By the time Detroit's Tiger Stadium bade farewell 87 years, it had witnessed 11,111 home runs, six World Series, three memorable All-Star games, NFL Championship games and championship boxing. [14], The stadium was seen in the 1980 feature film Raging Bull where it was the site of two of Jake LaMotta's championship boxing matches. There were occasional amateur games played there, a 2002 fantasy camp and occasional special segments were taped there. & quot;According to the Detroit Free Press book "The Corner", the following have hit HR's out of Tiger Stadium: Norm Cash (did it 4 times) Mickey Mantle (did it 3 times) Kirk Gibson (did it 3 times) Jason Thompson (did it twice) Mickey Tettlton (did it twice) Tony Clark . As I approached the area I quickly realized I was in more an industrial & commercial area then retail. Through 1990, only two players had cleared the roof in left. In its early years, Navin Field was a pitchers paradise. I was a little concerned it would let look as good as I hoped, but when I put it on, I loved it. The most notable one easily was a KISS concert held on June 28, 1996. New Salt Lake Bees ballpark In the early 1970s, disgusted Detroit fans began to throw snowballs at the team bench from the upper-deck seats in right field. It was the type of park that inspired such feats. It was said the lights at the ballpark were so bright that it could light up a city of 10,000 people. In the decade after the Tigers vacated the stadium, several rejected redevelopment and preservation efforts finally gave way to demolition. I found it refreshing to be served by people who truly knew everything and who came across as glad i stopped in and only care about me getting the service beyond what i deserved. There is one other football item worthy of note regarding Tiger Stadium. The latter once flipped off Sparky Anderson after hitting a home run into the right field upper deck in 1993. The crazy thing is we missed the home run for a hot pretzel. http://www.courtsidetweets.comCarl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox has a magical night at Tiger Stadium versus the Detroit Tigers by hitting three home run. Detroit reliever Terry Fox threw eight scoreless innings of relief. Recently got a blank jersey stitched at Vintage Detroit and the finished product looks awesome! /news/1567868500869-kirk-gibson-hits-home-run-clear-over-tiger-stadium-roof-video (AP Photo) AP Before Mr. October was Mr. October, he was Mr. July. On May 2, 1939, Lou Gehrigs streak of 2,130 consecutive games ended when he asked out of the Yankees lineup complaining of a headache. There was a huge outcry from traditionalists that the ballpark needed be saved as a historical monument (it had been placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989). Al Kaline.). Source: wikimedia.org. It was a relatively soft touch compared to left field, with a 325-foot (99m) foul line and with a roof that was in line with the front of the lower deck. [25] A new flagpole in the spirit of Tiger Stadium's pole was positioned in fair play at Comerica Park until the left field fence was moved in closer prior to the 2003 season. The league scheduled eight more games in the next five years. After the game, it was revealed Hughes had passed away from a heart attack. Briggs Stadium was the scene of another famous event, which was actually something that did not occur. [45], Northern Irish professional soccer club Glentoran F.C. Al Kaline used to scale the fences in right field to take away home runs, and he played that area so well that it became known as Kalines Corner.. [7][2] Cleveland Naps player "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, later banned from baseball for life following the Black Sox Scandal, scored the first run at Navin Field. In the Lions glory years of the 1950s, Detroit was considered one of the toughest venues in the league to play. Since Detroit was driving for a score late in the game, some assumed Hughes was simply trying to stop the clock. Jackson dropped his bat and watched it sail, seemingly astonished of his own power. [62], On September 27, 1999, the final Tigers game was held at Tiger Stadium; an 82 victory over the Kansas City Royals, capped by a late grand slam by Robert Fick, which hit the right field roof. Quick shipping as well. You just dont get this type of service anywhere else folks and turns out it all to be a great value as well as they search the system for every possible discount they could give me. I sat myself in the upper deck left seats and waited for the big guy to hit #50, to join George Foster, who I had cheered for since mt Dad was a Reds fan. At the time, some places in the outfield were only marked off with rope. The roof was 94 feet high and the left-field fence was 340 feet from home plate, making roof shots in that direction one of the most challenging feats in baseball during the years the Tigers called Tiger Stadium home. The final home run Fittingly, in the last game at The Corner, on September 27, 1999, it was a Tiger who launched the final homer at Tiger Stadium. Focus On Sport/Getty Images. The 1999 Tigers finished with a 69-92 record, but it felt like the stands were always full. [7][2] Taking predecessor Bennett Park into account, Tiger Stadium was the oldest Major League Baseball site in use in 1999. Purchased a New Era Gruff Michigan Syaye hat, and I absolutely love it. Chronicling the Business and Culture of Baseball Ballparks--MLB, MiLB, College, Tiger Stadium / Detroit Tigers / 1912-1999, Voting now open in 2023 Best of the Ballparks fan vote for Cactus League, Voting now open in 2023 Best of the Ballparks fans vote for Grapefruit League, MLB ramps up production team for local baseball broadcasts, Personnel news: MLB, Wisconsin Rapids, Holly Springs, Voting now open in 2023 Best of the Ballparkscollege ballparks competition, West Michigan Whitecaps food fight down to final three, Doak Field at Dail Park upgrades (NC Wolfpack), Field of Dreams ballpark (Dyersville, IA), Future Legends Sports Complex (Northern Colorado Owlz), Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers) updates, LMCU Ballpark (West Michigan Whitecaps) upgrades, Myshak Metro Ballpark (Edmonton Prospects), Bud Metheny Ballpark renovations (Old Dominion University), Innovative Field (Rochester Red Wings) upgrades. Fifty years ago Tuesday, July 13, 1971, a sellout crowd of 53,559 watched from Tiger Stadium's then-green seats and another 60-million plus watched and listened from around the world as. Negative racial/anti-Semitic, or religious stereotypes are prohibited. ),

The Tigers moved to Comerica Park in 2000 but the Corner remained standing. He did it on national television in a mid-September game against Oakland that was won with a dramatic two-run rally in the last of the ninth inning. My guess is there is a more effective way for the Athletic Department to spend 20 million dollars (or 50 million..or whatever it would cost). 59,203 fans attended the game, the largest crowd ever to see a football game at the Corner. There were over 30 home runs hit onto the right field roof over the years. [14], In 1895, Detroit Tigers owner George Vanderbeck had a new ballpark built at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull Avenues. WebFont.load({ google: { families: ["Lato:900:latin", "Lato:300:latin", "Playfair+Display:700italic:latin", "Merriweather:700:latin", "Crete+Round::latin", "PT+Sans+Narrow:700:latin"] } }); Detroit Red Wings jerseys are back in stock! The short porch in right field wasnt the only unusual feature of the park. The group reunited for their Alive/Worldwide tour. Willie Horton hit a home run at Tiger Stadium when he was 16 years old during an all-city high school game. I was there. Although that game was never televised, Tiger Stadium remained a part of the opening for the series for many years long after the Lions had moved to the Pontiac Silverdome. For the second time in five days, Detroit's Mickey Tettleton hit a home run out of Tiger Stadium. The thing is I said " no big deal" yet they would let me leave with it they got another one from their very advanced warehouse. Aaron Judge (2017) - 513 feet in Miami [71][72] It was also shown at the inaugural National Baseball Hall of Fame Film Festival in November 2006. Have we seen the last fastball from Zumaya as a Tiger? Dont forget about Frank Howard. Where is Rocky Colviato (spelling) on the list? A few players, very few, hit home runs into the bleachers in straightaway center field, an incredible 440 feet away. In Game 6, a controversial play occurred when St. Louis Joe Medwick slid hard into third base and ended up in a fight with Detroit third baseman Marv Owen. Discussion of suicide or self-harm is not tolerated and will result in an immediate ban. That stadium was called Bennett Park and featured a wooden grandstand with a wooden peaked roof in the outfield. Paul was great to work with and offered to delay shipping when I told him I would be on vacation on the original delivery date. In addition to the movie 61*, two other films Tiger Town and Hardball had scenes filmed there. Fielder didnt hit his 50th that night, but it remains one of my more memorable spontaneous moments. Progressive Field renovations Thats the longest home run Ive had hit off me, said Stewart, who had surrendered an upper-deck shot to Fielder in the first inning. August Publications was formed in 2002 with the launch of Ballpark Digest. Trammell hit 97 homers at Tiger Stadium, good for 11th all-time. [41], In the early 1970s, the city of Pontiac and its community leaders made a presentation to the Metropolitan Stadium Committee of a 155-acre (0.63km2) site on the city's eastern boundary, north of M-59 and near the intersection with Interstate 75 (I-75). Lou Gehrig said goodbye there. The Lions played football in Tiger Stadium from 1938 until the end of 1974, after which they moved into the Silverdome in Pontiac, a suburb over 30 miles away. July 11, 2018. It would be 16 innings before either team scored again. In the 17 years afterwards (before moving to Pontiac), they had few memorable days at Tiger Stadium. [67][68], In February 2006, a tent on Tiger Stadium's field played host to Anheuser-Busch's Bud Bowl 2006. But Chicago linebacker Dick Butkus, one of the toughest players to ever play the game, knew better. Some call this the longest home run ever hit. He was a regular at baseball games there for years. [7] The stadium hosted two NFL Championship Games in 1953 and 1957. She is very accommodating and made me feel at home, especially since I was unaware they don't operate a standard retail shop. [5], During the summer of 2010, a group calling itself "The Navin Field Grounds Crew" began maintaining the playing field and hosting vintage baseball, youth baseball, and softball games at the site. The Metropolitan Stadium Committee voted unanimously for the Pontiac site. Many legends hit homers at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull, from Ty Cobb to The Babe to Joe DiMaggio to Hank Aaron to Ken Griffey Jr. Navin bought up the rest of the city block of Michigan and Trumbull, stationed a flagpole inside the field of play, moved home plate in a different direction (so that the batter would not be looking into the sun) and opened for business on April 20, 1912, the same day Fenway Park in Boston debuted. (The next year, a screen was placed on top of the fence. Whitaker hit 146 homers at the old ballpark, most of them after he matured into a better power hitter in his late 20s. As you'll notice, Aaron Judge hit four 500-foot blasts. Although only three strongmen (Frank Howard, Harmon Killebrew, Cecil Fielder) hit balls that went over the roof in left field, several folks shot the ball over the right-field roof. There were moments of joy to behold down the stretch. While with the Red Sox he hit one home run to dead center at the 488 foot marker. Bennett Park was still their home field, when six years later, they joined the AL as a charter member. New St. Croix River Hounds ballpark, 2025 Ballparks [44], On October 5, 1951, the University of Notre Dame played the University of Detroit at Briggs Stadium before a capacity crowd of 52,000. Date: 1999. Have Your Own Jersey? Extremely satisfied with the wonderful personable service! I saw Cecil hit #50 at Yankee Stadium unfortunately, I misssed seeing #51 because my date was not so much of a baseball fan, early October games get cold, etc. Some opposing players seemed to shine at Tiger Stadium. wow! If in doubt, leave it out. Before leaving Oakland for St. Louis, McGwire would become the fourth and final player to homer over the left-field roof at Tiger Stadium, connecting off Brian Moehler on April 21, 1997. Among the dignitaries on hand that day: David Eisenhower (nephew of the president and the person for whom Camp David was named) and Dizzy Dean, who had been baseballs last 30-game winner. He holds the record for longest home run in Cleveland Indians history at 511 feet, which he hit against the Kansas City Royals in 1999. Please seek professional guidance. Our motto is simple: We enjoy doing cool things and are overjoyed we can make a living doing so. . The Fighting Irish won, 406. Remembering the Red Wings gritty Martin Lapointe. [93][94], In the summer of 2000, the HBO movie 61* was filmed at Tiger Stadium. This is a true story and has been recorded in a magazine of tape measure home runs. Jim Thome has to be in there for homeruns to it seemed like every time I was at a game he hit one to right field. I bet that was a great experience, seeing Killebrews home run. The city used the proceeds to defray the demolition costs. She is very accommodating and made me feel at home, especially since I was unaware they don't operate a standard retail shop. Not to be picky but Griffey didnt flip off Sparky. He installed an area in the lower deck (between first and third base) that had padded seats and added waitservice. Some of Gibson's home runs were pretty darn big (including a couple in the World Series) but one of Gibson's most memorable home runs came in June of 1983 when he hit a moon shot that cleared the roof of Tiger Stadium. I ended up buy a very nice winter Tiger jacket and as I tried it on and decided on it they noticed a very minor blemish on the back and quickly informed me I had a hard time even seeing it & probably would have never noticed it. My whole family was there. Frank Navin, who bought the team in 1908, was a man with big ideas. It was an effort by a local sports management company to bring a Frontier League franchise to Detroit. In the bottom of the 3rd inning, Jackson crushed an outside fastball that eventually rang off of a transformer at the top of the stadium. Like other home runs mentioned on this list, Thome's blast bounced through the streets after leaving the stadium by flying over the center field fence. However, in just about every case, it had been occurred due to a stadium conflict or for a special reason. Despite the fact The Corner wasnt being used much, the city of Detroit was on the hook for some $400,000 a year in maintenance. The roof was 94 feet high and the left-field fence was 340 feet from home plate, making roof shots in that direction one of the most challenging feats in baseball during the years the Tigers called Tiger Stadium home. Considered one of the longest home runs ever hit in major league history. Cecil Fielder watches his home run out of Tiger Stadium - YouTube We sat down with Cecil Fielder and had him take us through his iconic roof-clearing home run vs. the A's in 1991.. Ted Williams said Briggs Stadium had the best sight lines of any ballpark, and that was back when the interior was painted green. He only fought once at Briggs Stadium, defeating Bob Pastor on September 20, 1939. Detroit responded quickly, trailing 7-6 after just three innings. (The Cubs claimed their last World Series title there in 1908.) In 1895, Detroit Tigers owner George Vanderbeck had a new ballpark built at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull Avenues. "I was fortunate," said Bonilla, who has hit only five home runs this season but has six in 12 career games at Tiger Stadium, where he . Some managers felt a line should be drawn on the pole and that any ball hit above the line would be a home run. The old ballpark at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull in Detroits Corktown district was one of the games most unusual ballparks. [63], Tiger Stadium saw exactly 11,111 Major League home runs. A new ballpark for the Tigers was built in downtown Detroit, and the club moved to Comerica Park after the 1999 season. To fit as many seats as possible in the expansion, the second deck was extended over the fence by 10 feet (3 m). 2023 Ballparks Cash hit the ball over Tiger Stadium's right field roof four times in his career. He never played another game. The blast must have ignited Cash's non-corked bat, as he decimated American League pitching with 23 home runs and 58 RBIs in 78 games after the All-Star break. FAQ. In 1968, his last at-bat came there when he struck out in Game 5 of the World Series. Although this is hard to imagine these days, the Lions were a very strong franchise in the 1950s, playing in three NFL title games in five seasons. - LSU blasted four home runs and collected 20 hits to propel the #1 ranked Tigers to a 26-4 victory over Central Connecticut State Saturday afternoon inside . It was the last hit and the last run in the stadium. Left field settled in at 340 while right field gradually shrunk until settling in at 325. Over the years, the distances gradually shortened down the lines. . Tiger Stadium saw gigantic home runs, like the one Babe Ruth hit that witnesses swore traveled 600 feet as it soared over the right field grandstands. Many seats were replaced. [53][54][55] Ted Williams won the 1941 game with a walk-off three-run home run. Reggie Jackson became a national figure due to a famous home run in an All-Star Game. Returns & Exchanges There is no roof to extend. Thanks for reading. [26][27], When the stadium closed, it was tied with Fenway Park as the oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball, the two parks having opened on the same date in 1912. Four were over the longer left field roof, (Harmon Killebrew, Frank Howard, Cecil Fielder, Mark McGuire) and the rest were over the right field roof.) By: WBRZ Sports. [48], On July 18, 1921, Babe Ruth hit what is believed to be the longest verified home run in Major League Baseball history. Once or twice a year, an outfielder would have to go behind the pole to chase an errant hit. The right-field fence sat just 325 feet from home plate, and Jackson wasn't the only man to leave the stadium entirely.But Mr. October's blast -- off then-Pirates ace Dock Ellis, no less -- was gargantuan by any measure: According to Home Run Tracker's estimate, the ball traveled 532 feet or at least it would have, had the base of the light tower on the right-field roof not gotten in its way. This was their first stop and they sold out the place in record time. Writers described fire and smoke behind the outfield walls as a game went on. By making it possible for the upper deck to stand directly above the lower deck, the support columns allowed the average fan to sit closer to the field than at any other ballpark. Ficks homer hit the roof in right and just missed going out of the stadium. South African leader Nelson Mandela spoke before 49,000 people. [30], Due to then-owner Walter Briggs's dislike of night baseball, lights were not installed at the stadium until 1948. The ballpark was also the scene of one of the darkest days in NFL history. Harmon Killebrew hit a home run that ricocheted off the left field roof and sounded like a gun blast off his bat. 8/25/90: Cecil Fielder's home run bounces over the roof in left field at Tiger StadiumCheck out http://MLB.com/video for more!About MLB.com: About MLB.com: B. AboutPressCopyrightContact. Thank you so much, I can't wait to wear my jersey to a Wings game! The Tigers scratched out a run in the sixth to tie the game at 7. In 1977, a fire wiped out the press box. Bosman, once Howard's roommate, mentioned one blast Howard clocked off Tommy John at RFK Stadium in 1966, then another off Mickey Lolich that sailed clear out of Tiger Stadium in 1968. According to former Tiger Stadium groundskeeper Frank Feneckit, it took almost a howitzer to send a ball over the left-field grandstand at The Corner. Excited to work with Vintage Detroit on future orders. That stadium was called Bennett Park and featured a wooden grandstand with a wooden peaked roof in the outfield. As i pulled in I quickly understood this was a warehouse & office thinking this is a internet retailer. These were not temp help that knew nothing these were professionals who knew not just everything but were truly looking out for me. As the team improved, so did the capacity of the ballpark, capping out at 14,000. The overhang would occasionally turn some extremely high arced fly balls into home runs. On September 28, 1964, the league scheduled Detroit to host Green Bay on a Monday night. What do you get when you combine a block party and a baseball league? On August 16, 1927 Ruth hit his famous "roof topper" home run at Comiskey Park. [7][17] While constructed on the same site as Bennett Park, the diamond at Navin Field was rotated 90, with home plate located in what had been left field at Bennett Park. In the 1971 All-Star Game, Reggie Jackson hit a ball off a transformer in deep right-center field that left the bat so fast that all TV could catch was its return trip to earth. [59][60] This was also the first game on MLB's schedule that season, giving Evans the record for the earliest home run to start a season in terms of at bats. I was there with my dad. Enter your email address to subscribe to Ballpark Digest and receive notifications of new posts by email immediately when a new story is posted. I remember he stepped out of the box several times because someone in the bleacher seats was shinning a mirror into his eyes.He made the Tigers fans pay for that ! In fact, the Indians erected a 12-foot bronze statue in his honor in . [2][20][21][22] Ground was broken for the new Comerica Park on October 29, 1997. The Tigers will move to Comerica Park next year. Left field was 345 feet away while right field was a monstrous 370 feet down the line. Cecil was on 49, and I veered my car onto the exit to downtown Detroit and snatched up a ticket. A World Series victory in 1984 didnt seem to help. Fielder, 56, lives in Tampa, Florida, with his wife, Diana, and their son, Maksim. Tiger Stadium (formerly known as Navin Field and Briggs Stadium) was a stadium located in the Corktown neighborhood of Detroit, Michigan. They checked it over and off I went. The 1990 season was Fielders first in Detroit after wearing a Toronto uniform for four seasons and then playing in Japan. Non-Baseball Events Held at Tiger Stadium The year 1938 was significant in the ballparks history. Thank you so much, I can't wait to wear my jersey to a Wings game! I was in desperate need because of a upcoming event to make purchase I could get same day while searching for the item I quickly realized there wasn't just limited availability of the item but very limited locations in Metro Detroit i could purchase the item. I had a chance to see a few games at Fenway, and while it is great, Tiger Stadium was more historic. The Amercan League won the game 6-4, with two run homers by Jackson, Frank Robinson, and Harmon Killebrew. Lynn worked with me to swap out to something similar excellent customer service. Denny McLain achieved one of the games rarest feats at the place they called The Corner. LMCU Ballpark (West Michigan Whitecaps) upgrades Frank Osborn founded Osborn Engineering in Cleveland in 1892. There's no way to say for sure whether Reggie Jackson's homer at the 1971 All-Star Game is the longest in the history of the Midsummer Classic -- the game is over 80 years old, after all, and data is incomplete.Here's what we do know, though: 46 years to the day after Jackson's blast, it remains the only baseball in All-Star Game history to nearly turn out the lights.

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