#10- After ”busting some caps” at a local firing range, Brett Myers has more fun than expected helping the Phanatic shop for dresses at the King of Prussia Mall.

9. Willy Aybar is embarrassed by a cheering mob of folks watching him check into his hotel room — the first significant event to occur in Delaware since it ratified the U.S. Constitution in 1787.

8. A standoff occurs in the Phillies clubhouse when four guys called Chase, Clay, Chad and Cole can’t agree on whose first name is preppiest.

7. U.S. history buff/treasure-seeker Akinori Iwamura and his seafaring crew fruitlessly dragged the Delaware River looking for crap artifacts that Washington “must have dropped” while crossing upstream at Trenton, N.J.

6. In a remarkable display of drive-thru ordering skill, supposed Subway pitchman Ryan Howard hit 46 of the 47 Taco Bells within 18 miles of Citizens Bank Park during the Jason Bartlett taco giveaway.

5. Sen. John McCain prompted a 900-point spike in the Dow on talk that his economic advisers can balance the U.S. budget, but sent it crashing back down when he revealed that the formula relies heavily on Joe Maddon’s damn 9=8 equation.

4. Jamie Moyer captured the imagination of younger Phillies for hours with fireside tales of how he first cracked the Liberty Bell with an errant slider intended for Ben Franklin.

3. In a mild upset, the Rays clubhouse came up with more dirty phrases for what “J.P.” Howell could stand for than it can for “B.J.” Upton.

2. Pedro Feliz already teased about being the guy in the ’08 Phillies lineup who nobody can remember when fans try to rattle if off. 

1. Thankfully, Jonny Gomes never ran out of ideas, or supplies, for drinking games.

Anyway, the White Sox take on the Tigers at 2:05pm EST to decide if the White Sox will win the division.  If so, they would host the Twins on Tuesday at US Cellular Field for a 1-game Playoff to decide who wins the AL Central.  GO TIGERS!

In other news, Tigers Manager Jim Leyland announced that pitching coach Chuck Hernandez and bullpen coach Jeff Jones would not be retained next season as coaches.  In my opinion (being a loyal Tigers fan), I’m glad to see Hernandez get let go because the pitching absolutely sucked this season.  However, alot of the blame has to go to the pitching staff, especially the bullpen, since they didn’t get the job done.  Leyland did say that Jeff Jones would be offered another position in the organization.

Anyhow, the playoffs are here!  Playoff Schedules are posted below:

ALDS:
Boston Red Sox vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
BOS: John Lester
LAA: John Lackey

Minnesota Twins/Chicago White Sox vs. Tampa Bay Rays
MIN/CWS: TBD
TB: James Shields

NLDS:
Milwaukee Brewers vs. Philadelphia Phillies
MIL: TBD
PHI: Cole Hamels

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Chicago Cubs
LAD: Derek Lowe
CHC: Ryan Dempster

TOR def. TB
LAA def. CWS
CLE def. KC
DET def. MIN
BOS def. TEX
NYY def. SEA

STL def. FLA
HOU def. COL
CIN def. CHC
WASH def. ATL
SD def. MIL
PHI def. NYM
NYM def. PHI
SF def. PIT

Oakland vs. Baltimore Game 1- POSTPONED
Oakland def. Baltimore Game 2
Toronto def. Tampa Bay
Chicago White Sox def. LA Angels
Kansas City def. Cleveland
NY Yankees def. Seattle
Texas def. Boston
Detroit def. Minnesota

National League:

LA Dodgers def. Arizona
Philadelphia vs. NY Mets POSTPONED
Milwaukee def. San Diego
Washington def. Atlanta
Chicago Cubs def. Cincinnati
St. Louis def. Florida
Houston def. Colorado
San Francisco def. Pittsburgh

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!

Oakland vs. Baltimore
Tampa Bay vs. Toronto
Boston vs. Texas
Cleveland vs. Kansas City
Detroit vs. Minnesota
Los Angeles Angels vs. Chicago White Sox
NY Yankees vs. Seattle

National League:
Chicago Cubs vs. Cincinnati
Philadelphia vs. NY Mets
Washington vs. Atlanta
San Diego vs. Milwaukee
Florida vs. St. Louis
Houston vs. Colorado
Arizona vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
Pittsburgh vs. San Francisco