Stadium Preview #3

Stadium: Comerica Park
Date Opened: April 11, 2000
Date of Visit: June 14th
Game: Los Angeles Dodgers @ Detroit Tigers


After spending almost 80 years in the classic Tiger Stadium, the Tigers decided to build a new state of the art stadium to please their loyal fans. They delivered, in my mind, an average stadium at best.

Comerica Park is located in the heart of Detroit, MI, Right next to Ford Field. When you first glance at a photo of the park, you think "Oh that's a pretty nice stadium," but nothing really catches your eye. That is my whole problem with this stadium, is that it is somewhat bland. The outfield dimensions are ones you could find in MLB 2K5 as the standard setting. The only thing that catches my eye at first glance is the huge scoreboard in left field,which is quite bland and really is more of an ad space than a scoreboard.

It is not all bad in Comerica Park, though. Some nice features can be seen when walking through the park. There is an area with statues of all the players who have their jerseys retired with the Tigers. Even Ty Cobb is included, even though he never wore a number for the Tigers, as is Ernie Harwell, long time announcer for Detroit. This is a nice touch to remember and honor past Tiger greats.

Originally, the flag pole in left field was in play, just as it was in old Tiger Stadium. Unfortunately, the Tigers chose to move the left field wall in (and they later added the bullpens in that empty space) and the flag pole is no longer in play. I see no reason why the Tigers did not simply move the flag pole along with the wall to keep that nostalgic element in play.

Although I said earlier that the outfield dimensions are terribly bland, they do provide a 'triple alley' in right field. If a ball gets in between the center and right fielders, a semi fast person can easily reach third base. This can provide some exciting baseball, especially in the later innings if there is a close play at third base.

When we travel to Detroit, we'll be meeting up with our aunt, uncle, and cousins, so the game should be a blast. Even if the park isn't the best ever made, baseball is still baseball, and that is the main focus of this stadium. They take away all the hoopla you see now days in stadiums around the league, which is nice, and they pay homage to past Tiger greats.

Schedule Update

Well, as we're getting closer to the summer, the schedule's firming up more. We're missing the Phillies/Boston game and spending an extra day in NYC, and we're extending the trip by a day to make a wedding in Kentucky on the way back. We're also still working on getting a couple of the tickets. Getting reasonably priced seats at Fenway has proved difficult, as they're going on eBay for about $300 for 4 seats. I keep waiting for a good deal, but sooner or later I'll just have to give in. We're also not buying the tickets to the minor league games in advance to avoid the "convenience fees" they charge for buying it online. I don't think we'll have much trouble getting good seats for a low-A game in Clinton, IA on a Thursday night...

Here's the updated schedule with purchases in bold:

6/11 - Nashville Sounds [Milwaukee AAA] at Oklahoma Redhawks [Rangers AAA]
6/12 - Texas Rangers at Kansas City Royals - Outfield Plaza next to the Rangers' bullpen
6/13 - Philadelphia Phillies at St. Louis Cardinals - LF Upper Deck
6/14 - Los Angeles Dodgers at Detroit Tigers - not sure, but my uncle got them from someone who got them from Mike Illitch (the Tigers' owner), so they're probably pretty good
6/15 - Chicago Cubs at Toronto Blue Jays - Upper Deck, 1B side
6/16 - Baseball Hall of Fame
6/17 - Houston Astros at Baltimore Orioles - Upper Deck, behind home plate
6/18 - off-day in New York City
6/19 - San Diego Padres at New York Yankees - RF Upper Deck
6/20 - St. Louis Cardinals at Boston Red Sox
6/21 - Texas Rangers at Washington Nationals - LF Outfield next to the Rangers' bullpen
6/22 - Toronto Blue Jays at Pittsburgh Pirates
6/23 - off-day in Pittsburgh
6/24 - San Francisco Giants at Cleveland Indians - OF bleachers
6/25 - Baltimore Orioles at Chicago Cubs
6/26 - Beloit Snappers [Twins low-A] at Clinton Lumberkings [Rangers low-A]
6/27 - Frisco RoughRiders [Rangers AA] at Springfield Cardinals [Cardinals AA]
6/28 - wedding in Louisville, KY
6/29 - Philadelphia Phillies at Texas Rangers - Unknown, but Jason gets free tickets from working at the ballpark

Stadium Preview #2

Stadium: New Busch Stadium
Opened: April 4, 2006
Date of Visit: June 13, 2008
Game: Philadelphia Phillies @ St. Louis Cardinals

New Busch Stadium is one of the newer and nicer stadiums in the MLB. Cardinals fans were sad to see the original Busch Stadium be demolished, but most were happier to see this state of the art stadium be built in its place.

One great thing about this stadium is that nearly every seat in foul territory has a picturesque view of the St. Louis skyline, including the famed Gateway Arch. The outside of the stadium is pretty picturesque too. It follows the sucessful mold of Oriole Park at Camden Yards and Rangers Ballpark in Arlington in that is composed of red brick and high arching doorways. Also, there looks to be a good choice of food including Hardee's, The Plaza Grill, Broadway BBQ and Ballpark Favorites.

A bad thing about this park is the lack of things to do beside the game. This may sound like a comment from a non-baseball fan, but when I am at a game, I want to be entertained. The game could be boring, so other attractions are a must.

Overall, this game should be pretty fun because it is a good matchup (Phillies vs. Cardinals) and because the park is a new one. However, there are definitely better stadiums than this one.