A 45 minute video about Tiger Stadium, home of the Detroit Tigers. A rich history of sports at The Corner: Michigan and Trumbull. Hosted by Detroit sportscaster Ray Lane.
I met your Dad around 2005. I was standing outside Spartan stadium trying to buy a ticket to the msu/u of m football game. Ray came right up to me as I was holding up my hand with 1 finger in the air. He sold me an extra ticket he had for face value. So I sat next to him at the game and we had some great conversation. Quite the gentleman.
I've seen the '68 Tigers at Tiger Stadium, watched the '71 All Star Game from left field, and even saw Joe Namath play the Lions at Tiger Stadium on Thanksgiving Day in 1972. I've met Al Kaline (true class act), still know the '68 line-up by heart, and can even imitate the hitting stances of many of the '68 hitters. And anyone who saw him pitch will never forget Denny McLain's big leg kick in his wind up. Such wonderful memories. I can also remember going to Tiger Stadium after the '68 riots, seeing the burned out buildings for a long time thereafter.
Was 10 years old in 1968 best summer a kid could ever had growing up as a Tigers fan after they tore it down I went to the ball field and got a bag of dirt from the pitcher's mound
Tiger Stadium was a gem! Also it was very unique in a great way. I remember the first time I went to a tiger's game on my 10th birthday in August of 81, and I'll never forget walking in the stadium and being in the concourse and I went through the portal to the seating area and looking at the field live for the first time was breathtaking and instantly got goosebumps! Also the Tigers beat the KC Royals 4 to 3 on a walk off hit in the bottom of the 10th. Since then I have gone to hundreds of games and have been fortunate to follow them on the road sometimes, but it all started that summer night in 81, when my uncle took me to my first game, and from that day on as a kid, whenever my uncle would get tickets for him and my 2 cousins he would always get me a ticket too, and my uncle was my hero as a kid and was so blessed to have him as a father figure, and I have my love of baseball and all sports because of him and at 86 I can say he is still my hero now!
@@jameskennedy1295 that is awesome. I was the same way after that first game I was hooked, and been to many games since. Hopefully one day I will be going to a Lions home playoff game but for now it's just a fantasy lol
God, I miss that old ballpark. Went to my 1st game there in 1973. Detroit was hosting the Baltimore Orioles. Had a seat in the 2nd row, kitty-corner to 1st base side, just behind the catcher. Duke Sims was catching, as Bill Freeman had the day off. Sims saw me & approached me. He stood there for a moment aping & mimicking my every move. He then protruded a couple of his right fingers through the protective mesh fence & let me shake his fingers with my right hand. I was 8 years old & so bashful that I didn't say a word. Duke did all the talking with his kind gestures. A moment I'll never forget. Mickey Stanley hit a homerun, that to my 8 year old eyes, appeared to be launched deep into outer space, before finally descending into the outfield seats. Boog Powell & Frank Howard both looked like gargantuans battling for the role of the Jolly Green Giant in Green Giant television commercials. The Tigers went on to defeat the Orioles 4 to 1. I received a Tiger Pennant from the souvenir stand that I still have to this day. Only went to one ball game at Comerica Park. Back on 2009 vs. Mike Scioscis's CA Angels. Didn't like the cookie cutter ballpark at all. Had a horrible seat in the upper deck in foul territory near the left field foul pole. It was hot & miserable. Could hardly see a thing! Will never go back! All the $ spent on Comerica, could have been used to completely update & refurbish Tiger Stadium, while maintaining its original charm & general features. No, they had to be like everyone else & build that damn ballpark. Most of the major league baseball stadiums from my childhood have been imploded & gone forever. All for the same reasons, power, politics, & greed. It's just sad!!! God, I miss that old ballpark.
Thanks to this championship they won in 1984, I fell in love with this team and baseball, I was only 9 years old, today I am 48 and the Detroit Tigers are still my team, I miss the beautiful stadium, I will never forget it, greetings to all fans from Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, Mexico, Aurelio Rodríguez, Aurelio López & Karim Garcia, played for Tigers.
It was sad to see Tiger Stadium and other old stadiums disappear over the years. My dad loved the Tigers during the 1930's when they had Hank Greenberg, Mickey Cochrane and Schoolboy Roe. Great baseball history at Tiger Stadium!
I wish you could have experienced it as well. It did have many flaws in terms of obstructed view seating and a few other things. But once you knew where to sit it was a great ballpark. Comerica park is a joke.
I did. I was young. It was hot. Very hot.did I mention the heat lol. Me and my dad were the only ones in the bleachers, I remember walking through the stadium. In those corridors , I smelled a mixture of popcorn and something else that started with P. 😂. No idea who won.or who they played
I was at a sold out tiger stadium man was that sweet. I remember walking up on the corner for the first time seeing all the people hanging out the apartment windows. The peanuts it is a great memory. I miss that place a lot.
Thanks for posting this, it brought back some nice childhood memories. Ray Lane's passion while recreating those old calls was really touching. That 1984 year and team was the pinnacle of my baseball fandom. After that World Series a different guy wearing a #23 jersey was my sports hero for many years. Good stuff, thanks again.
12:58 When Al describes first seeing the playing field at Tiger Stadium (Briggs Stadium at the time), it’s exactly how I felt upon seeing it as a kid. To this day I’m still disappointed they replaced it with Comerica Park. There was no better place to watch a game.
They could have easily renovated this place. They've done it at Fenway and they are doing it at Wrigley. Now during day games we are stuck boiling in that cavernous frying pan downtown. I've yet to go to a day game at Comerica where I wasn't praying for a cloudy day, because they have almost ZERO shelter for the fans and even on a day where the temperature is in the 60s, 3 hours in the sun is brutal.
Oh yeah. I have been to both and Tiger Stadium, hands down, beats Comerica Park. I didn't care too much for the Silverdome, and never been to Ford Field. There was nothing like when the Lions played at Tiger Stadium.
Back. When tiger stadium from 1975 to 1995 they had players play there careers there tramell ,whitaker , parrish , rozema, petry ,moriss. I grew up to stadium players great time for baseball
Baseball at "The Corner",Watched it" like the house by the side of the road".I go to that time our TV playing as the pitcher was down on his knee doing something with dirt on the pitching mound,that our own local phenom will blossom forever remembered over the entire baseball world as "The Bird ".Thank you Tiger Stadium to all your other name's ,when Grandpa remembered a game he watched "dem bums" play in that era as Briggs Stadium.
Hearing Ernie's voice always brings back memories of being at my Grandmother's house in Southwest Detroit in the hot summers. I could hear his voice coming from the radio in the kitchen at the back of the house. My Grandma was hard of hearing, so the radio was always louder than normal and it would echo throughout the house and the backyard.
My 1st game is to this day, the longest home game in Tiger's history...a Sunday in June, 1962 against the Yankees:) It went 22 innings. I can still see the flight of the go ahead homer off Phil Regan...and the Tiger's lost 9-7.....so many memories there:))
Detroit fire fighters used to get into right field in Tiger Stadium with a guest for free. My dad took me to some great ganes in the early 90s. What a different time.
Thanks to the late Tom DeLisle who wrote and produced this! I don't know why he didn't put his name in the credits but that was kind of his way. He never would look at any video of the old girl being torn down either. It really hurt him as it did me. Miss you Tom.
Brooks lumber,hoots, the press box, those ramps up to the second level, and the bleachers and my fellow bleacher creature's,beach balls,skipping hi school to catch a mataney,passing the ticket collectors a five spot to let you in,ray,Paul, George an erinie,even Detroit's finest were in on the party, great times bless you boys
Your so right Greg those bleachers at the corner were something special and no matter what the score was, it was always a party in the bleachers! Lol I remember quite a few times that attendence would be like 20,000 and just a little under half the ppl were in the bleachers and the rest of the stadium looked so empty just a bunch of open blue and orange seats a full upper deck bleachers! The good ole days my friend.
@@lionsfan7500 and before that the green wooden seats the fans would slam down echoing threw out the stadium, and the wave going in to different directions on both levels,hope they don't ever tear down Fenway or Wrigley park, America needs its roots not the millionaires crybaby's of today's owners and players
@@gregthanks4757 Well said, I just have to wonder if they could have kept Tiger Stadium at the corner and still play! Back in the late 80's and part of the 90's I used to anyone that would listen that they should have done a complete remodel of the stadium and upgrade everything that had to be, while still keeping the charm the grand ole lady had, and even if they had to take one season off at the corner and play only one year in the silverdome for renovations I think it would have been worth it. Greg it was nice hearing back from you my friend and always a pleasure to talk Tiger's baseball.
Back in the day, the Detroit Fire Department and Detroit Police Department held their Fireman's and Police Field Day at Tiger Stadium. Everyone who bought a ticket to a feld day was eligible to win a number of prizes and trips. At one Detroit Fireman's Field Day event, I won a trip to Las Vegas. I had to walk unto the pitcher's mound to have my winning ticket verified. Here, I am surrounded by a stadium full of people standing on the historic baseball pitcher's mound of Tiger Stadium. What a thrill to experience being on the field, being on the pitcher's mound. Really miss the Grand Old Lady of baseball. Hate Mike and Marion Illitch for tearing down this historic site. With their pizza millions, they could have expanded and modernized such a great baseball museum. A real field of dreams. Gone are the peanut salesmen on the corners around the streets. Gone are the hotdog carts on the streets. Gone are the fond memories of standing outside Tiger Stadium and hearing the crack of the bat, hearing the crowd inside cheer and yell. Baseball in Detroit will never come close to being exciting. With Pizza Pizza man, it's all corporate. Squeezing every Canadian penny and Mexican Peso out of everybody walking near Comerica. Multi Millionaire Family robbing more money out of baseball fan's. Pretty soon, Chris Illitch will charge people to use the restroom during the games, and charge for using napkins to wipe ketchup off your shirt when eating 5 dollar hot dogs 🌭. And pizza grease from your 12 dollar sliver of cardboard tasting pizza.
I love Ray’s story about the 1953 Detroit Lions NFL championship team because yeah the Detroit Lions suck and we have not heard from them since they have NEVER been to a Super Bowl and probably was the worst football teams in NFL history, it’s definitely sad to see old Tiger Stadium be torn down, so many memories there. I wished they could’ve kept that ball park because obviously the Boston Red Sox kept up on Fenway Park in Boston with the green monster and the Chicago Cubs still have Wrigley Field, and they have done a lot of remodeling of the ballpark and it still looks very nice. I just wished that the Tigers could’ve kept the ball park because Fenway Park is 110 years old from 1912 and that was the year that Tiger Stadium was built, and Wrigley Fields was built in 1916. It would have been nice to have three classic ball parks, still in existence but not the case.
At 43:08. Kirk Gibson’s Home Run, almost identical to the hit as a Dodger during the 1988 win in the World Series with the Oakland A’s. Minus the arm pump on the base pads.
Lifelong Tiger fan from a thousand miles away. Made it to glorious Tiger Stadium 3-4 times. Later traveled from afar to visit Comerica. It is indeed a frying pan. You’re far from the action, and a nice sunny 80 degree day felt like 120.
Damn we got 2 relive 68 and 84 cause after Leyland didn't get it done whith outstanding players,we are in longest stretch in tiger history, without world series win,and now they are retiring Leyland no,other than ty Cobb who didn't have no Jim will be first retired number, without a series championship, nice record Jim 1 win 8 loses,sure had team ready 2 go ,I think it's a joke
@@tennforever my late father told me (probably sometime when I was a teen back in the late '90s) - my future children will probably never see them win a super bowl.
Man look at that cramped little dugout compared to the spacious roomy one they have now. Lol Tiger stadium was very cool but I hear everything was in such a crumbling state like the pluming and infrastructure it was about to be condemned as unsafe. major structural damage. But it had it's time Comerica is a beautiful park though I still call it Tiger stadium, I refuse to give a bank any props for our Baseball team. Phooey.
The ownership let the ballpark go down deliberately, as Illitch wanted a new palace for his players. The demo company said the old park was Over Built. But, it's gone now. The new park has all the personality of melting vanilla ice cream.
Well, that may be true, I was so dead set against a new ballpark that I even said I won't go to any other park but Tiger stadium I was downright mad about it. But I have a friend who got some inside information back around the time Billy Crystal made that movie 61. Our whole Detroit MSBL league showed up at Wayne State U. for auditions for extras and he was pretty smart instead of going there and trying to be a player he went in his umpires outfit. Crystal noticed him and wanted to see his best ump style in an argument. Well, Hammer(his last name probably made up no idea that's just what we have always called him ) had 20 years experience umping games, so Billy took the role of a player pissed about a call and Hammer was good enough for Crystal to hire him on the spot. Said he was impressed Talk about lucky, he spent a few weeks inside Tiger stadium and was able to talk to many of the people still there running it.In the movie, 61 Tiger stadium, that was already abandoned was painted up to look like Yankee stadium .The real one must have been unavailable or something. Anyway, the word he got was that it was in horrible disrepair and had serious structural damage. Also, some investor tried to lease it and was turned down by the city of Detroit. I guess he wanted to use it for everything from concerts to renting it out for Baseball games. There was one year our league got to play there for a weekend in 2000' I think it was, it cost 400 bucks a man unfortunately, I was unavailable for some reason but I would have paid it ,I have always regretted not going. There was no next year! They were charging 30 grand for one weekend to rent it.then it went bye bye that fast. The diamond is still there but nobody cuts the grass. Sad really. They could have done something with it, but they were so against anything it makes me think there was some skullduggery going on somewhere. Probably kickbacks or who knows. Somebody at the top was getting some payola from somewhere most likely. But, that said 2 things hit me right away when I first entered The new Tiger stadium. There isn't a bad view in the house and the sun shines on at least 3/4 of the fans. Old Tiger stadium was often cold and cavernous and a good view was not always to be had.Most fans were not in the sunshine. I eventually converted. Plus it is a beautiful ballpark. Sorry so long PS , Hammer had a speaking part in the movie he got to toss Mantle or Maris forget now. But, get this he was paid 50 grand and 5,000 a day when on shoot. He shot for 5 days! So, what did he do? He got himself an agent of course at the suggestion of Crystal. is now living in Fla and got to be in a movie with Segal. Just bit parts but it pays very well. If you look on the credits if you ever watch it look for his name on as the umpire. it will just say, "Hammer" I think. Lucky dog. Never knew his first or real name, cuz I never asked but he's called Hollywood now! true story. Did i take the long way or what? Lol sorry
Nope nope and...nope. Tiger Stadium required lots of maintenance, sure, but so has Fenway, Wrigley....and they're in great shape because their ownership didn't neglect them in a cynical bid to force a new stadium on a desperately bankrupt city. Mike Ilitch did a lot for Detroit--but he cheated that city, and the baseball world, by strong-arming the Tigers out of Tiger Stadium. Comerica is a characterless desert compared to Tiger Stadium. The first row of Comerica's upper decks are farther from the field than were the BACK row of Tiger Stadium's upper deck. It's a glare of concrete compared to how great the old ballpark's deckings' shadows made the Tiger Stadium field. For every bad seat created by T.S.'s posts there were thousands of great seats created by those posts allowing the decks to be stacked right atop the field. It's all memory now, but we shouldn't dishonor the truth. Junking Tiger Stadium was a sin.
The park was crumbling two decades even before Mike Ilitch owned the team. I covered the Tigers for the Ypsilanti Press in the mid-1970s and Jim Campbell (the GM) took some of us on a tour of the underbelly of the park. The cracks in the concrete were obvious and dangerous.
I agree as much a I love Tiger Stadium for the memories it held, there is no comparison for beauty and also convenience of watching. There doesn't seem to be a bad seat in the house. Even in Centerfield, the view is great. I also like how they made it pitchers park instead of a short little poke fir an HR . You have to really get ahold of one to hit it out of that park.
I like Comerica in general, but the upper deck is way too far from the field. Even sitting in the first few rows (the club seats), the sightline is meh. Tiger Stadium was far more intimate. It felt like you were right on top of the action.
Tiger Stadium is much better stadium than Com-Park growing up as a child my first game at Tiger Stadium (1986) my last game was in 1999 I’ve always enjoyed sitting in the bleachers I’ve met lots of awesome people
I miss you dad....
Your Dad did a great job, grew up watching him.
Ray lane your dad : ❤️ ray lane on channel 2 & 50 news
I met your Dad around 2005. I was standing outside Spartan stadium trying to buy a ticket to the msu/u of m football game. Ray came right up to me as I was holding up my hand with 1 finger in the air. He sold me an extra ticket he had for face value. So I sat next to him at the game and we had some great conversation. Quite the gentleman.
I've seen the '68 Tigers at Tiger Stadium, watched the '71 All Star Game from left field, and even saw Joe Namath play the Lions at Tiger Stadium on Thanksgiving Day in 1972. I've met Al Kaline (true class act), still know the '68 line-up by heart, and can even imitate the hitting stances of many of the '68 hitters. And anyone who saw him pitch will never forget Denny McLain's big leg kick in his wind up. Such wonderful memories. I can also remember going to Tiger Stadium after the '68 riots, seeing the burned out buildings for a long time thereafter.
Was 10 years old in 1968 best summer a kid could ever had growing up as a Tigers fan after they tore it down I went to the ball field and got a bag of dirt from the pitcher's mound
Tiger Stadium was a gem! Also it was very unique in a great way. I remember the first time I went to a tiger's game on my 10th birthday in August of 81, and I'll never forget walking in the stadium and being in the concourse and I went through the portal to the seating area and looking at the field live for the first time was breathtaking and instantly got goosebumps! Also the Tigers beat the KC Royals 4 to 3 on a walk off hit in the bottom of the 10th. Since then I have gone to hundreds of games and have been fortunate to follow them on the road sometimes, but it all started that summer night in 81, when my uncle took me to my first game, and from that day on as a kid, whenever my uncle would get tickets for him and my 2 cousins he would always get me a ticket too, and my uncle was my hero as a kid and was so blessed to have him as a father figure, and I have my love of baseball and all sports because of him and at 86 I can say he is still my hero now!
My first game ever was also September 1981, the greatest experience I've ever had and I've been to so many games.
@@jameskennedy1295 that is awesome. I was the same way after that first game I was hooked, and been to many games since. Hopefully one day I will be going to a Lions home playoff game but for now it's just a fantasy lol
1970 for me. Washington Senators. Everything so green and beautiful. Tiger uniforms crisp white against the sun. Loved it!
Tiger syadium ; & great homerun stadium ; great hangout outside tiger stadium restaurants & bars
God, I miss that old ballpark. Went to my 1st game there in 1973. Detroit was hosting the Baltimore Orioles. Had a seat in the 2nd row, kitty-corner to 1st base side, just behind the catcher. Duke Sims was catching, as Bill Freeman had the day off. Sims saw me & approached me. He stood there for a moment aping & mimicking my every move. He then protruded a couple of his right fingers through the protective mesh fence & let me shake his fingers with my right hand. I was 8 years old & so bashful that I didn't say a word. Duke did all the talking with his kind gestures. A moment I'll never forget.
Mickey Stanley hit a homerun, that to my 8 year old eyes, appeared to be launched deep into outer space, before finally descending into the outfield seats. Boog Powell & Frank Howard both looked like gargantuans battling for the role of the Jolly Green Giant in Green Giant television commercials.
The Tigers went on to defeat the Orioles 4 to 1. I received a Tiger Pennant from the souvenir stand that I still have to this day.
Only went to one ball game at Comerica Park. Back on 2009 vs. Mike Scioscis's CA Angels. Didn't like the cookie cutter ballpark at all. Had a horrible seat in the upper deck in foul territory near the left field foul pole. It was hot & miserable. Could hardly see a thing! Will never go back!
All the $ spent on Comerica, could have been used to completely update & refurbish Tiger Stadium, while maintaining its original charm & general features. No, they had to be like everyone else & build that damn ballpark.
Most of the major league baseball stadiums from my childhood have been imploded & gone forever. All for the same reasons, power, politics, & greed. It's just sad!!! God, I miss that old ballpark.
Thanks to this championship they won in 1984, I fell in love with this team and baseball, I was only 9 years old, today I am 48 and the Detroit Tigers are still my team, I miss the beautiful stadium, I will never forget it, greetings to all fans from Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, Mexico, Aurelio Rodríguez, Aurelio López & Karim Garcia, played for Tigers.
RIP Al Kaline!!
Tiger Stadium was a sports cathedral all on its own.
Kaline 6 days out of High School started his career. Great story.
Al kaline start out of high school like bob feller
It was sad to see Tiger Stadium and other old stadiums disappear over the years. My dad loved the Tigers during the 1930's when they had Hank Greenberg, Mickey Cochrane and Schoolboy Roe. Great baseball history at Tiger Stadium!
Never got to go to Old Tiger Stadium and I really wish I had. Glad someone uploaded this video
I wish you could have experienced it as well. It did have many flaws in terms of obstructed view seating and a few other things. But once you knew where to sit it was a great ballpark. Comerica park is a joke.
I did. I was young. It was hot. Very hot.did I mention the heat lol. Me and my dad were the only ones in the bleachers, I remember walking through the stadium. In those corridors , I smelled a mixture of popcorn and something else that started with P. 😂. No idea who won.or who they played
I was at a sold out tiger stadium man was that sweet. I remember walking up on the corner for the first time seeing all the people hanging out the apartment windows. The peanuts it is a great memory. I miss that place a lot.
Thanks for posting this, it brought back some nice childhood memories. Ray Lane's passion while recreating those old calls was really touching.
That 1984 year and team was the pinnacle of my baseball fandom. After that World Series a different guy wearing a #23 jersey was my sports hero for many years. Good stuff, thanks again.
12:58 When Al describes first seeing the playing field at Tiger Stadium (Briggs Stadium at the time), it’s exactly how I felt upon seeing it as a kid. To this day I’m still disappointed they replaced it with Comerica Park. There was no better place to watch a game.
They could have easily renovated this place. They've done it at Fenway and they are doing it at Wrigley. Now during day games we are stuck boiling in that cavernous frying pan downtown. I've yet to go to a day game at Comerica where I wasn't praying for a cloudy day, because they have almost ZERO shelter for the fans and even on a day where the temperature is in the 60s, 3 hours in the sun is brutal.
Oh yeah. I have been to both and Tiger Stadium, hands down, beats Comerica Park.
I didn't care too much for the Silverdome, and never been to Ford Field. There was nothing like when the Lions played at Tiger Stadium.
Hard to believe it's been 17 years. I loved the place too.
With all those wires in the dugout looked like a fire waiting to happen
You are so right
Back. When tiger stadium from 1975 to 1995 they had players play there careers there tramell ,whitaker , parrish , rozema, petry ,moriss. I grew up to stadium players great time for baseball
I can’t believe that the city of Detroit didn’t make Tiger Stadium a landmark and keep it from being torn down
WOW!!! Thank you for this.
Thanks for posting. Spent so many days of my youth there. Miss it.
Baseball at "The Corner",Watched it" like the house by the side of the road".I go to that time our TV playing as the pitcher was down on his knee doing something with dirt on the pitching mound,that our own local phenom will blossom forever remembered over the entire baseball world as "The Bird ".Thank you Tiger Stadium to all your other name's ,when Grandpa remembered a game he watched "dem bums" play in that era as Briggs Stadium.
Hearing Ernie's voice always brings back memories of being at my Grandmother's house in Southwest Detroit in the hot summers. I could hear his voice coming from the radio in the kitchen at the back of the house. My Grandma was hard of hearing, so the radio was always louder than normal and it would echo throughout the house and the backyard.
Goose bumps!
My 1st game is to this day, the longest home game in Tiger's history...a Sunday in June, 1962 against the Yankees:) It went 22 innings. I can still see the flight of the go ahead homer off Phil Regan...and the Tiger's lost 9-7.....so many memories there:))
Great memories. Thanks for posting!
He made me smile out on that field. Playing out each memory. ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
Detroit fire fighters used to get into right field in Tiger Stadium with a guest for free. My dad took me to some great ganes in the early 90s. What a different time.
Thanks to the late Tom DeLisle who wrote and produced this! I don't know why he didn't put his name in the credits but that was kind of his way. He never would look at any video of the old girl being torn down either. It really hurt him as it did me. Miss you Tom.
Had a beer with Ray after a RedWings game in the Press room
Ty Cobb wether he was mean or hated everyone or know the numbers dont lie
Why didn't they do like they did a Fenway park and Wrigly field and renovate instead of eliminating all that history?
Years of corrupt Detroit city government and Tigers owner who wanted who wanted to move the team to downtown.
1st game was about '61 < Remember Charlie Maxwell~!
Brooks lumber,hoots, the press box, those ramps up to the second level, and the bleachers and my fellow bleacher creature's,beach balls,skipping hi school to catch a mataney,passing the ticket collectors a five spot to let you in,ray,Paul, George an erinie,even Detroit's finest were in on the party, great times bless you boys
Your so right Greg those bleachers at the corner were something special and no matter what the score was, it was always a party in the bleachers! Lol I remember quite a few times that attendence would be like 20,000 and just a little under half the ppl were in the bleachers and the rest of the stadium looked so empty just a bunch of open blue and orange seats a full upper deck bleachers! The good ole days my friend.
@@lionsfan7500 and before that the green wooden seats the fans would slam down echoing threw out the stadium, and the wave going in to different directions on both levels,hope they don't ever tear down Fenway or Wrigley park, America needs its roots not the millionaires crybaby's of today's owners and players
@@gregthanks4757 Well said, I just have to wonder if they could have kept Tiger Stadium at the corner and still play! Back in the late 80's and part of the 90's I used to anyone that would listen that they should have done a complete remodel of the stadium and upgrade everything that had to be, while still keeping the charm the grand ole lady had, and even if they had to take one season off at the corner and play only one year in the silverdome for renovations I think it would have been worth it. Greg it was nice hearing back from you my friend and always a pleasure to talk Tiger's baseball.
"skipping hi school to catch a mataney"... There's a lesson there somewhere.
@@steverhodesvideos6244 The lesson is stay in school and learn how to spell.
Back in the day, the Detroit Fire Department and Detroit Police Department held their Fireman's and Police Field Day at Tiger Stadium. Everyone who bought a ticket to a feld day was eligible to win a number of prizes and trips.
At one Detroit Fireman's Field Day event, I won a trip to Las Vegas. I had to walk unto the pitcher's mound to have my winning ticket verified. Here, I am surrounded by a stadium full of people standing on the historic baseball pitcher's mound of Tiger Stadium. What a thrill to experience being on the field, being on the pitcher's mound. Really miss the Grand Old Lady of baseball. Hate Mike and Marion Illitch for tearing down this historic site.
With their pizza millions, they could have expanded and modernized such a great baseball museum.
A real field of dreams.
Gone are the peanut salesmen on the corners around the streets. Gone are the hotdog carts on the streets. Gone are the fond memories of standing outside Tiger Stadium and hearing the crack of the bat, hearing the crowd inside cheer and yell. Baseball in Detroit will never come close to being exciting. With Pizza Pizza man, it's all corporate. Squeezing every Canadian penny and Mexican Peso out of everybody walking near Comerica. Multi Millionaire Family robbing more money out of baseball fan's. Pretty soon, Chris Illitch will charge people to use the restroom during the games, and charge for using napkins to wipe ketchup off your shirt when eating 5 dollar hot dogs 🌭. And pizza grease from your 12 dollar sliver of cardboard tasting pizza.
I love Ray’s story about the 1953 Detroit Lions NFL championship team because yeah the Detroit Lions suck and we have not heard from them since they have NEVER been to a Super Bowl and probably was the worst football teams in NFL history, it’s definitely sad to see old Tiger Stadium be torn down, so many memories there. I wished they could’ve kept that ball park because obviously the Boston Red Sox kept up on Fenway Park in Boston with the green monster and the Chicago Cubs still have Wrigley Field, and they have done a lot of remodeling of the ballpark and it still looks very nice. I just wished that the Tigers could’ve kept the ball park because Fenway Park is 110 years old from 1912 and that was the year that Tiger Stadium was built, and Wrigley Fields was built in 1916. It would have been nice to have three classic ball parks, still in existence but not the case.
It would definitely be interesting to think about Corktown today with an MLB presence.
At 43:08. Kirk Gibson’s Home Run, almost identical to the hit as a Dodger during the 1988 win in the World Series with the Oakland A’s. Minus the arm pump on the base pads.
Sorry. The Kirk Gibson Home Run at 18:55 was almost identical to the home run during the 1988 World Servies
Lifelong Tiger fan from a thousand miles away. Made it to glorious Tiger Stadium 3-4 times. Later traveled from afar to visit Comerica. It is indeed a frying pan. You’re far from the action, and a nice sunny 80 degree day felt like 120.
Watching 2018
1 thing still true today that he said at the beginning of the video. We still haven't heard from the Lions since
Lol, i wonder if he was reprimanded for saying that???
they should have one last mlb all star game at old tiger stadium
Im afraid thats impossible!!!!!!
How would that happen? The stadium was bulldozed long ago.
I Went there in -74 and I saw the Bird . It was so out of the ballpark
Bird didn't start gamn till 76 idiot
They should rebuild tiger stadium on the corner and rip down comerica park and replace it with something else.
Jim Northrup CARRIED THE 1968 TIGERS
Did the Lions use the same tunnel and locker room?
Damn we got 2 relive 68 and 84 cause after Leyland didn't get it done whith outstanding players,we are in longest stretch in tiger history, without world series win,and now they are retiring Leyland no,other than ty Cobb who didn't have no Jim will be first retired number, without a series championship, nice record Jim 1 win 8 loses,sure had team ready 2 go ,I think it's a joke
5:26 - have we heard from the Lions since
Nope
Hell, I'm 69 now. The last time they won the title, I just turned 8. Gimme a break, Lions fans don't now what it's like to have a winner.
@@tennforever my late father told me (probably sometime when I was a teen back in the late '90s) - my future children will probably never see them win a super bowl.
@@dukeviking Nope. It's all in the organization. Ours has stunk forever.
@@tennforever The Lions have ONE playoff win in the Superbowl era!!
Man look at that cramped little dugout compared to the spacious roomy one they have now. Lol Tiger stadium was very cool but I hear everything was in such a crumbling state like the pluming and infrastructure it was about to be condemned as unsafe. major structural damage. But it had it's time Comerica is a beautiful park though I still call it Tiger stadium, I refuse to give a bank any props for our Baseball team. Phooey.
The ownership let the ballpark go down deliberately, as Illitch wanted a new palace for his players. The demo company said the old park was Over Built. But, it's gone now. The new park has all the personality of melting vanilla ice cream.
Well, that may be true, I was so dead set against a new ballpark that I even said I won't go to any other park but Tiger stadium I was downright mad about it. But I have a friend who got some inside information back around the time Billy Crystal made that movie 61. Our whole Detroit MSBL league showed up at Wayne State U. for auditions for extras and he was pretty smart instead of going there and trying to be a player he went in his umpires outfit. Crystal noticed him and wanted to see his best ump style in an argument. Well, Hammer(his last name probably made up no idea that's just what we have always called him ) had 20 years experience umping games, so Billy took the role of a player pissed about a call and Hammer was good enough for Crystal to hire him on the spot. Said he was impressed
Talk about lucky, he spent a few weeks inside Tiger stadium and was able to talk to many of the people still there running it.In the movie, 61 Tiger stadium, that was already abandoned was painted up to look like Yankee stadium .The real one must have been unavailable or something. Anyway, the word he got was that it was in horrible disrepair and had serious structural damage. Also, some investor tried to lease it and was turned down by the city of Detroit.
I guess he wanted to use it for everything from concerts to renting it out for Baseball games. There was one year our league got to play there for a weekend in 2000' I think it was, it cost 400 bucks a man unfortunately, I was unavailable for some reason but I would have paid it ,I have always regretted not going. There was no next year! They were charging 30 grand for one weekend to rent it.then it went bye bye that fast. The diamond is still there but nobody cuts the grass. Sad really.
They could have done something with it, but they were so against anything it makes me think there was some skullduggery going on somewhere. Probably kickbacks or who knows. Somebody at the top was getting some payola from somewhere most likely. But, that said 2 things hit me right away when I first entered The new Tiger stadium. There isn't a bad view in the house and the sun shines on at least 3/4 of the fans. Old Tiger stadium was often cold and cavernous and a good view was not always to be had.Most fans were not in the sunshine. I eventually converted. Plus it is a beautiful ballpark. Sorry so long PS , Hammer had a speaking part in the movie he got to toss Mantle or Maris forget now. But, get this he was paid 50 grand and 5,000 a day when on shoot. He shot for 5 days! So, what did he do? He got himself an agent of course at the suggestion of Crystal. is now living in Fla and got to be in a movie with Segal. Just bit parts but it pays very well. If you look on the credits if you ever watch it look for his name on as the umpire. it will just say, "Hammer" I think. Lucky dog. Never knew his first or real name, cuz I never asked but he's called Hollywood now! true story. Did i take the long way or what? Lol sorry
Nope nope and...nope. Tiger Stadium required lots of maintenance, sure, but so has Fenway, Wrigley....and they're in great shape because their ownership didn't neglect them in a cynical bid to force a new stadium on a desperately bankrupt city. Mike Ilitch did a lot for Detroit--but he cheated that city, and the baseball world, by strong-arming the Tigers out of Tiger Stadium. Comerica is a characterless desert compared to Tiger Stadium. The first row of Comerica's upper decks are farther from the field than were the BACK row of Tiger Stadium's upper deck. It's a glare of concrete compared to how great the old ballpark's deckings' shadows made the Tiger Stadium field. For every bad seat created by T.S.'s posts there were thousands of great seats created by those posts allowing the decks to be stacked right atop the field. It's all memory now, but we shouldn't dishonor the truth. Junking Tiger Stadium was a sin.
Tiger Stadium had to go, but the new park should have been as close to Tiger Stadium as possible. 'King-sized' if you will.
The park was crumbling two decades even before Mike Ilitch owned the team. I covered the Tigers for the Ypsilanti Press in the mid-1970s and Jim Campbell (the GM) took some of us on a tour of the underbelly of the park. The cracks in the concrete were obvious and dangerous.
Al Kaline just died
Sad day I n metro detroit
tigers sold their soul for Comerica park, that's why they lost both world series
The Curse Of Tiger Stadium; I Say....
Terrible
This is Terrible he's a bad standup comic
Comerica Park is way more beautiful than tiger stadium
I agree as much a I love Tiger Stadium for the memories it held, there is no comparison for beauty and also convenience of watching. There doesn't seem to be a bad seat in the house. Even in Centerfield, the view is great. I also like how they made it pitchers park instead of a short little poke fir an HR . You have to really get ahold of one to hit it out of that park.
I like Comerica in general, but the upper deck is way too far from the field. Even sitting in the first few rows (the club seats), the sightline is meh. Tiger Stadium was far more intimate. It felt like you were right on top of the action.
Tiger Stadium is much better stadium than Com-Park growing up as a child my first game at Tiger Stadium (1986) my last game was in 1999 I’ve always enjoyed sitting in the bleachers I’ve met lots of awesome people
George Washington u must be a toronto fan
George, how many games did you see at Tiger Stadium????