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.