The Texas Rangers will welcome Santa to Globe Life Park tomorrow, Saturday, December 17, for a day of Santa's Arrival tours.
The special holiday tours will feature Santa's favorite spots in the park, including his press box workshop and personal locker in the Rangers clubhouse.
Santa and Rangers Captain will then meet guests in the KidsZone and pose for photos. A special Rangers souvenir for fans, cookie decorating, and arts and crafts will also highlight the festivities.
Doors open at 11 a.m. for the Santa's Arrival event. Tours will depart every hour on the hour, with the last one departing at 4 p.m. Tours for the December 17 event will cost $18. Children under age 3 are free.
Fans participating in the tours may park in Lot B and enter through the Tours Gate, located off Randol Mill Road on the south side of the ballpark.
For more information, please call 817-273-5203 or visit texasrangers.com.
NOMAR MAZARA NAMED 2016 TEXAS RANGERS ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Outfielder Nomar Mazara has been selected as the 2016 Texas Rangers Rookie of the Year, it was announced today by the Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America. Mazara, who was selected in voting by the local BBWAA chapter, batted .266 with 20 homers and 64 RBI in 145 games with the Rangers in 2016. He led all A.L. rookies in hits (137), total bases (216), runs (58), RBI, and homers (tied) Mazara was just the fourth Texas rookie to ever slug at least 20 homers and was named as the A.L. Rookie of the Month in both April and May.
Mazara will be honored at the 2017 Dr Pepper Texas Rangers Awards Dinner, which takes place on Friday, January 20 at Gilley's Dallas. Tickets for the dinner, which will honor a number of baseball personalities and feature appearances by Texas Rangers past and present, are now on sale at www.texasrangers.com/awards.
Tickets for the Dr Pepper Awards Dinner are priced at $100.00 each with tables of ten available for $1000.00. Net proceeds benefit the Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation. The dinner will begin at 7:00 p.m.
Gilley's Dallas is located at 1135 S. Lamar St. in Dallas. The 2017 Dr Pepper Texas Rangers Awards Dinner is also sponsored by FOX Sports Southwest, CBS11/TXA21, and 105.3 The FAN.
MINOR LEAGUE TRANSACTIONS: The Rangers have re-signed INF/OF Alex Burg, RHP Dario Beltre, RHP Austin Bibens-Dirkx, RHP Anthony Carter, and RHP David Perez to minor league contracts for 2017. Burg has spent time with both Frisco (AA) and Round Rock (AAA) the last two seasons and was a California League All-Star in his first season in the organization in 2015. Bibens-Dirkx signed with Texas on June 17 and was 3-2 with a 4.34 ERA (41 ER/85.0 IP) over 17 games/13 starts with Round Rock last season.
The Rangers have also signed three minor league free agents: OF Matt Lipka, C Robert Lucido, and INF Jason Martinson. Lipka, a McKinney (TX) High School product, split the 2016 season between Mississippi (AA) and Gwinnett (AAA), batting .243 (92-378) with 3 home runs, 28 RBI, and 16 stolen bases. He has spent his entire seven-year professional career in the Atlanta organization since being selected in the supplemental first round (35th overall) of the 2010 June draft. Lucido's only professional action came with the Gulf Coast Blue Jays in 2015, when he played 16 games. The 28-year-old Martinson is a native of the DFW Metroplex (Birdville High School) and was the Nationals' fifth round selection in the 2010 June draft out of Texas State University. He batted .218 with 12 home runs and 58 RBI for Triple-A Syracuse in 2016.
Additionally, the club has acquired RHP James Dykstra in a minor league trade with the Chicago White Sox in exchange for cash considerations. The 26-year-old Dykstra went 4-9 with a 4.93 ERA over 28 games/15 starts for Double-A Birmingham in 2016. All of these additions will report to minor league spring training camp in Surprise, Arizona.
Eric McMahon has been promoted to Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coordinator/Round Rock Strength and Conditioning Coach after six seasons as the Strength and Conditioning Coach at Frisco. McMahon will assist in coordinating personalized strength and conditioning programs throughout the organization in addition to his duties at Round Rock.
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