June 16, 2006

Historic Tiger Stadium: IT'S OUTTA HERE!: If city officials get their way, stores and condos will replace the one-time home of baseball legends Ty Cobb and Al Kaline.

posted by wingnut4life to baseball at 06:22 PM - 21 comments

If they do try to preserve the entrance and the field, I'm all for this. It breaks my heart to see this once-great stadium fall to pieces. My first game was in 1984 against the Toronto Blue Jays, sitting behind a pole. Good times...

posted by wingnut4life at 06:25 PM on June 16, 2006

Wingnut -- How did you know the guy in front of you was Polish? Oh, wait -- I think I misunderstood. Seriously, though, I haven't been to Tiger's Stadium, but can relate to sitting behind the poles at the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Gotta say, though, that Jacob's Field is a much nicer venue to take in a game -- once you're in a nice, new, shiny ballpark, the feelings of nostalgia fade quickly!

posted by gdvbranz at 06:46 PM on June 16, 2006

Did you ever get crapped on by a pigeon? That happened to me once while we were down there for our annual Little League trip to Detroit.

posted by NoMich at 06:53 PM on June 16, 2006

Tear down the exterior that looked like a Wal-Mart with light standards sticking out of the roof, but please do leave that heavenly green grass and the mesh fence in left, where you could chat with Bobby Higginson between innings. I also want some piece of the stadium for myself, and hopefully they'll do some auctioning of the interior that hasn't been ruined.

posted by wfrazerjr at 07:29 PM on June 16, 2006

For Detroit fans everywhere, it's... The Fabulous Ruins of Detroit! http://detroityes.com/home.htm

posted by ajaffe at 07:43 PM on June 16, 2006

I understand the Detroit powers-that-be wanting to expand their tax base by having condos, shops, whatever, there as the Michigan & Trumball property is prime real estate in a great location. But simply razing a prime piece of Detroit history -- one that spanned generations of Detroiters -- is too bad. The shame is that the stadium and property is not used in some creative fashion to expand Detroit's tax base AND take advantage of that history. Tiger Stadium is a piece of Detroit. Raze it, and you raze a piece of the city's history. City officials have to bear the blame for letting the stadium fall into disrepair after the Tigers left. Now they'll try to save face by razing it for condos and shops.

posted by roberts at 08:10 PM on June 16, 2006

The shame is that the stadium and property is not used in some creative fashion to expand Detroit's tax base AND take advantage of that history. Er, that's what they are planning on doing...

posted by wingnut4life at 08:12 PM on June 16, 2006

Panoramic view of Tiger Stadium.

posted by wingnut4life at 08:17 PM on June 16, 2006

This just in: some new multinational conglomerate has made a bid to build something called Delta City.

posted by The_Black_Hand at 08:47 PM on June 16, 2006

I'd buy that for a dollar!

posted by wingnut4life at 08:53 PM on June 16, 2006

Ya know what I never understood about Omni in the movie. They say it's a fictional company, but I thought it was the model for Haliburton? Ah weel. Thanks for posting the panoramic view of Tiger Stadium wingnut. I was able to kinda sorta zoom in on most of the places I sat during my many times there. My fav was the box seats just behind the Tigers dugout! Loved it!

posted by commander cody at 09:09 PM on June 16, 2006

Wow I miss a lot of things since I moved from Michigan. I miss the nostalga of Michigan and Trumball. I haven't been back in Michigan in 10 years, so I don't know how bad the old ballpark has gotten but from memory the way most of the city was taken care of, I'm not sure it was in very good condition. I remember the Lions games there as well or how about when the Eagles Hell Freezes over tour not to mention 1884 world series. Billy Martins bar. Man, is that area really prime for that kind of money!

posted by redwing14fan at 10:47 PM on June 16, 2006

Fucking shame. warning: old and stale SpoFi post that was largely ignored

posted by Ufez Jones at 10:54 PM on June 16, 2006

You mean they are actually going to tear something down in Detroit? Won't that be a first?

posted by jojomfd1 at 12:20 AM on June 17, 2006

Sorry, Ufez, I didn't sign up 'til a year later.

posted by DrJohnEvans at 01:23 AM on June 17, 2006

i always loved tiger stadium. went there a bunch as a kid.i got to see mantle, maris, jim rice.norm cash, gates brown, al kaline and so many others. its a shame that they're tearing it down. the whole city of detroit along with the state is pretty much dead so it doesnt surprise me

posted by ptluigi at 06:02 AM on June 17, 2006

You mean they are actually going to tear something down in Detroit? Won't that be a first? Tear the stadium down? Why not just burn it to the ground? This is Detroit, after all.

posted by The_Black_Hand at 07:27 AM on June 17, 2006

The days of burning in Detroit are over. Now we just board everything up, cover it with graffiti.

posted by dzot at 11:30 AM on June 17, 2006

The names that graced the field are legendary and I always loved watching games that were televised from there as a kid, it seemed as if a homer was always bouncing off the second deck facade in right. I am no expert, but to this outsider, it seems that Detroit has monumental social and economic issues to rectify. The crime statistics listed in the Wikipedia reference are staggering.

posted by mjkredliner at 11:52 AM on June 17, 2006

Red Wing fan.....You really went to the 1884 World Series? Wow, what was it like? I didn't think they'd even created the American League then.

posted by tommybiden at 12:38 PM on June 17, 2006

A big group of friends of mine and I made a pilgrimage up to see The Corner in its final season of operation. We sat in the overhang, and the second half of the game several of us sat in a couch that was randomly located nearby in the front row. It was one of the best ballpark experiences of my life. I can't believe Shea Stadium outlived this true gem of a park.

posted by BullpenPro at 12:03 AM on June 22, 2006

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