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Comerica Park is a baseball stadium located in downtown Detroit, Michigan. It was constructed as a replacement for the popular, but aging, Tiger Stadium for the Detroit Tigers. It is located next door to Ford Field, the home of the Detroit Lions and near Joe Louis Arena, home of the Detroit Red Wings. The park is also featured briefly in the movie Driven, as well as several rap videos.
History
Groundbreaking for a new ballpark to replace Tiger Stadium for the Detroit Tigers was held on October 29, 1997 and the new stadium was opened to the public in 2000. The first game was held on April 11. The new stadium is part of a downtown revitalization plan for the city of Detroit, which included the construction of Ford Field, adjacent to Comerica. In December 1998, Comerica Bank agreed to pay States dollar|$" target="_blank" >*66 million over 30 years for the naming rights for the new ballpark. Upon opening, there was some effort to try to find a nickname for the park, Mike Stone on WDFN tried "The Copa", but none caught on it is most commonly referred to as "Comerica", a major financial services firm in Detroit, and also name holders to Comerica Tower at Detroit Center at 500 Woodward Avenue.
One of the early complaints about the park was its expansive outfield dimensions, making the stadium a pitcher's park initially. There was some debate about moving in the left field wall. The Tigers' longtime broadcaster, Ernie Harwell, for instance, publicly supported the original dimensions. Nevertheless, the Tigers chose to bring in the left field wall, which would make the many long fly outs to left potential home runs. Thus prior to the 2005 MLB season, the bullpens were moved from right field to an empty area in left field created when the fence was moved in. In place of the old bullpens in right field, 950 seats were added for a new capacity of 40,950. Comerica Park hosted the 2005 MLB All-Star Game and its related activities. On July 11, 2005 Comerica Park hosted the Home Run Derby, in this event Bobby Abreu slammed out 24 home runs in the first round, smashing the old record of 15 (David Ortiz also surpassed the old record by hitting 17) Abreu won the Derby over Tiger Iván Rodríguez and hit a record 41 homers during the event. The following night, the park hosted the 76th MLB All-Star Game. The American League won 7-5, with Miguel Tejada winning the game's MVP award.
Comerica Park has played host to major recording acts in concert such as Eminem (2005), The Rolling Stones (2005) and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (2004). The first act to play the venue was the Dave Mathews Band in the summer of 2000. In full stage shows fans actually are seated on the infield diamond and the stage is in the outfield grass. Tiger players and former manager Alan Trammell complained about the quality of the playing outfield in 2005 after successive concerts by Eminem and The Rolling Stones; however, concerts at the venue are popular for Detroiters since Comerica is one of the only outdoor concert venues in the city of Detroit, along with Chene Park. DTE Energy Music Theatre owned by Palace Sports and Entertainment is in Clarkston, Michigan, a good hour north of Detroit.
Criticism
The venerable Tiger Stadium has been a tough act to follow, and many fans have criticized the new ballpark for a variety of reasons. Additionally, the inability to redevelop the abandoned Tiger Stadium leaves some fans with an incomplete feeling. It is not uncommon for people to long for a "throwback" game, where for one more night the Tigers would play at their old home. Complaints about Comerica include an upper deck that sits too far from the action compared with the old park, and a too-deep left field area that takes away from enjoyment of the game in this offense-oriented era. The latter was remedied somewhat by installing an inner fence in left, reducing the power alley dimension from 395 feet to 370 feet. The upper deck seating is also not covered, like Tiger Stadium, and it can make fans very cold in the early and late season, as well as sunburned in the summer. The park also faces south, which allows for a good view of such downtown sights as Wyland's "Whaling Wall" mural on the side of the nearby David Broderick Tower, but also puts the setting sun in the faces of a large percentage of the crowd.
Some of the more traditional baseball fans have criticized the amount of non-baseball attractions at the park, notably the inclusion of a Ferris Wheel. Although the Tigers did erect a "Monument Park" similar to Yankee Stadium, in the deep center field stands, complete with statues of great Tigers, like Hank Greenberg and Al Kaline.
Trivia
- Outside of the main entrance to the stadium there is a large tiger statue that is approximately fifteen feet in height. There are several other tiger statues throughout the park, including tiger heads with baseball in their mouths lining the brick walls outside of the park and two tigers prowling on top of the scoreboard in left field.
- Whenever the Tigers hit a home run, the eyes on the tiger statues on the top of the left field scoreboard light up. Audio of a tiger roaring is also played by the stadium's disc jockey when a Tiger crosses home plate.
- Also, whenever the Tigers score a run, the fountains in center field go off. The water show is also played pre-game and post-game, and can be set to music.
- At the left-center field concourse there are statues of all of the players whose numbers have been retired by the Tigers (with the exception of Jackie Robinson, whose number was retired in every MLB park in 1997). They include Al Kaline, Charlie Gehringer, Hal Newhouser, Willie Horton and Hank Greenberg. A statue of Ty Cobb is also there, but he does not have a number, as he played baseball before players began to wear numbers on their uniforms. These players names, along with the names of Hall-of-Fame players who spent a significant part of their career with the Tigers, are also on a wall in left center field, and to them is added Ernie Harwell, long time Tigers announcer and Detroit hero. Harwell has a statue just inside the stadium on the first base side.
- The ballpark is located right near several downtown churches, including St. John's Episcopal Church and Central United Methodist Church. On the roof of St. John's there is a banner that says "Pray Here For the Lions and Tigers!"
- The flagpole located at the end of the right field was transplanted from the old Tiger's Stadium.
External links
Buildings and structures in Detroit | Major League Baseball venues | Sports in Detroit | Sports venues in Michigan | MLB All-Star Game venues | 2000 establishments
"Comerica Park"