Ameriquest Field in Arlington
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Template:Infobox Baseball Stadium
Ameriquest Field in Arlington is a baseball stadium located in Arlington, Texas, located between Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. It was known until May 2004 as The Ballpark in Arlington. It was constructed as a replacement for nearby Arlington Stadium.
The stadium is home to the Major League Baseball team, the Texas Rangers, and the Legends of the Game Baseball Museum.
History
Funding was approved for a new home for the Texas Rangers in 1991 by the City of Arlington. Construction began on April 2, 1992 a short distance away from Arlington Stadium, the ballpark it would replace, and the new Ballpark in Arlington was opened on April 1, 1994 in an exhibition contest between the Texas Rangers and the New York Mets. The first official game was on April 11 against the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Rangers chose to build a retro-style ballpark along the lines of Oriole Park at Camden Yards and Jacobs Field. However, unlike those stadiums (which were situated on irregular plots of land in crowded downtown areas), Ameriquest Field was built on one of the old Arlington Stadium parking lots. Thus, the irregular dimensions are totally artificial.
This stadium was the site of the 1995 MLB All-Star Game. It also hosted the first regular season interleague game on June 12, 1997, when the Rangers played the San Francisco Giants.
On May 7, 2004, Rangers owner Tom Hicks announced that he had negotiated a sale of the naming rights of the stadium to home mortgage company Ameriquest. The contract was worth $75 million over 30 years.