Discuss Detroit » Archives - Beginning July 2006 » Comerica Park Or Tiger Stadium « Previous Next »
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Larry
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Username: Larry

Post Number: 129
Registered: 08-2004
Posted From: 209.100.226.49
Posted on Tuesday, August 29, 2006 - 11:50 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I apologize in advance if this has come up before, but I can't seem to find a search engine on here.

Anyway, after having seen both parks it's a very easy answer. It's Tiger Stadium by a wide margin. Forget the skyline view at Comerica, you're there to watch the game. Seat for seat unless you're obstructed by a post, Tiger Stadium is all the way around better.

Just in case you've forgotten, here's a shot from the upper deck at Comerica http://www.ballparksofbaseball .com/al/Comerica%20Park.htm

And now here's one from the upper deck at Tiger Stadium http://www.ballparksofbaseball .com/past/tigerfield.jpg I know which one I'd rather tear down
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Detroitteacher
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Username: Detroitteacher

Post Number: 565
Registered: 06-2006
Posted From: 64.12.116.204
Posted on Tuesday, August 29, 2006 - 11:59 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I just like Tiger Stadium because my grandfather took me there when I was little. It was a ritual with us. Never had great memeories like that at Comerica, although I am sure some other grandfather/granddaughter are making their own memories that are just as important at Comerica.
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Xd_brklyn
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Username: Xd_brklyn

Post Number: 183
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 24.199.98.175
Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 12:06 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Somewhere some paper printed the elevations of Tiger Stadium imposed on Comerica Park. The illustration showed front row upper deck at Comerica Park is where the 17th row upper deck at Tiger Stadium would be. Think it was the third-base side.
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Supersport
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Username: Supersport

Post Number: 10524
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 69.246.37.236
Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 12:07 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I'll take Comerica Park any day.
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Lmichigan
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Username: Lmichigan

Post Number: 4297
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 67.177.81.18
Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 12:43 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Xd brklyn,

If you ever find those elevations let me know.

My take:

Not being a baseball fan, and not coming at this from some sentimental angle as I'd only been to Tiger Stadium once or twice as kid, my take is that Tiger Stadium had the superior atmosphere, which is pretty much all that matters to me.

There isn't much interesting or unique about it, and I'm not a fan of below-grade stadiums. There is too much going on besides the sport, and I really don't like that. It really reflect the United States, today, in that much is going on besides what we're supposed to be focused on.

I'm not interested in giant, decorative concrete tiger statues. I'm not interested in kitschy baseball ferris wheels. I'm not interested in over-sized, distracting billboards and fountains. If I even want to see a baseball game, I want to be focused on the game.

For me, modern "amenities" don't count for much. The extra "bells and whistles" do little for me.

Apart from the skyline view, Comerica Park is, well, just average. I really like the intimacy of old Tiger Stadium. Just my opinion.
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East_detroit
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Username: East_detroit

Post Number: 713
Registered: 11-2003
Posted From: 69.212.169.194
Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 12:47 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I wish they would just stop all the constant announcements, stupid sounds and music... and let the game be played.

I remember a year or 2 ago they had "quiet day" or something like that and they only announced the calls... no other annoying sounds. It was incredibly cool. No dashing donut, no Metallica at the plate, etc.
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Detroitstar
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Username: Detroitstar

Post Number: 150
Registered: 01-2006
Posted From: 67.185.177.235
Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 12:50 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Comerica Park is really not that bad. There were tons of spots at Tiger Stadium where the view was worse than Comerica Park- I dont know about you guys, but when a fly ball is obstructed by the level above you, the game is not that fun to watch.

I've hosted several out of towners at Comerica Park, and many of them say that they love the park, the atmosphere, and everything that comes with it.

Comparing the two parks is like Apples and Oranges. They were built for two totally different generations, almost a century separated. But in the end, we have a gem at Comerica Park, and we need to learn to deal with the change because we're not going back to Michigan and Trumbull anytime soon.
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Jams
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Username: Jams

Post Number: 3705
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 67.38.9.179
Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 12:50 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

No options left, if you want to see the Tigers play, it's Comerica Park.

I'd love to have our old milkman from Wayne Creamery slipping glass bottles of milk with the cream at the top into our "milk chute" from the milk wagon drawn by Tony, the third last horse in Detroit pulling a milkwagon.

Life changes, sometimes we lose something valuable in the process, but others gain their own memories of the "new".

I'm very nostalgic, yet I accept that things must change.

But it was so cool to let Tony lick a sugar cube or eat a carrot from my hand when I was a kid.
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Motorcitymayor2026
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Username: Motorcitymayor2026

Post Number: 1214
Registered: 10-2005
Posted From: 35.11.212.197
Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 12:53 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

i just wish that Comerica Park would have adopted some of the key features of tiger Stadium (ie the right field porch, the dimensions, the flag in play (which was also in play at comerica until the bullpen change), or even bringing back the old scoreboards somewhere...just something! there is no resemblance or tribute to the Corner at the Copa.
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Detroitstar
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Username: Detroitstar

Post Number: 151
Registered: 01-2006
Posted From: 67.185.177.235
Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 12:56 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Motorcitymayor, they brought over the shitty baseball that had been at Tiger Stadium for years. We're just now seeing a better product.
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Motorcitymayor2026
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Username: Motorcitymayor2026

Post Number: 1215
Registered: 10-2005
Posted From: 35.11.212.197
Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 12:57 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Haha. thats true...

The only neat thing was when after the final game at Tiger Stadium, Ernie Harwell delivered home plate to what was the beginning of Comerica Park...
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Detroitstar
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Username: Detroitstar

Post Number: 152
Registered: 01-2006
Posted From: 67.185.177.235
Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 12:59 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I believe the Tigers gave that home plate to Ernie as a gift, after he broadcast his final tigers game.

It was a fiting tribute.
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Tayshaun22
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Username: Tayshaun22

Post Number: 304
Registered: 02-2005
Posted From: 69.14.101.116
Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 1:08 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Tiger Stadium. The right field porch seats were the best in baseball.
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Motorcitymayor2026
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Username: Motorcitymayor2026

Post Number: 1216
Registered: 10-2005
Posted From: 35.11.212.197
Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 1:11 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

yep, they did
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Jerome81
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Username: Jerome81

Post Number: 1086
Registered: 11-2003
Posted From: 64.142.86.133
Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 1:18 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I am saddened that I never made it to a game at Tiger stadium. My old man was, and still is, not much of a baseball guy. For all those years we lived in Michigan and all those summers we would go visit family in Detroit, we never went to a game. I feel like I missed an opportunity I will never get the chance to have. Quite sad.

With that said, I really really love games at Comerica. I think the location is great, and (hopefully) as the city grows it will become a more intimate location. Similar to what has happened in San Francisco. I remember years ago going to a game and nothing but fields between the train station and the park. Now, there are high rises all over the neighborhood. Hope to see it in Detroit.

I do love AT&T park in SF, but for some reason it just feels more like real baseball in Comerica. It is much bigger, for sure. But you can almost always count on a warm day or night, you in your shorts, enjoying the game. In SF, you oftentimes need to wear a coat while the fog rolls over the awnings. Not much that I would expect for baseball. Parks are a wash. The China Basin is cool, the bay view is cool. However, I think I prefer the beautiful skyline shot you get in Detroit. Either ballpark is certainly better than Safeco Field in Seattle. Again, nice park, but just doesn't quite feel "right" inside.

With that said, and I haven't been to a ton of ballparks in my life, I still much prefer a day game at Wrigley over anything else. The classic views on Waveland and Sheffield. The rooftop bleachers. The ivy. No jumbotron. Manual signage. It is one of those places where you go because you love baseball and you love the Cubs. No fancy club levels. Just you and baseball. And the tie to history is huge. There is something magical about going where generations have gone. Where my dad went when he was in college. All the players. Combine it all and it is one of my favorite ways to spend a day.

And so when I think about how I feel about Wrigley, I often wonder if thats what we're missing from Tiger Stadium. Just baseball. Where for 100 years, all those greats came to play. Where great grandfather took grandfather, took dad and took me (should have ;)). That place where you can go that time stands still. The one place where no matter what changes outside, you still get that wonderful feeling inside.

So there is good and bad. But what we gave up cannot be brought to Comerica. Nostalgia is a big part of baseball, and in my eye, it was a shame to just walk away from that.

Boston baseball, Cubs baseball, and Yankee baseball wouldn't be nearly the same without Fenway, Wrigley, or Yankee Stadium. It was a shame when they tore down Comiskey too.

That is my one big regret from childhood. To have never seen baseball at the corner. At least I could have kept the memory alive once Tiger stadium is long gone.
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Larry
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Username: Larry

Post Number: 131
Registered: 08-2004
Posted From: 209.100.226.49
Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 1:30 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Every new ballpark in the majors is built on the premise that higher is better, it's NOT ! I'm sure have some good seats in every single park in the majors, but everything nowdays is in that horrible wedding cake design where you need to bring binoculars if your even in the front row of the upper deck. Miller Park, Yuck ! Milwaukee County was way better. Cellular One, even the name sucks like the park. The old Comiskey Park blew it away. And Chase Field in Arizona. What a monstrosity. There's nothing left to equal Wrigley or Fenway.
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Lmichigan
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Username: Lmichigan

Post Number: 4298
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 67.177.81.18
Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 1:33 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

BTW, for as much as I dislike the function of Comerica Park as opposed to Tiger Stadium, what I must give CoPa is that of the cookie-cutter stadiums, it's still one of the more interesting (if even if that's not saying alot). At least it feels like it "fits" into downtown Detroit, architecture-wise.

(Message edited by lmichigan on August 30, 2006)
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Oldredfordette
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Username: Oldredfordette

Post Number: 373
Registered: 02-2004
Posted From: 68.60.181.41
Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 3:16 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Tiger Stadium. It had the gravitas you can't buy.

I do like going to Corporate Amerika Park, especially since there is no choice. One thing I really hate though, is the way the announcers never ever shut up, they cheerlead through the whole game and tell you when to cheer and to clap and what to chant and when to get up. It's like watching a game on a friggin ocean liner or kindergarten or something. Can't we just watch the game?

My husband just told me that's what it's like at Pistons games. Giving me another reason to never attend a Pistons game.
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Hamtramck_steve
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Username: Hamtramck_steve

Post Number: 3223
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 68.73.201.226
Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 6:39 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Tiger Stadium by a long shot. It was the better place to watch a baseball game, which is the whole point. My favorites were the upper deck reserved along 3rd base, hanging over the field.
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Iheartthed
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Username: Iheartthed

Post Number: 172
Registered: 04-2006
Posted From: 64.131.176.232
Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 8:11 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I went to a game at Yankee Stadium a month ago. It kinda reminded me of Tiger Stadium, except there was a lot more light inside.

Comerica Park gives you a better view from the cheap seats. I don't think I'll ever be nostalgic about it.
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Czar
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Username: Czar

Post Number: 3228
Registered: 11-2003
Posted From: 129.137.205.2
Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 8:19 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Tiger Stadium. If they would have done a better job with Comerica, I wouldn't have minded, but it just seems like an oversized minor league park to me, no character.
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Detroitstar
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Username: Detroitstar

Post Number: 153
Registered: 01-2006
Posted From: 35.8.144.6
Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 8:25 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I'm betting that in 60 years, when we're talking about replacing Comerica Park, people are going to throw fits, and want to keep it around.

As our memories of CoPa are built, we will garner the same love for it as we did The Corner. Our children, who did not know Tiger Stadium will remember Comerica Park as the place they cherished as a young kid at his/her first ballgame.
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1953
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Username: 1953

Post Number: 957
Registered: 12-2004
Posted From: 209.104.146.146
Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 8:52 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Detroitstar....could that be because history and nostalgia add something to places? Could it be that local leaders devalue cultural attachments to places? Yeah, it it could be.

My two cents: Tiger Stadium is the best. Nothing wrong with CoPa, but how do you recreate the Tiger Stadium experience? Baseball is all about being a little boy, pulling back the curtain, and walking into the cavernous stadium, which is entirely enclosed and surrounded by seats. The same stadium where legends played.
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Titancub
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Username: Titancub

Post Number: 7
Registered: 08-2006
Posted From: 69.134.218.45
Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 9:01 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Tiger Stadium/Navin Field - where Ty Cobb called home for many years.

Comerica Park - where Bobby Higginson called home for many years.

Advantage, Tiger Stadium.
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Futurecity
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Username: Futurecity

Post Number: 335
Registered: 05-2005
Posted From: 70.227.217.28
Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 9:09 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I feel like I'm a million miles away from the action when I'm at Comerica.

For watching the the game - Tiger Stadium all the way.
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Lmichigan
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Username: Lmichigan

Post Number: 4302
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 67.177.81.18
Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 9:18 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Detroitstar, I guess my perspective as not much of a baseball fan that had only visisted Tiger Stadium once or twice doesn't count? I have little to no nostalgic/sentimental connection to Tiger Stadium, and I think for watching a baseball game it is far and above the better of the two. Comerica Park, by me, will not be missed when it goes, and seeing how "throw-away" or society is today, I give it 20 more years. lol We don't build much of anything to last for too long, anymore. We build nearly transient/temporary things to be replaced, altogether. Comerica really isn't much different than a paper plate or styrofoam cup, in that regard. :-)

i.e.

1. Busch Memorial Stadium, St. Louis: 1966 - 2005 (39-year lifespan).

2. Tiger Stadium, Detroit: 1912 - 2006 (87-year lifespan, and 104 years if you count site).

Can Comerica be expanded, significantly, BTW?
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Focusonthed
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Username: Focusonthed

Post Number: 455
Registered: 02-2006
Posted From: 71.194.88.24
Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 11:02 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I would bet it could be expanded...who's to say we can't build an upper deck in the outfield (minus the immediate vicinity of the fountain).

Although it wouldn't match the rest of the stadium because they couldn't set it back as far, at least not without closing Adams St. Maybe they could keep Adams running under the upper OF bleachers and give Comerica a bit of uniqueness.
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Kilgore_south
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Username: Kilgore_south

Post Number: 151
Registered: 05-2005
Posted From: 24.176.20.117
Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 11:44 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Focusonthed - I've often wondered about expanding the place too. I thought I was the only one! I know all the new ballparks are smaller than the old ones, but when they're having good times like now I bet they wish they had an extra 4000-5000 seats out there. I love the idea of building them out over Adams too. It would really be something to gawk at when you're walking through GCP.

Back to topic - I dearly love Tiger Stadium, grew up there, the whole thing. Miss it a ton. But it's gone, and you could do a lot worse then CoPa. I think it's definitely top-5 of the newer parks. Like some have said above - once the Tigers create some real baseball history in there it will be beloved by me and whole new generations of Tiger fans.

Let's count our blessings - look where the White Sox play. 'Nuff said.
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Urban_shocker
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Username: Urban_shocker

Post Number: 273
Registered: 12-2003
Posted From: 67.38.29.74
Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 11:48 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Tiger Stadium existed to host baseball games. Corporateamerica Park exists to make rich people more money. I'd like to buy into the idea that we'll someday all be nostalgic for CoPa, but if the above is true... why?
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Kilgore_south
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Username: Kilgore_south

Post Number: 154
Registered: 05-2005
Posted From: 24.176.20.117
Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 11:59 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)


quote:

to make rich people more money.



Welcome to America 2006...

That's just the way baseball is now. It disgusts me too but as an obsessive baseball fan I choose to live with it.
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Jerome81
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Username: Jerome81

Post Number: 1090
Registered: 11-2003
Posted From: 64.142.86.133
Posted on Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 12:08 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

you don't think old baseball existed to make money? puhlease.....
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Irish_mafia
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Username: Irish_mafia

Post Number: 623
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 69.216.143.252
Posted on Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 6:23 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

No comparison. Tiger Stadium was great and classical. Comerica is esthetically, a joke.

Comerica is all we have though and, more so than other cities, is part of the impetus for rebirth in downtown.

That said, some things could be done to make the place more attractive:
1) With the exception of the Tiger statue out front, take all those stupid Tiger Heads off the side of the building to clean it up and make it look more like a ballpark. Right now it looks like a bad carnival building.
2) Renegotiate the advertising contracts within the park so that there is a cleaner less cluttered look. Right now, if you are looking for the scoreboard, you have to sift through a mess of advertising that is just plain ugly(compare this to other ballparks around the country).
3) Finish the job of cleaning up the wall that was put into to shorten the outfield so that it has a finished look of some sort.

For anyone who has been to both PNC Park and Comerica, its amazing that the same architect was used for both...PNC came later and he apparently learned his lesson.

If we could come closer to that look, we would be closer to the kind of classical ballpark that we could be proud of.
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Kilgore_south
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Username: Kilgore_south

Post Number: 155
Registered: 05-2005
Posted From: 24.176.20.117
Posted on Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 10:03 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Hallowed Ebbets field in Brooklyn - is this an ugly mess of advertising?

Ebbets Field
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Irish_mafia
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Username: Irish_mafia

Post Number: 625
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 69.216.143.252
Posted on Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 1:37 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

yes!
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Messykitty
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Username: Messykitty

Post Number: 125
Registered: 03-2006
Posted From: 24.21.198.33
Posted on Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 2:08 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

What does Tiger Stadium get if it wins? Oh, wait. I already know.
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Ndavies
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Username: Ndavies

Post Number: 2140
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 129.9.163.234
Posted on Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 2:11 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

KaBoom

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