Lindell AC 1310 Cass Avenue Detroit

[12468_laing]

still the only place, and I have been in many places in many states and countries, that had a jock nailed to the wall - a la Wayne Walker! Great place, need to watch the movie again that had Alex Karras [[sp) as Jimmy B.

[Baselinepunk]

That's pretty interesting news. How much of the family is involved in this one?

[9606 Prest]

I remember that after the Lindell AC closed its doors on Cass & Michigan, there was some discussion about relocating it to another location downtown. What happened to that idea? Also the bar had a lot of classic sports photos hanging on the walls, were any of these sold to the public?

[9mile&seneca]

still the only place, and I have been in many places in many states and countries, that had a jock nailed to the wall - a la Wayne Walker! Great place, need to watch the movie again that had Alex Karras [[sp) as Jimmy B.

What film was that? I'd love to catch it

[Blueidone]

Jimmy B. & Andre was the name of the movie...here's a link to info about the movie

Jimmy B. & André [[TV 1980) - IMDb

[Blueidone]

EastsideAl...do you mean Bill Bonds? Or someone before him?

[FlyingJ]

EastsideAl This was a TV newsguy of the '70s who was a pretty infamous drinker downtown

I think he means ALL of them. I know Andre got stabbed there in the early 1980's? A guy from the IMDB referenced him passing-how exactly did he die, anyway?

[9mile&seneca]

Thanx Bluidone

[rileyjo]

I used to go there with my parents after games. Jimmy was friends with my dad. He got us great tickets, saw the '68 world series, sitting with the players' wives. That was unbelievable. went to the All Star game in '70 was it? Have autographed balls from several years, including '68. Was in the bar with my parents and a player from Boston, Kenny Harrelson, came over to me and asked me if I wanted one of their balls. I said sure, and sure enough, the next day, my Dad came home with a ball autographed by the whole Boston Red Sox team. Before the fire, there were 8 x 10s of all the players from maybe the '67 team, and Jimmy gave me the original shots in a small album. I cherish all the gifts he gave me. Loved the man immensely. I was his daughter's age, and she wasn't a baseball fan, and I think he got a kick out of the fact that a teenage girl could be obsessed with baseball.

[Bob Green]

I'm sorry but if it is the same Lindell AC reopening in Watertucky, it really will not be the same. The location is what helped make the Lindell great. The most you are going to have coming in is L Brooks, hardly a person I want to run into.

[jackie5275]

The Lindell Lives [[in Waterford):
The BRAND NEW 'Lindell Athletic Club' is opening and is now hiring for ALL hourly positions!
[[bartenders, servers, hosts/hostesses, cooks, dishwashers, bussers)
The Lindell AC Sports Pub
3150 Elizabeth Lake Rd.
Waterford, MI 48328
[[248) 683-3355
http://detroit.craigslist.org/okl/fbh/2015007322.html

This looks like it's going to be located in an old, long vacant building that used to house a Red Lobster restaurant. It's near the Pontiac border.

[Mr. Houdini]

I lived across the street at the Leland Hotel for awhile and would eat at the Lindell AC from time to time. The bartender there was nice and would tell stories. He said the original Lindell AC, farther down Cass [[on Lindell Street?), was just a bar in the lobby of a hotel that was known to be a whore house hotel. The guys liked drinking there but couldn't say to their wives that they were going to go drinking at that hotel [[due to the whoring), so they named the bar Lindell Athletic Club, just so they could say they were heading to the 'athletic club'.

[IrishSpartan]

I lived across the street at the Leland Hotel for awhile and would eat at the Lindell AC from time to time. The bartender there was nice and would tell stories. He said the original Lindell AC, farther down Cass [[on Lindell Street?), was just a bar in the lobby of a hotel that was known to be a whore house hotel. The guys liked drinking there but couldn't say to their wives that they were going to go drinking at that hotel [[due to the whoring), so they named the bar Lindell Athletic Club, just so they could say they were heading to the 'athletic club'.

The Lindell Hotel was located at 1519 Cass, just south of Bagley. The other reason Lindell became popular especially with visiting teams is because players were not permitted to drink at hotel bars. Basically, the players couldn't drink at the Leland, Sheraton-Cadillac, and Statler-Hilton so they went to the Lindell since it was close. Of course their were fringe benefits in that place. Also, Jimmy & Johnny made sure the jocks were not bothered by obnoxious fans. A good number of entertainers stopped in there as well. I know Dean Martin, Milton Berle, Jimmy Durante, Paul Anka, etc.among others.

[fanniemae]

I was at Tiger opening day in the 90's when they played the Oakland A's. Had great box seats right behind the A's dugout. Tony LaRussa looked terrible, hungover. So did some of the other players on the A's team.We abslolutely shelled them that day. Guy in the crowd said that LaRussa and his team were in the AC the night before and got quite drunk. One of the players got in a tussel with a Tiger the guy would not name. LaRussa had a black eye. I could see that. BTW, Rob Deer hit a foul ball that missed my head by an inch. It was a liner.

[tonwil06]

I would have beers there every year when the Detroit Public School League Championships were played down at CoBo arena back in the early to mid 1980's.

[Gingellgirl]

The Lindell is open! Just came back from the new Lindell AC in Waterford and I'm pleased to report the burgers are perfect. Order the carmelized onions and say hi to Tom the owner.
The Lindell AC Sports Pub
3150 Elizabeth Lake Rd.
Waterford, MI 48328
[[248) 683-3355

[9606 Prest]

Will another Lindell AC open in the downtown area of Detroit in the future? The location of the one on Cass & Michigan near Tiger Stadium, Joe Louis Arena & Cobo Arena made it a very interesting place to visit both before and after games!

[tompage]

Burgers were the excuse, and not the real reason, to go to the Lindell AC. Sorry, but a Waterford location for a Lindell AC just doesn't cut it. Until the Lindell AC is back downtown where it belongs, it's still gone.

[Det_ard]

Drove past the Waterford LAC yesterday afternoon, parking lot looked packed.

[oldredfordette]

Is the new bar run by the original family? Butiscaris [[sic) family? Otherwise, why do it?

[Brian1979]

The biggest memory of the Lindell AC for me was being in that bar the night the Wings won the cup in 2002. I started the night downtown and watched the game across Woodward from the Fox on the big screen outside Hockeytown Cafe until the 2nd intermission then walked down to Lafayette Coney Island got a few coneys and continued to walk toward the Lindell AC where I started drinking until about a half hour after the game. Pretty crazy night that night.

[kellyroad]

The date, September 19, 1968. A 12 year old get to go to a rare week-day day game at Tiger Stadium. The Tigers had just clinched the Pennant 2 days earlier. The next day's game was rained out so since it was the end of the season they had to make-up the game on the travel day.

The starting pitchers are Denny Mclain for the Bengals and Mel Stottlemyre for the hated Yankees. Norm Cash hits 2 home runs in the game to Left Field!!

The Tigersare winning 6-0 going into the top of the 8th. Mickey Mantle comes up to bat with all 9063 fans cheering and banging the old wooden seats for him to hit a home run in what going to be his last at bat in Tiger Stadium as the Commerce Comet had announced earlier he was going to retire at years end.

First pitch is a lazy one right over the plate and Mantle watches is go by for strike one. Mclain looks at him quizatively like where do you want it? Mantle digs in again and once more he throws a soft toss pitch to Mantle who proceeds to drive it into the deep right field bleacher to the excitement and joy of the few in attendance. This home run puts Mantle ahead of Jimmie Foxx [[Double XX) on the all-time home run list. Tigs win the game 6-2 and Mclain wins his 31st game of the year.

After the game, with Mantle tied up in the clubhouse with reporters, the rest of the Yankee team slowly ascended on the awaiting bus. This 12 year old got glimpses of such Yankee greats Elston Howard, , Frankie Crossetti [[coach) Manager Ralph Houk and also former Tiger great Rocky Colavito who retired that year also. Then, like a shot, Mantle comes bolting out of the clubhouse, runs onto the bus and it winds it's was out and onward to the airport, but for one small glimpse this 12 year old got a sneak peek at him up close.

After the game, the 12 year old’s dad took him to Lindell AC for a burger, there was rumor that McLain might be stopping in after the game too. The 12 year old is sitting with his dad at a table eating and 2 young men in their twenties whisper to the 12 year old "hey kid you looking for autographs?" The 12 year old says "Of Course" The young men point to an older gent at the bar, kind of hunch over, balding, with a blue cardigan sweater on and say “that's Eddie Matthews�. This starry eyed youngster could not comprehend how a great such great player as he could look so average in street clothes and was thinking he was being setup for an embarrassment. He looks at his father and asks what he thinks and his father is unsure as well. The youngster gets up the courage to go over and ask and sure enough it was the future Hall of Famer.

A short while later none other than Stormin’ Normin' Cash walks in and sits at a table and is quickly surrounded by barflys making access to him nearly impossible. The youngster's only option is to ask the waitress if she would mind getting an autograph from Mr. Cash and she obliges as does he. Denny Mclain, as much was his MO in those days did not show , but it did not tarnish the memory of that 12 year olds most fondest baseball memory


Here's a link to the box score

http://www.baseball-reference.com/bo...96809190.shtml

What a great baseball story to tie into the Lindell AC!! Classic.

One of my favorite recollection is when a friend of mine and I visited the Lindell AC late at night with Jimmy Butsicaris tending bar. There weren't that many patrons in the bar so we were afforded the oppurtunity to engage in uninteruppted conversation...conversation about the greats that visited the establishment, the infamous Alex Karras-Dick the Bruiser fight, etc. etc. All this led to sports trivia, Jimmy B. new his stuff except when it came to the question.... What was the name of the hockey team that played in Detroit [[at Cobo) in the early 70s? We were all stumped. We were all thinking of Detroit..something but couldn't come up with name. My friend and I left the Lindell AC racking out brains out and we decided to take a spin around Tiger stadium when all of a sudden when I looked at the street sign on the corner MICHIGAN and TRUMBELL it hit me. It wasn't Detroit something it was the MICHIGAN STAGS. I wanted to return to the Lindell and let Jimmy B know the answer but it was late. That was about 15 years or so ago....the memory of the conversation with Jimmy B in one of Detroit's iconic landmarks is treasured.

[Maof]

EastsideAl...do you mean Bill Bonds? Or someone before him?

i thought maybe it was BB too.

[gaunto]

Does anyone have any interesting stories concerning their visits to the Lindell AC in Detroit?

My cousin was a track/cross country athlete at Eastern Michigan University. We were at the Lindell after a Tiger ballgame in the late sixties. He had an 8x10 framed glossy of himself in his EMU track uniform. His nickname was 'Satch' and he signed the picture, 'To Jimmy and Johnny, best wishes from Satch', and slid it onto the wall with the rest of the pictures, and didn't get caught. We were there again maybe a year later and the picture was not there. Always wondered what happened to his picture and all the rest after the Lindell AC was no more.

[Chinman]

it closed in 2002 or 2003 to make room for the bus station