a 12-11 win.

We've been enjoying the baseball we've watched, but this game was an absolute delight to watch.

Unless you’re a Rangers fan.