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'Tiger Stadium' is a stadium located in the Corktown neighborhood of Detroit, Michigan. It hosted the Detroit Tigers Major League Baseball team for nearly a century before that franchise moved into the new Comerica Park in 2000. It also hosted the Detroit Lions of the National Football League for many years. It was declared a State of Michigan Historic Site in 1975 and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1989. It is scheduled for demolition in 2008. The stadium is also nicknamed 'The Corner' for its location on Michigan Avenue and Trumbull Boulevard.

Contents

History

Early origins

The 20th century

The 21st century

Demolition

Historic moments

Other uses

Unique features

External links

History

Early origins

In 1895, Detroit Tigers owner George Vanderbeck had a new ballpark built at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull avenues. That stadium was called 'Bennett Park' and featured a wooden grandstand with a wooden peaked roof in the outfield and bleachers surrounding the infield. At the time, some places in the outfield were only marked off with rope.

The 20th century

In 1911, new Tigers owner Frank Navin ordered a new steel-and-concrete baseball park on the same site that would seat 23,000 to accommodate the growing numbers of fans. On April 20, 1912, 'Navin Field' was opened, the same day as the Boston Red Sox's Fenway Park.
Over the years, expansion continued to accommodate more people. In 1935, following the death of Frank Navin, new owner Walter Briggs oversaw the expansion of Navin Field to a capacity of 36,000 by extending the upper deck to the foul poles and across right field. By 1938, the city had agreed to move Cherry Street, allowing left field to be double-decked, and the now-renamed 'Briggs Stadium' had a capacity of 53,000.
Also in 1938, the NFL's Detroit Lions began a relationship that allowed them to host their home games at Briggs Stadium. They would play there through the 1974 season, before moving to the Pontiac Silverdome in suburban Pontiac.
In 1961, new owner John Fetzer took control of the stadium and gave it its permanent name: 'Tiger Stadium'. Under this name, the stadium witnessed World Series championship seasons in 1968 and 1984.
The stadium gained a reputation in the 1970s and 1980s for its aging facilities and obstructed views, but was beloved by local baseball fans for its historic feel. Box and most reserved seats were close to the action. In 1977, ownership of the park transferred from the Detroit Tigers to the City of Detroit. As part of this transfer, the green wooden seats were replaced with blue and orange plastic ones and the stadium's interior, which was green, was painted blue to match.
In 1992, new owner Mike Ilitch began many cosmetic improvements to the ballpark, primarily with the addition of the Tiger Den and Tiger Plaza. The Tiger Den was an area in the lower deck between first and third base that had padded seats and section waiters. The Tiger Plaza was constructed in the old players parking lot and consisted of many concessionaires and a gift shop.
After the 1994 strike, plans began to construct a new park, many campaigned to save the stadium. Plans to modify and maintain Tiger Stadium as the home of the Tigers, known as the Cochrane Plan, were supported by many in the community, but were never seriously considered by the Tigers. Ground was broken for the new Comerica Park during the 1997 season.
On September 27, 1999, the final Detroit Tigers game was held at Tiger Stadium; an 8-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals, capped by a late grand slam by Robert Fick. Fick's 8th inning grand slam hit the right field roof and fell back onto the playing field, where it was retrieved by Tigers personnel. Fick's blast was the final hit, home run, and RBI in Tiger Stadium's history. The whereabouts of the ball are currently unknown. Following the game, an emotional ceremony with past and present Tigers greats was held to mark the occasion. The Detroit Tigers moved to the newly constructed Comerica Park for their 2000 season leaving Tiger Stadium largely unused.

The 21st century

From the departure of the Detroit Tigers in 1999 through early 2006, the city of Detroit spent nearly $4 million maintaining Tiger Stadium.
In the summer of 2000, the HBO movie ''61
★ '' was filmed in Tiger Stadium. To make the field appear to be Yankee Stadium, the seats were painted green and a third deck and skyline of the Bronx were added through the use of CG. In the credit roll at the end of the film, Yankee Stadium is listed as a character played by Tiger Stadium. Coincidently, it was at Tiger Stadium that Roger Maris hit his first home run of his record-breaking 1961 season.
On July 24, 2001, a Great Lakes Summer Collegiate Game between the Motor City Marauders and the Lake Erie Monarchs was played at Tiger Stadium. It was in an effort by a local sports management company that is seeking to bring a minor-league franchise to Detroit in the Frontier League
In July 2002, the Tigers sponsored a fantasy camp with instructors Jason Thompson and Milt Wilcox. For many, this was the final time that Tiger Stadium was opened to the public for a baseball-related purpose.
Since then, The Corner has been used periodically to videotape special segments, such as the appearance of Denny McLain on Fox Sports Net's ''Beyond the Glory'' and a pregame piece for the 2005 Major League Baseball All-Star Game featuring Ernie Harwell.
On Saturday, February 4 and Sunday, February 5, 2006, a tent on Tiger Stadium's field played host to Anheuser-Busch's Bud Bowl 2006 [1]. Among performers at the nightclub-style event was Snoop Dogg [2]. After several years out of the public eye, the Bud Bowl event led the ''Detroit Free Press'' to make the interior of the stadium the feature of a photo series on February 1, 2006 [3]. These photos showed the stadium's deteriorating condition, which included trees and other vegetation growing in the stands. Anheuser-Busch promoted the advertising event as Tiger Stadium's '''Last Call'''.
In early 2006, the feature-length documentary ''Stranded at the Corner'' was released. Funded by local businessman and ardent stadium supporter Peter Comstock Riley, and directed by Gary Glaser, it earned solid reviews and won 3 Telly awards and 2 Emmy awards for the film's writer and co-producer, Richard Bak (a local journalist and the author of two books about the stadium). It was also shown at the inaugural National Baseball Hall of Fame Film Festival, held in Cooperstown, New York, November 2006. [4]

Demolition

Precise details about Tiger Stadium's future have yet to be determined, but demolition appeared inevitable on June 15 2006, when Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick announced that Tiger Stadium would be demolished in 2007.
On December 18, 2006 the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC) hosted a walk-through for potential bidders on a project to remove assets from Tiger Stadium that qualify as "memorabilia" and to sell these items in an online auction. Bids were due on January 11, 2007, and the winning bidder was instructed in the Request for Proposals that removal of the items (i.e. seats, signs) should be undertaken without harming the Stadium's structure. Once the Stadium was stripped of seating, signage, and other items which could yield income for the City of Detroit at auction, demolition was expected to begin. [5]. According to individuals familiar with the meeting between potential bidders and the DEGC, all items that are non-structural (i.e. support columns) would be available for auction except for the following items: the foul poles, the center field flagpole, the auxiliary scoreboards along the first and third base lines, and the neon "TIGER STADIUM" lettering.
In March 2007, demolition plans were put on hold as the City of Detroit worked to bring local Corktown residents into the decision-making process to determine the stadium's fate [6].
On June 7, 2007 the DEGC approved a plan to demolish the stadium after a memorabilia auction. The plan will go to the City Council for approval in July 2007. [7]. The June 2007 announcement from DEGC seemed to settle the longstanding matter of what would happen to the old and abandoned stadium. It followed several other proposed plans and even some official announcements about the stadium's fate, some of which appeared contradictory or speculative.
In the years before Mayor Kilpactrick's 2006 announcement about demolition, the city rejected several proposals for developing the site. Among the proposals were plans to convert Tiger Stadium into condominiums, a jail, and a Wal-Mart shopping center [8]. Another rejected plan involved converting parts of the stadium into residential lofts. Still another apparently rejected plan, floated by a Detroit area financier, would have reconfigured the stadium to its Navin Field size and layout, as part of a development which would also have included a museum, shops, and conference space[9]. Along with this plan was included the potential to bring a minor-league baseball team to Detroit.
On July 27 2007 Detroit City Council approved a plan to demolish Tiger Stadium by September 2008. They did not vote to give control of the project to the DEGC. [10]

Historic moments

At the Corner on July 13, 1934, Babe Ruth hit his 700th career home run. As noted in Bill Jenkinson's ''The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs'', the ball sailed over the street behind the then-single deck bleachers in right field, and is estimated to have traveled over 500 feet on the fly.
Ruth also had a good day in Detroit earlier in his career, on July 18, 1921, when he hit what is believed to be the verifiably longest home run in the history of major league baseball. It went to straightaway center, as many of Ruth's longest homers did, easily clearing the then-single deck bleacher and wall, landing almost on the far side of the street intersection. The distance of this blow has been estimated at between 575 and 600 feet on the fly.
On May 2, 1939, an ailing New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig voluntarily benched himself at Briggs Stadium, ending a streak of 2,130 consecutive games. Due to the progression of the disease named after him, it proved to be the final game in his career.
The stadium hosted the 1941, 1951, and 1971 MLB All-Star games. All three games featured home runs. Ted Williams won the 1941 game with an upper deck shot. The ball was also carrying well in the 1951 and 1971 games. Of the many homers in those games, the most often replayed is Reggie Jackson's literally towering drive to right field that hit so high up in the light tower that the TV camera lost sight of it, until it dropped to the field below. Jackson dropped his bat and watched it sail, seemingly astonished at his own power display.
On April 7, 1986, Dwight Evans hit a home run on the first pitch of the Opening Day game, for the earliest possible home run in an MLB season (in terms of innings and at bats, not dates)

Other uses

Tiger Stadium was home to the Detroit Lions from 1938 to 1974 when they dropped their final Tiger Stadium game to the Denver Broncos on Thanksgiving Day. The football field ran mostly in the outfield from the right field line to left center field parallel with the third base line. The benches for both the Lions and their opponents were on the outfield side of the field.
The stadium was depicted in ''Tiger Town'', a 1983 made-for-television baseball movie starring Roy Scheider, and also Sparky Anderson with a small role, and (as Briggs Stadium) in the 1980 feature film ''Raging Bull'' where the stadium was the site of two of Jake LaMotta's championship boxing matches. Tiger Stadium was also seen in the film ''Hardball'' starring Keanu Reeves, and in the aforementioned film ''61
★ '', where it "played" the part of Yankee Stadium as well as itself.
In the film ''61
★ '', Tiger Stadium is shown painted blue, with blue and orange seats, but that was its appearance after a renovation in the late 1970s. In the year 1961, the stadium and the seats were painted dark green.
In February 2006, Tiger Stadium's field was used for the 2006 Anheuser-Busch Bud Bowl advertising event, part of the unofficial Super Bowl XL festivities.
It has been postulated by numerous residents that the stadium could be used and converted into a soccer arena, allowing for a potential MLS franchise, but lack of support by government officials has essentially killed this idea.
After the Tigers moved, Michigan&Trumbull, LLC. rented the stadium for four separate baseball games (Collegiate Wood Bat League and a Women's Professional Baseball game)

Unique features

Tiger Stadium had a 125 ft (38 m) tall flagpole in fair play, to the left of dead center field near the 440 ft (134 m) mark. The same flag pole was originally to be brought to Comerica Park, but this never took place. A new flagpole in the spirit of Tiger Stadium's pole was positioned in fair play at Comerica Park until the left field fence was moved in closer prior to the 2003 season.
When the stadium closed, it was tied with Fenway Park as the oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball the way the dates are normally reckoned. The two stadiums opened on the exact same date in 1912. Taking predecessor Bennett Field into account, this was the oldest ''site'' in use in 1999.
The right-field upper deck overhung the field by 10 feet (3 m), prompting the installation of spotlights above the warning track.
Supposedly due to then-owner Walter Briggs' dislike of night baseball, lights were not installed at the stadium until 1948. The first night game at the stadium was held on June 15, 1948. Among major league parks whose construction predated the advent of night games, only Chicago's Wrigley Field went longer without lights (1988).
Unlike Comerica Park and many other modern stadiums, Tiger Stadium featured an ''upper deck'' bleacher section that was separated from the rest of the stadium. Chain link fence separated the bleachers from the reserved sections and was the only section of seating not covered by at least part of the roof. The bleachers had their own entrance, concession stands, and restrooms.
Tiger Stadium saw exactly 11,111 home runs, the last a right field, rooftop grand slam by Detroit's Robert Fick as the last hit in the last game played there. (Box score of final game)
There were many home runs hit onto the right field roof over the years. It was a relatively soft touch compared to left field, with a 325 foot foul line and with a roof that was in line with the front of the stands. In left field, it was 15 feet farther down the line, and the roof was set back some distance, so only a handful of the game's most powerful right-handed sluggers (including Harmon Killebrew and Cecil Fielder) reached the left field rooftop.
Like other older baseball stadiums such as Wrigley Field, Tiger Stadium offered "obstructed view" seats, some of which were directly behind a steel support beam; while others in the lower deck had sight lines obstructed by the low-hanging upper deck.
Tom Monaghan, a former owner of the Detroit Tigers and owner of Dominos Pizza, once had a helicopter deliver pizza to those working in the press box.
Modern luxury-style suites were practically non-existent at Tiger Stadium, and the lack of revenue was cited as one of the reasons for moving the Tigers franchise to a new stadium.
''Sports Illustrated'' featured a poll of major league baseball players asking which stadium is the favorite to play in. Tiger Stadium usually placed within the top 5, along with Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, and Wrigley Field.
''Green Cathedrals'' quoted Joe Falls, sportswriter for ''The Detroit Free Press'', who used to say that there was a sign over the visitors' clubhouse entrance that read "No visitors allowed".
Artist Gene Mack, who drew a series of pictures of major-league parks, mentioned a bone that Ty Cobb used to "bone" his bats as part of his care for them. The bone stayed in the clubhouse after he left the Tigers in 1926, and, indeed, after he retired in 1928. In his autobigraphy, he noted that the last time he visited the Tigers' clubhouse (he died in 1961), that bone was still in use. Where it is now is anyone's guess.
"Michigan and Trumbull," a song by Michigan indie-pop band The Original Brothers and Sisters of Love, pays tribute to Tiger Stadium in its last season.

External links

★ A site dedicated to preserving Tiger Stadium

★ A documentary on the battle to save Tiger Stadium

★ Friends of Tiger Stadium

★ Past Tigers Venues

★ Tiger Stadium Demolition News & Videos

★ USGS aerial photo

★ Google Maps Aerial

★ Information on the sale of salvageable Tiger Stadium memorabilia to the public before the demolition