{"id":44043,"date":"2023-05-05T14:42:29","date_gmt":"2023-05-05T19:42:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=44043"},"modified":"2023-05-05T14:42:29","modified_gmt":"2023-05-05T19:42:29","slug":"deaf-ed-teacher-performs-at-texas-rangers-season-opener-abilene-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2023\/05\/05\/deaf-ed-teacher-performs-at-texas-rangers-season-opener-abilene-texas\/","title":{"rendered":"Deaf Ed Teacher Performs at Texas Rangers’ Season Opener – Abilene, Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

DEAF ED TEACHER PERFORMS AT TEXAS RANGERS\u2019 SEASON OPENER<\/strong><\/p>\n

April 14, 2023<\/p>\n

Amber Nall has waited for her opportunity in the big leagues since she was about nine years old. She finally reached the major leagues on March 30 when she stepped onto the playing surface at Globe Life Field in Arlington, ready for her big moment.<\/p>\n

But her almost 40-year dream wasn\u2019t to play for the Rangers; it was to perform the National Anthem in sign language before the game. She got that chance after a Facebook post by her husband, Shane, in early January connected the family with Chuck Morgan, executive vice president for the Rangers and the longtime public address announcer for the team.<\/p>\n

Nall, in her 20th year of teaching Deaf Education, began her love affair with the Rangers when she was just a young girl, and she would make trips to Arlington with her family from their home in Hamlin.<\/p>\n

\u201cGas was cheaper back then; everything was cheaper,\u201d said Nall, who is hearing impaired. \u201cI just remember going to my first game at the Rangers\u2019 first stadium (Arlington Stadium) in the early 1980s and sitting between my dad and my grandfather, and it was just the best day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the years, she\u2019s watched hundreds of Rangers\u2019 games on TV and in person while dreaming of taking the field to sign the National Anthem before the first pitch. She began trying to make it happen in January 2020 when she emailed the Rangers, expressing her desire to sign the anthem.<\/p>\n

That year would have been a memorable year to do it because her parents \u2013 Mickie and Jean Diersing \u2013 were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. However, the world stopped in March 2020, and the COVID-related shutdown of baseball kept her from fulfilling her dream that season. But earlier this year, her husband posted on Facebook about his wife\u2019s dream and asked if anyone had a contact with the Rangers.<\/p>\n

Someone did, and just a few days later, Shane was put in touch with Morgan, who was all for the idea of having Nall on hand for a game. Morgan asked Shane, \u201cHow about if she\u2019s here for Opening Day?\u201d Shane told Morgan that he was sure his wife would be up for that, and the dream was back after a three-year delay.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, the dream came with a stipulation: there would be two songs, not just one.<\/p>\n

The Texas Tenors would sing the National Anthem before the game, and \u201cGod Bless the USA\u201d before the Seventh-Inning Stretch. Nall would be required to sign both.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Shane told me they wanted me to be there, I got goosebumps,\u201d Nall said. \u201cThen, when he told me they wanted me to do two songs, I got pretty nervous.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Nall had a plan, and working with fellow Deaf Ed teacher Tiffany Martinez, they began working on both songs. Martinez, who is not hearing impaired, would listen to the music and sign the words to Nall, who would respond by signing. They worked on both songs for three months until they believed they had them down perfectly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe day before, we got together in my classroom and practiced one last time,\u201d Nall said. \u201cThen it started to hit me that the next day I was going to be doing this in front of more than 35,000 people! I tried to be cool about it because I was confident in our plan. When we got there, it was just amazing. It was a shocking feeling. It wasn\u2019t nerves; I just couldn\u2019t believe I was there.\u201d<\/p>\n

After meeting the Texas Tenors, Nall and Martinez made their way onto the field for the anthem. As the Tenors sang, Martinez, standing at home plate between Philadelphia manager Rob Thompson and Texas manager Bruce Bochy, signed the words to Nall, who then signed them for the cameras and the crowd.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was so much fun,\u201d Martinez said. \u201cShe is wonderful, and it was a lot of fun to see her perspective on music and these two pieces that we worked on. She shared with me her thoughts and expressed what they meant to her, so I got to peek inside her world. It was fun to be there with her and support her.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the anthem out of the way and the game underway, Nall and Martinez only had Lee Greenwood\u2019s hit \u201cGod Bless the USA\u201d left to perform later in the game. Then they found out the song had been cut from almost three minutes to 70 seconds, sending Nall into a minor panic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI freaked out when they told us they had cut it down that much,\u201d Nall said. \u201cI told Tiffany we needed to practice, so we asked the Texas Tenors if they would practice it with us so we would know what they were going to sing, how they were going to sing it, the rhythm they would use, and the words they would use so we would be prepared. They were very gracious and accommodating \u2013 as were the Rangers \u2013 and we practiced it a few times before we went onto the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 70-second version went off without a hitch, and Nall and her family \u2013 husband, Shane, 9-year-old daughter, Avery, her parents, and other family and friends in attendance \u2013 stayed and watched the Rangers open the 2023 campaign with an 11-7 win over the Phillies.<\/p>\n

Nall said Morgan and the Rangers would like to have her back, although a date hasn\u2019t been set yet, and the Texas Tenors have inquired about her availability to join them at one of their events on the road. All of which have made her family incredibly proud.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy parents were so shocked and so excited at the same time,\u201d Nall said. \u201cThey wouldn\u2019t have missed it. They went to the game and stayed for all nine innings. They were so proud when they watched me do my thing on two songs.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy husband is very sentimental, and he cried after both of my performances,\u201d she said. \u201cHe\u2019s full of pride, and the next day he told me, \u2018Thank you for letting me be there and be part of your dream,\u2019 which made me love him even more. My deaf ed students at Cooper still can\u2019t believe it, even though they\u2019ve seen the pictures of me down on the field signing the songs. And my daughter \u2013a third grader at Austin Elementary School \u2013 is really proud of me. She loves to tell people, \u2018My mom did that, and my mom is awesome!\u2019 \u201c<\/p>\n

SOURCE: https:\/\/www.abileneisd.org\/aisdnews\/2023\/04\/14\/deaf-ed-teacher-performs-at-texas-rangers-season-opener\/<\/a> <–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DEAF ED TEACHER PERFORMS AT TEXAS RANGERS\u2019 SEASON OPENER April 14, 2023 Amber Nall has waited for her opportunity in the big leagues since she was about nine years old. She finally reached the major leagues on March 30 when…<\/p>\n

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