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Tiger Stadium
Did they tear it down yet?
Tiger Stadium
Tiger Stadium will live forever in our hearts and no matter what the critics say they will never erase the magic of an opening day, the bright lights of a night game, the roar of the crowd, and the wonder of some of the best baseball ever played. Yes all this and so much more is what Tiger Stadium in Corktown means to me.
Tiger Stadium
Tiger Stadium, let me count the ways.....those graceful light towers that looked like beacons you could see for miles away....those crampy, small dugouts....the smell of hot dogs and beer all over those crampy corridors, the 'buzz' always around the corner of Michigan and Trumbull before and after a game...hitting one off the facing of the upper decks in right and left field...and especially the final game at TS in 1999...if you didnt get teary eyed that night you werent human....it was like saying goodbye to a relative that you knew and loved for 50 years or so....also going to Mexican village on Vernor after the game and getting some wonderful tacos, etc....Nemos after, the Lindell AC after in the day and seeing Boog Powell and Earl Weaver looped up, Norm Cash in there loopy doopy plenty of times....there is too much to talk about with TS, and then the idiots in the city council who let it die when they gave no one a creditable chance to save it.....the train station should have been demolished 30 years ago....
Tiger stadium
Last time I was there the stadium dirty, smelled of filth, paint flaking from the steel beams.
Tiger Stadium
Best Moment; 1968 World Series- Sitting in the bleachers- Tigers down 3 games to 1. Having 16 inches of space to park my rear in. Jose Fleciano (sp) singing the National Antheim.. That game changed the whole series...
Parking on Plum Street for $3.00. Listening to George Kell and Ernie Harwell- Priceless
Tiger Stadium
Many memories--68 World Series GM 5 Freehan Blocking Plate on Brock, Tigers go on to WIN Series! Gibson's Homerun off Gossage in 84 World Series GM 5, Tigers Win! Jacksons All Star Game Homerun! Fidrych on hot Steamy Night taking curtain call to packed house against Baltimore! McCaullife's game ending DP in 67 on last day, Tigers miss out on playoff game! Final Game at Tiger Stadium ! Bruce Maher taking a foot to the face on end zone blocked punt on Thanksgiving Day against the Packers. Lions Thanksgiving Day Massacre against the Packers! Lem Barneys punt return TD on Monday Night Football! The Detroit High School Championship Game the night of Kennedys Assassination! Playing in a complimentary softball game at the Stadium, and I still have a cup of infield dirt!
Tiger Stadium
Never forget my first trip to the corner, early 60s and the Yankees were in town and me and my buddy Ronnie P. we were both 12 at the time....my dad got two tickets 9 rows up from the Yankee dugout for a doubleheader.....talk about a kid being excited....me and my friend were so thrilled and scared at the same time we never left our seats for the whole twin bill - about 5-6 hours...not even to go to the bathroom!!!! Remember Mickey Mantle, Elston Howard, Yogi and Bill Skowron slammed HRs for the Yanks in one game, and the stormer, Norm Cash hit two in the first game....in the second game Tigs eked out one on the bottom of the 8th inning I believe....Rocky Colavito piped one into the upper deck in left off of Jim Bouton...what a time we had....was it Ray Narleski who came out of the bullpen to save it in the 9th for the Tigs....Tony Kubek backed our left fielder right to the wall in left for the final out....whew!!!
We waited patiently outside for my dad to pick us up after the game and the Detroit cops let us pet one of their horses since the mounted boys were patrolling down there....
I remember turning around near dark and looking up at those majestic light towers on the roof....they looked like they were 2 miles high!!! Back then hot dogs from the program I had were 50 cents, cokes 50 cents, cotton candy 60 cents, peanuts 40 cents, and chips 40 cents a bag....what a budget buster that was!!! ha-ha.....my dad took us over to Lafayette coney island after to make the day complete...some things you never forget in your life and my eternal love for TS....may you die in peace dear friend....and to hell with Kwame and Collins!!!!
Tiger Stadium
I spent so many good times in Tiger Stadium. I remember the '68 World Series, Kaline, Horton, Aguirre, Colavito, Mark the Bird, Freehan and so many others. I am so happy that I got a chance to take my daughter there once I moved back to Detroit. I retired and am now living in Pennsylvania and wish that all Detroiters could see the preservation of landmarks that is so proudly done here. Even the house that I live in is 100 years old and in excellent shape.
It is sooo sad to see the "Lady" go. Moving ahead and modernizing is all well and good, but to destroy the historical landmarks of Detroit if just plain sad. I watched J.L. Hudson destroyed and I am so glad that I am not there to watch the destruction of Tiger Stadium.
Tiger Stadium
There are so many good memories of going to a Tiger games in the mid 60's to mid 70's and then again when I returned to attend college in the mid 80's after getting out of the Army. While the building may be gone, the memories I hold will always be locked in my brain. The two that stick out the most is the World Series win over the Cardinals and 1984 World Series win (which was even more sweet since the Army sent me to the game to provide security for the President).
Tiger Stadium
I grew up in Detroit and moved away in 1981. Since then I've lived in Boston, Hartford and northern Virginia near DC. I've traveled to Europe, Japan, and China. The one thing that always strikes me about Detroit is that OLD = BAD in Detroit and people like to tear down anything old. And in Detroit 50 years is old. (I'll be 50 this summer so maybe it's a good thing I don't live there anymore!) I remember when Coleman Young expressed zero concern for the Detroit home of Charles Lindburgh before it was demolished. And what Detroit seems to get for its hatred of history is more and more trash strewn empty lots. But hey, if Tiger Stadium wasn't torn down how long would it be before it was filled with drug addicts and hookers living inside like nomads and then set on fire like much of the town?
I looked at some of the photos of the demolition and the American flag was still flying. Do you think anyone will at least have the decency to remove it from the pole before they knock that over too? Maybe that's asking too much.
Tiger Stadium
It is amazing that with a city government that is virtually dysfunctional that all King Kwame's attention has been paid to the demolition of a national treasure - our beloved Tiger Stadium. The mayors office, city council and police department are led by misfits, incompetents and downright thieves and yet TS has had so much of their attention. The train station is far more of an eyesore lurking just beyond TS and no one has issued a demolition project for that hulk.
A curse by Ty Cobb may be put on the Tigers for this unholy rape. Lets us all pray Ernie Harwell and his group can at least save a few thousand seats and the playing field for future generations....maybe even an overnight hotel room for KK and his amores....and a place for Synagro sludge company for future business with the city. Yikes!!!!!
Tiger Stadium
It's really sad to say but it is time for Tiger Stadium to go. It's was a grand old place but having it sit there unused while it steadily decays and rusts away is horrible. Tiger Stadium will live in our collective memories where you can always smell the hot dogs, hear Harwell on hundreds of transistor radios throughout the stands, walk from the upper deck concourse and emerge in the main aisle and see the most perfectly tended grass as the players took some batting practice.
My mother always took me to the game on the Michigan avenue bus. We would always get third base or left field seats (I didn't get over to the 1st base side til I was a grownup). I remember Freehan hitting a triple with the bases loaded to beat the Yanks. I remember Ike Brown stealing second, trying for third when they mishandled the throw, getting caught in a rundown and eventually making it to third. I saw a World Series game as they beat the Padres in 1984. Cap day, Ball day, seeing the Mark 'the Bird' Fidrych mow em down in his magical season, Herbie tending to the infield with his usual flair, Earl Wilson as a pinch hitter, Willie Horton's unusual batting stance, beating the Senators twice in a doubleheader, Sparky Anderson.... These great memories will live in all us. It's time for Tiger Stadium to come down.
Tiger Stadium
Well what is there to say,except It's a very sad day! I moved away from Dearborn along time ago but I have been home evey year to visit.Every visit I would make a point to get to a Tigers game,and I would remember when I was a kid paying .25 to take a bus down Michigan Ave with my friends to try to get in to see a game even when we had no money to get in! After about the 3rd inning the ushers that knew us would let us in and told us to behave or else,and we would,for the most part.Who can forget bat day,yes real little league louisville sluggers, my brother still has my Norm Cash.Well anyway they can never tear down our memories!! Ed Geiss
Tiger Stadium
Of all the busted up buildings in Detroit, they have to tear down Tiger Stadium. Unbelievably sad...
Tiger Stadium
As a youth I remember going to the ball park for bat day. Yes they gave away real bats. Another memory from my youth was attending the ball game for saftey patrol day. I did not go to a lot of games even though I used to work right down the street on Howard at Trumble. But new memories are now being created on Woodward at Comerica Park.
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