We had a National League team here in Detroit and then the owner got tired of baseball and
sold it. For eight years, from 1881 through 1888, the Detroit Wolverines played their home
National League games in Recreation Park where the DMC is now located. There is an historical marker commemorating their park and their 1887 World's championship.

When you think about the efforts the Giants made to keep Oakland from moving to San Jose and the successful efforts the Mets made to keep the Yankees from shifting their AAA franchise to Newark for just one year, you realize that the Tigers would likely block any professional team that might try to locate very near Detroit. I see the Illitch family arranged for the state to raze Joe Louis Arena. Was part of their motivation to get rid of another venue for professional hockey in Motown?