I promise that it won’t all be obituaries today, but this one is pretty notable. Tom Vandergriff, the man who, as mayor, helped bring the Washington Senators to Arlington, Texas where they became the Rangers has died:
In 1965, Vandergriff brought Dallas and Fort Worth officials together to help build a minor league baseball stadium that was later expanded to accommodate the Washington Senators when they relocated. It was renamed Arlington Stadium after Vandergriff declined an effort to name it after him ... Vandergriff worked for 13 years to bring Major League Baseball to Arlington, and threw out the first pitch on April 21, 1972, after he finally succeeded.
I’m pretty hard on local governments providing goodies to professional sports teams. It’s just a principle thing with me. But even I have to admit that, for every bad government decision along these lines, there are happy fans. I’ve come to know a number of Rangers fans over the past couple of years, and while the Cowboys get all the press, there are a lot of people in north Texas who are passionate about their Rangers. Without Vandergriff, they probably wouldn’t have them.
