Baseball during the 1967 Riots

[GPCharles]

Today's Orioles/White Sox game in an empty stadium got me thinking about the Tigers in 1967. Were games played as scheduled?

One friend told me that he remembers a home game on Sunday, but not what happened the next week. Any ideas?

[GPCharles]

This internet thing is amazing...

The Tigers played a DH on Sunday against the Yankees, losing the 1st game 4-2 and winning the 2nd game 7-3. They then went on the road, returning on August 8th.

[dtowncitylover]

That's funny GPCharles, I was thinking the exact thing earlier today.

[Detroitnerd]

If I remember correctly, there were no ballgames, and all bars and taverns and liquor stores were closed in the wake of the 1943 riot, but the ballgames were resumed the next day. Not having sports messes with morale.

[jcole]

This internet thing is amazing...

The Tigers played a DH on Sunday against the Yankees, losing the 1st game 4-2 and winning the 2nd game 7-3. They then went on the road, returning on August 8th.

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/ml...gers/26588951/

In late July 1967, the Detroit Tigers moved a home series with the Orioles to Baltimore because the city's riot and curfew forced the closing of Tiger Stadium."I thought that was out of line," Jim Northrup said of the decision to move the games. "It was too dangerous to play ball in Detroit but we had to go on the road and leave behind our wives and kids? Back then, baseball players didn't question things. You just did what you were told."
The Sunday the riot began, Ray Lane and Ernie Harwell were covering a game at Tiger Stadium for WJR Radio.
"We didn't know it was a riot at that time," recalled Lane. "We weren't allowed to say anything about the smoke coming in over the leftfield stands. Jim Campbell and WJR told us not to mention it."

[renf]

As stated, the Tigers played a double header at home against the Yankees the Sunday the
1967 riot began. They were scheduled for a three game home stand playing Baltimore beginning the next day. Those games were shifted to Baltimore,

[hewettbr]

As stated, the Tigers played a double header at home against the Yankees the Sunday the
1967 riot began. They were scheduled for a three game home stand playing Baltimore beginning the next day. Those games were shifted to Baltimore,

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0343535/

heres a movie you can watch about the following season

[GPCharles]

They were scheduled for a three game home stand playing Baltimore beginning the next day. Those games were shifted to Baltimore

That makes sense. The 1967 schedule I found just showed that the games were played in Baltimore, but not where they were originally scheduled. I thought a road trip until August 8th was awfully long.

Freep article - http://www.freep.com/story/sports/ml...gers/26588951/

[IrishSpartan]

Today's Orioles/White Sox game in an empty stadium got me thinking about the Tigers in 1967. Were games played as scheduled?

One friend told me that he remembers a home game on Sunday, but not what happened the next week. Any ideas?

The Detroit Tigers at the time were owned by John Fetzer and he made the offer to play at least one of the Baltimore games within an empty Tiger Stadium and televise the games on Channel 2. George Romney declined the offer because of safety issues concerning players,etc. in transit to/from Tiger Stadium.

[tstephens]

I "wiped seats" as a junior usher [[15 yo) and vividly recall being in the stadium on Sunday. The Detroit Police provided the security back then and there were none in the stadium. Then there was the smoke filling the skies around the stadium. I didn't typically watch the news, nor listen to it, so I had no idea what had taken place over night. Also, nothing was either whispered nor discussed, at least within earshot of me, of what had taken place over night. So there I sat in innocent bliss with my ball park frank and coke enjoying the game. It wasn't until driving home that I noticed as we drove down the Lodge Fwy [[headed north) that I saw armoured vehicles, Jeeps and other military vehicles headed south towards downtown. We had WWJ on to listen to the recap of the game and all I heard was talk of the riot. It was only then that my dad, who was driving, then explained what had taken place and what we needed to do once we reached home [[north east section of Detroit).