How does the old Tiger Stadium site look like now? I live in Virginia so its not like I can just drive there to see for myself.
Printable View
How does the old Tiger Stadium site look like now? I live in Virginia so its not like I can just drive there to see for myself.
Looks like a field of grass and dirt, surrounded by a cyclone fence.
When the weather is warmer, at all times of the day you may find families wandering about...and occasionally an impromptu pickup game on the old diamond.
There is a contingent of folk who have maintained the field...much to the chagrin of a few police officers who seem to need to clamp down on the potential for fun.
It is a huge field of dreams, dashed by a corrupt administration's rush for profit from scrapped metals and kickbacks. Many will not let it fade away into mere memory.
I considered the stadium the other day, and while saddened by its loss...immediately I remembered that one fellow holding his infant while leading a toddler around...pointing to things that used to be. Later on, I saw them tossing a baseball around the infield. That memory dampens the sadness...washes it away, ever so bittersweetly.
I took these in the fall:
The "authorities" cut the cable on the flag pole in center field, so no one could raise a flag on it, as someone did opening day 2010. I imagine that, come hell or high water, the stars & stripes will fly there again, opening day 2011.
That site looks like a lot like the rest of the city...abandoned.:mad:
Looks like it might be a great spot to sell hay.
I also have a few photos from last month here as well as a before-and-after of the site of the Olympia.
I was at the MGM Grand Casino last night at 4:30 AM last night, and I could clearly see the Flag at Tiger Stadium flying high all lit up from the parking structure.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hamtragedy
FYI, the cable to raise the flag was replaced back at the end of September and ever since then, there has been a 20x30 flag flying there ever since and its even lit at night.
Unless someone cut the cable between 4:30AM and 5PM today it should still be flying.
Here is a picture from 2 days ago...
Here is the picture from night...
That part is a beautiful sight to see!!!;)
Why is the site fenced? Has anyone in power ever explained?
To keep us from stealing the historic dirt from the infield!Quote:
Originally Posted by Carey
The gate is actually open, but there is an issue with people taking dirt from pitchers mound.
People are stealing dirt? Seriously?! That has got to be a new low, even for the scrappers. :eek:Quote:
Originally Posted by CLAUDE G
Just one more big, empty field. The City of Detroit just couldn't keep their hands off of Tiger Stadium. Another glaring example of the city's endemic habit of self- abuse.
Im serious!Quote:
Originally Posted by BrushStart
I was over there just about every weekend last summer helping fix up the grounds, and there was never any dirt on the pitchers mound.
People would literally come there to visit, and scoop up a hand full of dirt and take it home in a cup or a little plastic baggie.
We would put down a bag of fresh clay one week, and it would be completely gone the next week. The people out there who think they got authentic dirt, have no idea that the 100 year old historic dirt they thought they where scooping up was just put down the week before.
It got so bad, we where thinking of putting up a sign asking people not to steal it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carey
http://blog.mlive.com/grpress/2008/0...um-goodbye.jpg
Isn't that the same fence that they put up during demolition?
For sentiment sake, who wouldn't want to scoop up some dirt that they think Jack Morris, Mark Fidrych, Mickey Lolich, or some other MLB pitcher once stood on? It's a touching thought but little do they realize that most of that dirt is removed, replaced, and re-sculpted after every season.Quote:
Originally Posted by BrushStart
It's a touching tribute to a place that held so many good memories for people.
No, there was actually 3 fences installed during the demolition.Quote:
Originally Posted by DetroitDad
Keep in mind that the Stadium went right up to the sidewalk, so the very first fence they installed was a temporary fence that was bolted in the middle of the sidewalk. In addition they also completely fenced off Cochran Ave between the Freeway and Michigan Ave as a place to park the demolition equipment.
After they completed the partial demolition in October 2008 on Trumbull ave, the temporary fence was removed from the middle of the sidewalk and another temporary fence was installed at the edge of the sidewalk.
When the final demolition was completed in October 2009, a 3rd and final fence was installed about 2 feet behind the temporary fence and Cochran ave was open again like it is today.
The only fence they did not touch was the chainlink fence on the freeway side where the old players parking lot used to be, and the Iron gates along Michigan Ave.
If you look at the photo above, that is the fence on the Freeway, which is the origional fence that was installed around 1992 when Illitch built the food court and moved the players parking lot to the back of the building.
The city paid to fence in the place 3 times, what a waste of money!
It remains fenced for the usual chickenshit liability laws that pervade society - "It's private property and if someone hurts themselves they could sue" - this is because a field of grass with a flagpole is SUCH a deathtrap [[?).Quote:
Originally Posted by Carey
Like countless others, I saw my first major league game there. The memory of emerging from the darkness of the stands and looking out onto that green, sunlit grass is something I'll carry with me forever.
I'm glad that they have slowed down on redeveloping the lot. I know they said they were in a huge rush to tear down Tiger Stadium because they NEEDED, HAD TO HAVE, that lot for pending development...but it seems that the current vacant lot attracts a lot of people and gives visitors a reason to get off the freeway in Detroit.
I know personally that I am looking forward to visiting the site soon.
I couldn't agree with you more Blackmath. That walk on the catwalks to the upper decks where you could see the bright green field emerge beneath you, the pop of the catcher's mitt in the bullpen, and then as you crested the ramp, the infield, the grass.....yep. You knew exactly where you were.
I have seen the proposal to redevelop the field and all i can say is that its an impressive plan
In the spring I better tell my Dad to find his mitt and that we are going for a ride,Even at 87 yrs old betchca He can out throw me.
The place was magical, it had an atmosphere that Comerica Park couldn't even begin to touch.Quote:
Originally Posted by blackmath
Just think blackmath, how incredibly lucky we were as Canadians to be able to have such a landmark, a real peice of roaring, deafening history so very close to home. We are the last in a long line of folks who will have ever had the privilage to step foot in that wonderful old building, to smell its smells, to see its sights, to touch its walls. My only wish is that I had brought a camera with me.Quote:
Originally Posted by blackmath
Talking about regrets -- my second game ever at Tiger Stadium was on September 18th, 1996. It was a night game and it was totally freezing. I was there with my mom and a friend of hers from work along with just a small crowd, maybe 5000 people at that game to see a pretty much washed up Roger Clemens and the Red Sox face the hometown boys.
Clemens was warming up in the visiting bullpen and I was down on the sideline to get a few autographs. I was looking to get a few of the Red Sox's autographs after getting Bobby Higginson, Jose Lima's and Travis Fryman's a while before. I see Mo Vaughn and politely ask him to sign my program and he takes one look at it and my Tigers ballcap and says "wrong team, kid" and walks off. Just then, I turn away and walk up the stairs to where we were sitting and I look back over my shoulder to see Roger Clemens signing autographs for a few people gathered there. "He sucks" I thought to myself and I went and took my seat, nursing a hot chocolate.
Had I known he'd go on to strike out 20 Tigers that night I would have had him sign my unripped ticket I had in my pocket that was meant for a friend of mine who decided not to go to the game with us... I still have the ticket, but every time I look at it I cringe.
Regrets.
The site should be named The Grassy Knoll to attract tourists. *wink*
I never realized just how huge the pitcher's mound is. Doesn't look that big on TV.
Tiger Stadium was truly a dump in its later years. There is no way around that. Comerica is a much better stadium that offers many amenities that modern fans prefer.
Seriously, what does Comerica have that Tiger Stadium didn't have?
Was it really necessary to build a new stadium? What did we gain?
#1 I could care less about the luxury suites, since the average fan has never been in one.
#2 We traded in roughly 2500 obstructed view seats at Tiger Stadium, by pushing back roughly 15,000 seats in the upper deck a few hundred feet away from the field.
#3 Tiger Stadium had a capacity for about 53,000 seats, Comerica park seats about 40,000, which is 13,000 less people
#4 Comerica park does have better parking
#5 There is more little Caesars pizza stands at Comerica Park [[If thats susposed to be a good thing)
#6 We got a Farris wheel and a merry go round, since when is that part of baseball?
The only lack of maintaince on Tiger Stadium was done on purpose to give reason to build a new park, and to ultimatly tear it down at the end.
Like an empty field with a fence around it.
As much as I loved Tiger Stadium, there is a time when people need to move on. Tiger Stadium was outdated, cramped, and didn't offer as much as the new park does. Comerica park is beautiful, spacious, and while I wouldn't call it a better baseball experience, it's a better entertainment experience. Things get old, things need to be replaced. In 80 years or so when we are all dead, people will look at the demo of Comerica park the same way that we talk about Tiger Stadium.
I doubt it. Not the same kind of intimacy as Tiger Stadium or the history either.
Sorry, the new stadium sucks. I love getting my ass burned by the sun and being a mile away from the plate so that you can have ferris wheels and great views when they show the game on TV. Sigh.Quote:
Originally Posted by jerrytimes
A downtown view of the city. That's what Tiger didn't have.Quote:
Originally Posted by CLAUDE G
The fact that you couldn't see what was going on outside of the stadium, to me, was a strength. The focus at Tiger Stadium was solely on the game. You were shut out from the outside world. To me, that was perfect.Quote:
Originally Posted by Whitehouse
I understand the logic behind today's baseball malls. That doesn't mean that I like it, though. I much prefer a simple ballpark over all of the Bill Veeck-inspired whistles and bells.