Tiger Stadium's Date With Destiny

It seems that next year will officially be Tiger Stadium's last, as a plan was approved today for the Old Lady to be razed by September 2008. Most of the playing surface will be preserved and seats and other stadium memorabilia will be sold off.

It's been completely disgusting what the city of Detroit has allowed to happen to the old ballpark over the last seven years. However, times are tough and perhaps with a different economic situation in this town, the park could have some cash put into it and be turned into a museum or something or other. It seems that instead the wrecking ball will come down on her and bring the Old Lady to the earth.

Tiger Stadium was one of the last few straight-up ballparks in the majors. It was all about baseball there- no carousel, no ferris wheel, no restaurants, no bullshit. There was a game and that was it. Fuck the skyline, there was baseball. There were bad sightlines, cramped seats, and peeling paint, but more importantly there was character. There was history. When that stadium goes down, down with it will go the memories of a city reunited in 1968 after the race riots had torn it apart a year earlier. Gone will be the magic of 1984.

Instead, all that will be left will be the reminder of what has happened to the infrastructure of our great city- it is celebrated and then forgotten and slowly decays away. I cried like a baby the last time I left that place. I wouldn't be surprised if I did the same next September.