Bobblehead Time

Texas Rangers give away record number of bobbleheads for 2018 season

Adrian Beltre is a Bobblehead icon.

Photo courtesy of MLB

Bobblehead collectors will need to add a new wing to the man cave, thanks to the Texas Rangers. In 2018, the baseball club is issuing a record 12 Bobblehead giveaways. The club also announced several 2018 individual game ticket specials.

That's great news about the ticket specials but let's get right to the dozen Bobbleheads, which, as has been mentioned previously, is a club record. It easily surpasses the 2017 lineup, which consisted of a mere six Bobbleheads. Do the math: In 2018, there are twice as many. There's even one with a removable mask.

Bobbleheads

March 31: TXU Energy Adrian Beltre Home Run Counter Bobblehead
April 7: Dr Pepper/Brookshire’s Elvis Andrus Bobblehead
May 26: Medical City Healthcare Star Wars Han Gallo Bobblehead
June 9: Dairy MAX Joey Gallo Tape Measure Bobblehead
June 16: Dr Pepper/Albertsons Adrian Beltre Best Friends Bobblehead (1st in a series of 2)
June 30: Rougie and Smokey the Horse Bobblehead
July 21: Dr Pepper/Tom Thumb Elvis Andrus Best Friends Bobblehead (2nd in a series of 2)
August 4: Vladimir Guerrero Hall of Fame Bobblehead
August 5: Ted Williams First Rangers Manager Bobblehead
August 18: Coca-Cola Nomar Mazara Bobblehead
August 28: StubHub Robinson Chirinos Removable Mask Bobblehead
September 1: Rangers Captain Bobblehead (1st 15,000 fans for all Bobbleheads).

The promotional activities don't stop with the Bobbleheads. Thre will also be 15 post-game fireworks shows, taking place on 13 different Fridays as well as July 3-4, which this year is a Wednesday.

Concerts
There will be four post-game concerts:

April 21: Smash Mouth presented by Budweiser
April 22: Siggno
August 18: Casey Donahew presented by Budweiser
August 19: MercyMe presented by Buckner International

Celebrations
There are three events that fall under the "celebrations" category, two of which feature local celebrities. That's what makes them so celebrated.

April 20: Falken Tires Adrian Beltre 3000th Hit Mini Bat
July 20: PowerAde/Kroger Celebration Snow Globe
August 3: Dr Pepper Eric Nadel 40th Anniversary Microphone

Wearables
These are the special-edition shirts and caps giveaways designed to draw the freebie-loving sports fan to the gate early-early.

April 8: Dasani Rangers pocket T-shirt, distributed to the first 7500, 13 and under
April 21: Globe Life Rangers pullover, distributed to the first 15,000, 14 and older
May 27: Carter BloodCare Rangers cap, distributed to the first 15,000
June 17: FOX Sports Southwest/Southwest Airlines reversible bucket hat, distributed to the first 15,000
July 1: Rangers raglan T-shirt, distributed to the first 17,500 fans. There will be 15,000 adult sized and 2500 youth large.

Doggie day
Fans can bring their dogs to the ballpark on April 7 for Bark At The Park presented by Nylabone and Pets Add Life. Advanced registration required and will be available on texasrangers.com/BarkAtThePark.

Individual tickets for all 2018 games at Globe Life Park in Arlington except the home opener on Thursday, March 29 went on sale on March 2.

For the fifth consecutive year, "dynamic" ticket pricing is being utilized in all individual seating categories for all games. In partnership with Qcue, a demand-based pricing software for live entertainment events, the Rangers set and adjust ticket prices higher or lower for each game in real-time based on market demand and factors such as pitching matchups, team performance, opponent, weather, and day of week. Dynamic ticket pricing applies for all tickets except Children’s tickets in the Upper Reserved category.

The Rangers release a limited number of reserved seats, obstructed view seating, and standing room only tickets for the Home Opener to fans signed up to receive Texas Rangers emails. Fans can go to texasrangers.com/OpeningDay and sign up to receive Rangers emails.

Discount tickets
The Rangers will once again have a number of individual game ticket discounts:

Dr Pepper cans. Any Dr Pepper or Diet Dr Pepper can may be presented at Globe Life Park in Arlington or DRPEPPER entered as the coupon code on texasrangers.com/specials to receive tickets at up to 40% off in the Upper Reserved, Upper Box, and Lexus Club Terrace seating sections. Offer is valid for most Sunday through Thursday home games April through July, excluding March 29, May 3, 6, 21-23, and July 3-4. Offer is subject to availability and cannot be combined with any other offer. Limit 12.

Coca-Cola family packs. Save up to 54 percent with Coca-Cola Family Packs that include four tickets, four jumbo hot dogs, four Coke soft drinks, two Kids Zone wristbands, and one souvenir program. Two locations are available: Upper Reserved – $76 and Lower Reserved – $120.

Additional persons may be added (one program per four tickets, one kids zone wristband per two tickets). Offer is available at texasrangers.com/specials, via phone, or at box office for most Sunday through Thursday regular-season games except March 29, May 3, 6, 21-23, July 3-4, and September 23. Offer is subject to availability and cannot be combined with any other offer. Limit 12.

For a list of updated ticket discounts during the season, fans can go to texasrangers.com/specials.

The Globe Life Park in Arlington ticket office is open weekdays from 9 am-5 pm, and Saturdays from 10 am-4 pm.

sports

Movie Review

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is better than the first but not by much

Blumhouse

Five Nights at Freddy's 2

Blumhouse Productions first made their name with the Paranormal Activity series, establishing themselves as a leader in the horror genre thanks to their relatively cheap yet effective movies. In recent years, they’ve added on “soft” horror films likeM3GAN and Five Nights at Freddy’s to draw in a younger audience, with both films becoming so successful that each was quickly given a sequel.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 finds Mike (Josh Hutcherson) and his sister Abby (Piper Rubio) still recovering from the events of the first film, with Abby particularly missing her “friends.” Those friends just so happen to be the souls of murdered children who inhabit animatronic characters at the long-defunct Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, children who were abducted and killed by William Afton (Matthew Lillard).

A new threat emerges at another Freddy Fazbear’s location in the form of Charlotte, another murdered child who inhabits a creepy large marionette. Mike, distracted by a possible romance with Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail), fails to keep track of Abby, who makes her way to the old pizzeria and inadvertently unleashes Charlotte and her minions on the surrounding town.

Directed by Emma Tammi and written by Scott Cawthon (who also created the video game on which the series is based), the film tries to mix together goofy elements with intense scenes. One particular sequence, in which the security guard for Freddy Fazbear’s lets a group of ghost hunters onto the property, toes the line between soft and hard horror. That and a few others show the potential that the filmmakers had if they had stuck to their guns.

Unfortunately, more often than not they either soft-pedal things that would normally be horrific, or can’t figure out how to properly stage scenes. The sight of animatronic robots wreaking havoc is one that is simultaneously frightening and laughable, and the filmmakers never seem to find the right balance in tone. Every step in the direction of making a truly scary horror film is undercut by another in which the robots fail to live up to their promise.

It doesn’t help that Cawthon gives the cast some extremely wooden dialogue, lines that none of the actors can elevate. What may work in a video game format comes off as stilted when said by actors in a live-action film. The story also loses momentum quickly after the first half hour or so, with Cawthon seemingly content to just have characters move from place to place with no sense of connection between any of the scenes.

Hutcherson (The Hunger Games series), after being the true lead of the first film, is given very little to do in this film, and his effort is equal to his character’s arc. The same goes for Lail, whose character seems to be shoehorned into the story. Rubio is called upon to carry the load for a lot of the movie, and the teenager is not quite up to the task. A brief appearance by Skeet Ulrich seems to be a blatant appeal to Scream fans, but he and Lillard only underscore how limited this film is compared to that franchise.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is better than the first film, but not by much. The filmmakers do a decent job of making the new marionette character into a great villain, but they fail to capitalize on its inherent creepiness. Instead, they fall back on less effective elements, ensuring that the film will be forgettable for anyone other than hardcore Freddy fans.

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Five Nights at Freddy's 2 opens in theaters on December 5.

movies film