(by 17 people)
A Short History of Tiger Stadium
Bennett Park. Navin Field. Briggs Stadium. The Corner. Tiger Stadium.
For over 100 years baseball was played at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull. Here are pictures and stories of the ballpark in each of it's various constructions.
Although the final game was played September 27, 1999 the stadium still stands (but is no longer whole as demolition has now begun). An ongoing attempt by The Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy is hoping to raise $15 million to preserve the home plate area of the stadium from dugout to dugout. They have until August 1.
Also in this lens:
Memorable home runs, unique aspects of Tiger Stadium, Tiger Stadium memories, a fond farewell to the grand old ballpark by Ernie Harwell, and much more.
Contract for Tiger Stadium Demolition Awarded
The two groups are not charging the city of Detroit for the demolition of Tiger Stadium. Their plan is to get paid from the sale of the scrap which is estimated to bring in $1 million or more.
The Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy is still trying to save a portion of the stadium - the home plate area encompassing the two dugouts. They have to have a financial plan by November 1, in order to proceed with fundraising for their plan.
March 1, 2009 is the new deadline for The Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy to come up with the funds necessary to complete their preservation project.
Grab your cameras and head on down to the corner of Michigan and Trumbull.
Should a Part of Tiger Stadium Be Preserved?
Photos of Tiger Stadium Demolition
Tiger Stadium demolition - 4 July 2008
Tiger Stadium demolition - 4 July 2008
Tiger Stadium demolition - 4 July 2008
Mangled Bleachers.
Left Field
Centerfield bleachers and scoreboard - gone forever.
Seats
Last Chance to see Tiger Stadium
Take your camera, kids, and head on down to watch a piece of baseball (and Michigan) history be reduced to rubble. While your there, stop by Nemo's for a burger and beverage.UPDATE:
Via Michigan Radio News
The Detroit City Council's planning and economic development committee decided Wednesday that a preservation group must pay $219,000 to the city by Tuesday morning.
If that payment isn't made, the council may vote the same day to fully demolish the old ballpark.
The Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy says it expects to have the money available. The nonprofit wants to preserve a section of the stadium and turn it into a museum.
Videos of Tiger Stadium Demolition
Well, the inevitable has begun. Vote on your favorite (if watching Tiger Stadium fall can be a favorite of anyone) video.
I found the Aerial View of Tiger Stadium's Demolition rather interesting myself.
Before Tiger Stadium
Who knew that this "rural looking" intersection of the 1890s would someday become The Corner?
Bennett Park Circa 1901
A sketch of Bennett Park and how it looked in 1901. This was the first ballpark at "The Corner" of Michigan and Trumbull.
The park was named for former Detroit catcher Charlie Bennett whose playing career was cut short following a train accident that took his left foot and right leg at the knee.
Charlie Bennett was one of the most popular players from those early Detroit baseball teams.
Navin Field 1931
New owner Frank Navin tore down the 8,500 seat Bennett Park to build one of the precursors of Tiger Stadium, Navin Field. Navin Field opened on April 20, 1912 (same day as Fenway Park made its debut) just five days after the Titanic sank.
Navin Field moved home plate to where right field was in Bennett Park and seated 23,000.
Note the street (Cherry Street) just outside the left field wall. It became the left field grand stand when Navin Field was upgraded in 1938 during its Briggs Stadium days.
Navin Field 1934 World Series
Temporary bleachers were erected over Cherry Street in left field to pack in extra fans for the World Series and would become a permanent fixture when Briggs Stadium was upgraded in 1938 and Cherry Street was moved.
The Tigers lost the 1934 Series 4 games to 3 to the St. Louis Cardinals. The boys would bounce back the next year defeating the Chicago Cubs 4 games to 2.
Briggs Stadium 1951
Here we see Briggs Stadium all closed in with its 53,000 capacity and looking almost exactly like Tiger Stadium. About the only thing missing was of course, the name.
In 1936 the right field grandstands were double-decked which increased the seating to 36,000. Two years later, in 1938 the same was done to the left and center field grandstands to bring the seating up to 53,000.
Lights were finally added in 1948. Tiger Stadium was the second to last park to add lights. Wrigley Field was the last ballpark to add lights 40 years later in 1988.
With the addition of the lights the final construction of the Tiger Stadium that we know was complete and the stadium would be known as one of (if not THE) finest stadiums in baseball.
Briggs Stadium Memorabilia
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Tiger Stadium in its prime
In 1961 (nine years after Walter Briggs death) owner John Fetzer gave the permanent name of "Tiger Stadium" to the Green Cathedral on "The Corner."
This picture is how Tiger Stadium should be remembered. Not as an empty deteriorating shell of its former self, but as a vibrant, fan-filled field that carried the hopes and dreams of its inhabitants on the backs of men like Greenberg, Kaline, Cobb, Cash, Trammell, and Horton.
Tiger Stadium Today
From this satellite photo you can see that the playing field has seen better days. No longer manicured, watered, and fertilized, but abandoned, neglected, and vacant.
You can't see the trees growing in the stands or the wires hanging down from the pressbox in this photo. You probably don't want to. That is no way to remember an old friend.
Tiger Stadium Memorabilia
Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand byFacts and Oddities of Tiger Stadium
- Only stadium in baseball to have a flagpole in play in center field.
- The visitors' clubhouse sign read, "Visitors' Clubhouse, no Visitors' Allowed."
- 19 different players cleared the roof of Tiger Stadium a total of 28 times.
- On July 13, 1934, Babe Ruth hit his 700th home run at Tiger Stadium.
- Tiger Stadium was the only ballpark in the major leagues to have a double-decked bleacher section. The bleacher section at Tiger Stadium also had a separate entrance into the park.
- The right field overhang, or "The Porch" as it was affectionately dubbed. The upper deck actually hung over the playing field by 10 feet. Lights had to be installed under the overhang so the right fielder could see at the warning track.
- Home of the 1941, 1951, and 1971 All-Star Games.
- Reggie Jackson belted a monster home run in the 1971 All-Star Game that hit a transformer on the right field roof.
- The Tigers opened Navin Field (first real predecessor to Tiger Stadium) with a 6-5 win in extra innings. They closed out Tiger Stadium on September 27, 1999 with an 8-2 win over the Kansas City Royals.
- The last (and one of the more electric moments in sports) home run hit in Tiger Stadium was fittingly by a Tiger, Robert Fick and it was a Grand Slam at that.
Memorable Home Runs at Tiger Stadium
Feel free to add to this list. I just got it started with a few of the more memorable ones, but when there are 11,111 home runs during the lifespan of a ballpark there has to be many memorable ones!
Kirk Gibson's 8th Inning Home Run in 1984 World Series
With the Tigers leading 5-4 and ace reliever Goose Gossage on the mound Kirk Gibson heard Tigers Manager Sparky Anderson say, "He don't want to walk you!" Gibson obliged by mashing the ball into the right field upper deck for an 8-4 lead and eventual World Series Championship.2 points
Robert Fick's Grand Slam at the final Tiger Stadium game
In the bottom of the 8th inning in the final game at Tiger Stadium Robert Fick hit a monster grand slam home run onto the right field roof for the 11,111th (and final) home run at Tiger Stadium.1 point
Reggie Jackson's 1971 All-Star Game Home Run
Reggie Jackson made his way into Tiger Stadium lore when he belted a home run into a transformer on top of the right field roof in the 1971 All Star Game.0 points
Babe Ruth's 700th Home Run
On July 13, 1934 Babe Ruth hit his 700th home run off of Tigers' pitcher Tommy Bridges (who won 22 games for the pennant winning Tigers that year) in a 4-2 Yankees victory at what was then known as Navin Field.0 points
Movies filmed (at least partially) at Tiger Stadium
Here they are!
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Sorry, there are no results available from Amazon.Tiger Stadium Memories
Whether it was sitting in the upper deck along the first base line or the right field grandstands. I remember taking the church bus and a box lunch and saving my chocolate pudding for the long ride home after the game only to find that my older sister had snitched it and ate every last drop.
I remember going to a game against the Toronto Blue Jays and I believe Brian Moehler was pitching. This was during the lean years and I cannot remember if the Tigers won or lost. That wasn't the point.
I was watching a baseball game in one of baseball's last Green Cathedrals on a beautiful summer day. I had the obligatory hot dog (pulled from the depths of a case of hot water by the vendor) with the standard mustard and a chocolate ice cream to wash it down.
I tried to keep score but had never learned the finer points of doing so. I still have the pencil from that game even though the scorecard has long since been lost during one of the many moves that are made from childhood to college and then to adulthood.
That was also my first chance to fill out an official All-Star ballot as they were handing those out with the programs. Of course, being a lifelong Tigers fan I filled up the roster with Detroit players.
I remember parking over by Pine Street and walking across the pedestrian bridge over Fisher Hwy. There was always a guy near Cochrane Street selling brown paper bags of peanuts and claiming they were selling them for less than you could get them in the stadium. You know what? He was right.
Oh Tiger Stadium will not stand forever, but the memories, mementos, and pictures will live on forever.
I am reminded of the speech James Earl Jones' character makes in Field of Dreams. Here is an excerpt:
"The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again."
Share your Tiger Stadium memories
Millions of folks attended games at "The Corner" over the years. That is a lot of memories. Please share your Tiger Stadium memories here.
ahhh yeah the corner,will allways be a memory in my mind,tho as a child i didnt realise then,how important to baseball tiger stadium would be,until they tore it down.but catching the rail to go out to the park,with my granddad to see where cobb,kaline,laflore,fidritch,trammell,fielder,gibby,once played is deffinatly, defineing moment in my life.thnk you for all that you contributed,and the memories.
Posted October 01, 2008
Great Article.
I run http://rememberingtigerstadium.com/ and it is great to see other people that care about the stadium and to share its history.
Posted September 30, 2008
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buffalo
Thank you so much for this lens. It brings back some wonderful memories. I remember going to Tiger Stadium as a child. I remember watching Chet Lemon, Kurt Gibson, Lou Whittaker, Alan Trammell, Sparky Anderson, Cecil Fielder... Posted August 27, 2008 |
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MadeInMichigan
Awesome pictures! Posted August 14, 2008 |
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beachbum_gabby
what a walk line through the past about Tiger Stadium. Thanks for the additional knowledge. Posted July 22, 2008 |
Videos of the final game at Tiger Stadium and it's pre-demolition condition
Relive the emotion and the drama of the final game played at The Corner, September 27, 1999 against the Kansas City Royals.
After enjoying the final moments of Tiger Stadium, watch the two videos showing the dilapidated state of the beloved ballpark before demolition work began.
#1
Tour inside Tiger Stadium in 2006 0 points
#2
Last Game at Tiger Stadium (part 1) 0 points
#3
Last Game at Tiger Stadium (part 3) 0 points
#4
Stranded at The Corner 0 points
#5
Last Game at Tiger Stadium (part 2) 0 points
Books featuring Tiger Stadium
Tiger Stadium (MI) (Images of Baseball)
Amazon Price: $19.99 (as of 10/06/2008)
Corner to Copa: The last Game at Tiger Stadium and the First at Comerica Park
Amazon Price: (as of 10/06/2008)
The Final Season: Fathers, Sons, and One Last Season in a Classic American Ballpark (Honoring a Detroit Legend)
Amazon Price: $11.86 (as of 10/06/2008)
Home Sweet Home: Memories of Tiger Stadium (Honoring a Detroit Legend)
Amazon Price: $15.56 (as of 10/06/2008)
Visit these other Detroit Tigers lenses
Here are a couple of other Detroit Tiger related lenses that might be of interest to you.-
Detroit Tigers Baseball
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The Detroit Tigers became charter members of the American League in 1901 after spending the first eight years (1881-1888) of their primitive existence in the National League. They dropped out of major league ball in 1889-1900 until their return in 19...
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Ernie Harwell
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Born William Earnest "Ernie" Harwell in 1918 down in Washington, Georgia. As a youth Ernie was tongue-tied and through the help of a speach teacher paid for by his cash-strapped folks during the Depression, the sweet southern voice baseball...
Tiger Stadium Links
- Digital Picture Gallery of Tiger Stadium
- Wow! Every fan of Tiger Stadium should visit this site. While not in it's glory days you can still get a sense of the old ballpark's majesty.
A Green Cathedral indeed. - Stranded at The Corner
- Stranded at the Corner is a documentary chronicling the city of Detroit's neglect of Tiger Stadium
- Detroit News story about the "Urinal Troughs" at Tiger Stadium
- One of my first memories of Tiger Stadium as a little kid is having to stand right next to everyone at the trough-like urinals.
