Rangers Baseball Strikes Up Life-Long Friendship
ARLINGTON (CBSDFW.COM) - Talking baseball seems to come naturally for Michael Wang and Flo Walzer, because it was baseball that brought them together.
Michael, the fan and Flo, the employee, began their friendship 22 years ago when Michael was a 14-year-old boy with dreams of snapping a picture of his favorite player. He rushed down the steps just behind home plate at the old Arlington Stadium, and that's when he met Flo.
"I think she may have tapped me on the shoulder and said, you need to go back to your seat," recalled Michael. "I said, I'm just trying to take some pictures of Nolan Ryan. I think with me being 14 and with a camera, she let me do it a few times. Then it became more than a few times," Michael said with a chuckle.
Flo was working as an usher at the time. "If they paid their money doggone it, and they want a picture of Nolan Ryan, I felt like they really should have one."
In the years following, Michael would see Flo from time to time as he snapped more pictures of his favorite Rangers.
As time went on, the young fan soon found himself in college, out of state. But after he graduated, he came back to North Texas and his beloved Rangers. He went to a game one day at Rangers Ballpark and handed his ticket to an attendant. When he looked up, there was Flo.
From there, the friendship blossomed. Just about every time Michael went to the Ballpark, he was sure to stop by and say hello to Flo; no matter where she worked. "Even before we got married, my wife and I went to a ball game and we went to the gift shop because she had to meet Flo," remembered Michael.
"It's wonderful. Someone you've known for all these years and you just watch them grow up," added Flo, who still works in the Grand Slam Shop in the outfield.
Michael is now 36 and yes, he's already brought his children to meet Flo, because truth be told, Michael is still a kid at heart. "Baseball is always there for America and it's always a constant that you can come back to," said Michael. Knowing Flo over the years; she's a part of the game and part of the experience of coming to the Ballpark."
