Date set for Newberg Report Night at Globe Life Park.
That’s four wins in a row and seven of eight — all but the squandered Cole Hamels start — and Texas now sits five games back in the West and two back in the Wild Card chase. We’ve got ourselves a race.
Off-day today, Hamels tomorrow to kick off a trip to Seattle and Minnesota. But let’s talk real quick about when the Rangers return home, where they’re suddenly playing like good teams should.
We’re now ready to start taking reservations for the 11th Annual Newberg Report Night at Globe Life Park, which will be on Monday, August 17, the opener of the Rangers’ series with Seattle. This year our event will benefit the family of Julie McGraw, the wife of Rangers scout Gary McGraw. You can read more about Julie here.
Newberg Report Night will include our usual extensive pre-game program in the Hall of Fame Theater, featuring a roundtable Q&A with the Newberg Report’s own Scott Lucas and local minor league junkie Michael Tepid, followed by our annual Q&A session with Rangers GM Jon Daniels, plus our yearly memorabilia raffle/auction, conducted by local professional auctioneer Bret Richards.
There are several different price point options to attend:
• $40 per person: Admission to all the pre-game events plus an Upper Reserved game ticket (parking not included)
• $200 per person: Admission to all the pre-game events plus a Luxury Suite ticket (parking and catering not included)
• $20 per person: Upper Reserved game ticket only (that is, no admission to the pre-game events)
• $175 per person: Suite ticket only (no admission to the pre-game events)
• For those who already have tickets to the ballgame: Admission to the pre-game events without a game ticket costs the same as it would if you bought a game ticket: $40 per person
We typically have from 250 to 350 people attend this event every year. Once we reach Hall of Fame Theater capacity, we’ll have to close registration (though we can continue to sell spots for the game only). Many years we’ve sold the event out in less than 24 hours, and while I wouldn’t necessarily expect the same sort of rush since we’re having to hold the event on a weekday this year, I can’t promise it won’t sell out that quickly, and I would strongly recommend that you make your reservations as soon as you know you’ll be attending.
Kids are welcome.
Here’s what we tentatively have planned (the details tend to get better as we get closer to the event):
3:00 Doors open
We’ll gather in the Hall of Fame Theater. You’ll get your game tickets once you enter the front lobby of the Hall of Fame — no need to go to Will Call or anywhere else.
You’ll have the opportunity in the lobby to make a donation to our designated charitable cause, which this year will be the Julie McGraw Rehabilitation Fund. You may donate any amount; for every $10 you donate, you will get one ticket for a memorabilia raffle we’ll have during the event.
As usual, I would recommend getting there as early as you can in order to get a good spot in the auditorium. Some of you will have to stand — the theater capacity includes not only the room’s 235 permanent seats but also extra folding chairs (not pictured below) and standing room.
3:30 Roundtable Q&A featuring Scott Lucas and Michael Tepid
As the theater fills up, Scott and Michael will field your questions on Rangers prospects. These are really smart baseball guys with an 80-grade sense of humor (maybe 70 in Tepid’s case), and were fantastic last year. Should be fun.
4:30 Raffle/auction, charitable presentation
As we’ve always done, we use this event to raise money for charitable efforts, including through your purchase of raffle tickets that day. For every $10 you donate, you will get one ticket for the raffle. Whoever makes the largest donation at the event will get his or her choice of any of the prizes. The remaining prizes will be raffled off.
We’ll then also have a few special items to put up for a quick live auction, presided over by award-winning local auctioneer Bret Richards. If you have anything you’d like to donate to the event to be raffled or auctioned off to raise money for the McGraw family, please let me know as soon as possible.
After the auction we’ll make a quick charitable presentation.
5:00 Jon Daniels Q&A
While it’s not possible this far out to guarantee his availability, Rangers GM Jon Daniels is expected to join us, as he has the 10 previous Newberg Report Nights, for a lengthy Q&A session. The fact that the event is shortly after the trade deadline activity that brought Cole Hamels, Jake Diekman, and Sam Dyson to Texas makes the possibilities even cooler, and if you’ve ever been to one of our events, you know how extraordinarily open and honest JD is with his answers. This is a really unique opportunity, one of my favorite days on the baseball calendar every year — and as JD has told us in the past, one of his as well.
Jon is expected to arrive around 5:00 and take your questions in the theater for about an hour and 30 minutes.
6:30 To the game
At about 6:30, we’ll conclude in the theater and head to the seats/suites for the 7:05 first pitch. (Again, you’ll pick your game tickets up just inside the Hall of Fame entrance when you arrive.)
Please sign up and pay as soon as you know you’ll be coming. Spots are first come, first served — your spot is only locked in once I receive payment — and again, in recent years we’ve sold out in less than 24 hours.
The cost, once again, is $40 (pre-game plus Upper Reserved ticket) or $200 (pre-game plus suite ticket), and you can pay in one of two ways:
• You can order by credit card through PayPal by going to www.paypal.com, selecting the “Send money” option, and typing in GJSneaker@sbcglobal.net where you are prompted for the e-mail account. (Make sure to specify what types of tickets and in what quantity.)
• Or you can send a check or money order, payable to “Jamey Newberg,” to:
Jamey Newberg
Vincent Lopez Serafino Jenevein, P.C.
1601 Elm Street, Suite 4100
Dallas, TX 75201
If you’re paying by check, I’d recommend mailing it right away so the event doesn’t close before your payment arrives.
If you’re buying multiple tickets, I don’t need to know every attendee’s name, but if you’re paying separately from someone you want to sit with for the game (whether in seats or a suite), let me know their names in an email or in a note with your payment (PayPal or check). The suites hold 20 people each, so if you have a group (of anywhere between two of you and 20 of you), just let me know so I can be sure to put you together in the same suite . . . but you can certainly buy one suite ticket as well.
One last thing: Just like the last two years, we’re opening up sponsorship opportunities for the event. There are $500 and $1,000 sponsorship levels, both of which include two suite tickets and an autographed Bound Edition (year of your choice). At the $500 and $1,000 levels you will get mentions in all event-related email; at the $1,000 level you will also get mentions in Twitter blasts and in the 2016 Bound Edition.
If you or your business might be interested, give me a shout.
Let me know if you have questions. And let’s raise a lot for Julie and her family.