OT: Tiger Stadium turns 100

[T205]

Its a shame that none really remembers the piece of history that was torn down in 2009.

[Cardboard Junkie]

I remember, and miss, the old Briggs Stadium/Navin Field........hallowed ground my friend, hallowed ground......think of the "Greats" that stood at that corner. I even remember when the Lions played there. Aloha, Dinosaur Dave.

[jalex]

Was lucky enough to see a game there when I was a kid having grown up in the midwest. I don't understand tearing a place like that down. It made my heart hurt when I saw the film of the destruction. I understand the economics of it, but it seems to me that building a $500 million stadium to replace an icon is money badly spent. I don't like the idea of altering historic places, but if the option is tearing it down or refurbishing it for economic reasons, spend the $500 million on bastardizing the old stadium. Yeah, we would all be complaining about how they changed Tiger Stadium and made it too modern, but at least it would still be there. Just my opinion.

Cheers,

Jim

[imacgreg]

Boston has Fenway.

Chicago has Wrigley.

We've got a vacant lot:

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/tiger-s...n-detroit.html

[steve B]

Exactly!

The plan for a "new Fenway" before the new owners was one of the silliest ever. The neighborhood didn't want tall lights, so they planned to put the field 60ft below ground level. Not good as the fens were a swamp used to put trash into for a century or so. Nothing good exists 60ft down anywhere in that area. Oh yeah, we would have also had the monster as a bit of the carcass of the old place as a park next door. (A fine place for grafitti !)

Give me the Hood and Coke bottles, Bud pavillion, and monster seats, as long as the rest of the place is still there.
When friends of mine complained about "ruining Fenway with crass ads" I showed them pics from the 30's and 40's with ads for razors and whisky on the leftfield wall.

I wanted to see a game in Detroit before it came down, but it never came together.


Steve B

Originally Posted by jalex

Was lucky enough to see a game there when I was a kid having grown up in the midwest. I don't understand tearing a place like that down. It made my heart hurt when I saw the film of the destruction. I understand the economics of it, but it seems to me that building a $500 million stadium to replace an icon is money badly spent. I don't like the idea of altering historic places, but if the option is tearing it down or refurbishing it for economic reasons, spend the $500 million on bastardizing the old stadium. Yeah, we would all be complaining about how they changed Tiger Stadium and made it too modern, but at least it would still be there. Just my opinion.

Cheers,

Jim

[CW]

I'll never forget the old ballpark! I went to many games there as a kid, and was able to catch the last game played at the corner -- I still have a film case full of foul territory gravel from that final game as a keepsake.

The Detroit News recently posted a gallery with 80+ photos from the stadium. It's definitely worth a look, and might offer a nice trip down memory lane.... LINK to gallery

Some sample pictures: