Paul’s Stadium Tour- Comerica Park, Detroit MI

Well, I am officially starting the Stadium Tour.  It would be impossible for me to tour (in person) every stadium in the country, since there is only 22 games left this season (and 32 ballparks to see).  The first stadium is the beautiful Comerica Park in Detroit, MI, home to the Detroit Tigers.

Comerica Park opened on April 11,2000 against the Seattle Mariners.  On the mound for the Tigers was Brian Moehler (now with the Houston Astros), who pitched in the final game at old Tiger Stadium.  The owner of the team is Mike Illitch, who also owns the Detroit Red Wings and Little Caesar’s Pizza, but the owner of the stadium itself is the Detroit-Way County Stadium Authority. It cost $300 million to construct, of which 62% was financed by Mr. Illitch himself.

Fan-Friendly Features:

There is a Tiger Statue that is 15 feet tall outside the Main Entrance, along with eight other Tiger statues that are scattered throughout the ballpark, including the two “light-up” Tigers on top of the scoreboard in left field.

There is also the Retired Numbers area on the left-center field concourse, with statues of greats Al Kaline, Charlie Gehringer, Hal Newhouser, Ty Cobb (who doesn’t have a number), Willie Horton, and Hank Greenberg.  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, the team’s long-time radio announcer. Harwell has a statue just inside the stadium on the first base side.

In the northeastern corner of the stadium behind the stands from the third base line is a Ferris wheel with twelve cars designed like baseballs.

In the northwestern corner of the stadium behind the stands from the first base line is a carousel.

The flagpole located between center and left fields was originally in play, as was the flag pole in Tiger Stadium. However, the left field wall was moved in front of the pole before the 2003 season. A ball that hits the pole is now ruled a home run.

The first thing you notice when you look out towards the playing field is the huge scoreboard in left field. At ten stories and 147 feet high by 202 feet wide, it is the largest in baseball. The idea was borrowed from Cleveland’s Jacobs Field JumboTron, which was the biggest until Detroit copied the feature and made theirs slightly bigger.

Ballpark Attractions (taken from Tigers website):

Big Cat Food Court
Comerica Carousel
Tiger Retail
Tiger Den Lounge
Beer Hall
Brushfire Grill
Fly Ball Ferris Wheel

Ticket Prices: (as of 2008 Season)

Look for a post later with more pictures of this beautiful ballpark!