A distinguished public servant, Tom Vandergriff served Arlington and Tarrant County for nearly 50 years as Mayor, U.S. Congressman, and County Judge. He persuaded Dallas and Fort Worth to join together in pursuit of a Major League Baseball franchise for North Texas, resulting in construction of a stadium in Arlington in 1965. His tireless efforts were rewarded in the fall of 1971, when American League owners approved the transfer of the Washington Senators to Arlington, Texas. He was a staunch promoter of the Texas Rangers for over 30 years and was instrumental in the building of a new ballpark for Arlington in the early 1990s. He is honored with a statue in the Center Field Plaza that bears his name, and he was inducted into the Texas Rangers Baseball Hall of Fame on July 31, 2004.