"How many times have you seen a fan napping in the middle of a game? Hell, in baseball people nap all the time. Only one word explains why baseball hasn't changed: stupidity! The owners don't want to rock the boat."
--Charlie Finley, Oakland A's owner
Stadiums
Comerica Park
By Wikipedia
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 new home of the Detroit Lions and near the Joe Louis Arena, home of
the Detroit Red Wings. The park is also featured briefly in the movie Driven.
Left
Field - 345 ft
Left-Center - 370 ft
Center Field - 420 ft
Right-Center - 365 ft
Right Field - 330 ft
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 new stadium is part of a downtown
revitalization plan for the city of Detroit.
In December 1998, Comerica Bank agreed to pay $66 million over 30 years
for the naming rights for the new ballpark.
Prior to the 2005 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.
Fly
to the Comerica Park!
If you have Google
Earth installed, click here
to be "flown" to the site of Comerica Park. (If you do not
have it installed, get
it from Google. It allows you to view virtually anywhere on
Earth in 3D using satellite imagery.)
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 earning won the game's MVP
award.
The following Sunday, Comerica Park was the scene of a serious on-field
disturbance at a baseball game. The Tigers lost to the Kansas City Royals
that day.
Criticism
While many feel that Comerica Park is a fine place to watch a baseball
game, many other Tiger fans have been critical of the new stadium. It is
worth noting that most of the criticism comes from being the successor to Tiger
Stadium, one of the most hallowed grounds in the history of Major
League Baseball. While Comerica Park has no obstructed views of the field,
the tradeoff for this is that upper-deck seats are considerably further
from the action than they were at Tiger Stadium. Comerica Park has also
been criticized for facing south (which can cause the setting sun to blind
spectators during evening games) and for having a shallow incline to its
standards (which can make it difficult for shorter spectators to see over
the person seated in front of them). Some also dislike other aspects of
the stadium, including having a ferris wheel and carousel within the
ballpark, feeling that it detracts from the sporting atmosphere.
Comerica Park!
Detroit's Comerica
Park as seen by Aaron Barth on June 11,
2004.
Primary
research by Jim Herdman & David Vincent
Courtesy of Retrosheet.
Still others believe the resemblance to Baltimore's Camden
Yards is a bit too uncanny.
Finally, many in the baseball community have complained that the park's
playing dimensions are too large and make it overly difficult to hit home
runs in. To remedy this, the park's left-center fence was moved in from an
original distance of 395 feet to 370 feet. Even after this, Comerica's
dimensions remain some of the largest in all of Major League Baseball, and
some argue that further reductions in fence distance are needed.
On the plus side, the positioning of the stands allowed a clear view of
Wyland's Whales mural on the side of the downtown building called
Broderick Tower.
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Stadiums
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