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, as the ballpark
was built on one of the old Arlington Stadium parking lots, the irregular dimensions of the outfield were planned independently, rather than
being forced by neighboring structures.
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. As part of this contract, Ameriquest placed a large bell (in the shape of
Ameriquest's corporate logo) in the ballpark, which rings for home runs and starts of games. This bell replaced what used to be Section 201,
thereby reducing seating capacity slightly.
On July 28, 2006, the Rangers played their 1,000th game in the facility. Despite being hailed as a wonderful venue, articles in the Dallas
Morning News began to suggest that the ballpark would have been better served by having a dome or retractable roof - much like Minute Maid
Park, the home of the Houston Astros - due to the Texas heat.
The home plate and foul poles were originally at the old Arlington Stadium.
The field is one of the notoriously hitter-friendly parks in baseball due to the high temperatures, relatively short fences, and the design of the
stadium which has allowed the wind to swirl and lift balls that wouldn't normally make it out to do so. With a combination of these factors and the
naturally good hitters who've played for the Rangers, the team has put up some rather high home run totals. In 1996, the Rangers hit 221
homers. They eclipsed 200 again in 1998 (201), 1999 (230), 2001 (241), 2002 (230), 2003 (239), 2004 (227), and 2005 (260, four short of the
all-time record of 264 by the 1997 Seattle Mariners).
Many great juicers such as Juan González, Ivan Rodriguez, Rafael Palmeiro, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, and Alfonso Soriano have taken
advantage of the stadium (and steriods).
