Major League Baseball opening day is usually like an annual spring celebration.
“All the hoopla, the first pitch thrown out, the flyover, it’s packed,” said Rangers beer vendor Scott Parlin.
And it’s also when in-game vendors start to develop – or continue – relationships that will last all summer long.
“That’s the best part of the job and that’s what I miss the most during this quarantine is the people,” said Parlin.
Parlin has been a beer vendor working right behind home plate at Texas Rangers games for 18 years.
“I know what drink they want as soon as they walk in, I’ve seen some of their kids grow up,” he said.
And was very much looking forward to working his first season in the Rangers new home – Globe Life Field, until the coronavirus pandemic put the baseball season on hold.
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“It’s going to be a lot of fun and it’s going to be loud in there when the roof is close, and it’s going to be beautiful when the roof is open.”
Parlin, who is a teacher and golf coach at Mansfield Legacy high school, says most of the vendors at Rangers games do the work as second jobs – and that the company they work for has let them know it will not be paying them until baseball is back.
“We don’t work for the Rangers, we work for a company that’s contracted out by the Rangers,” said Parlin. “Financially, we haven’t seen or heard anything. I know Cuban and the Mavericks have a plan for their employees, but we haven’t heard anything.”
Another reason why vendors, like Scott Parlin, are eagerly anticipating the return of Rangers baseball and can’t wait for the celebration surrounding a delayed 2020 Major League Baseball Opening Day.
“Going on walks with the family isn’t quite as fun as sitting in the stands watching a baseball game.”
