Ford Field, the indoor stadium where the Detroit Lions play, is right next to Comerica Park. This is the approach from the Ford Field garage, which is between the two, as you can see in the top photo. If you don’t park there you’ll wind up parking three blocks away in an open dirt lot where a demolished building once was. The garage is much safer and not that expensive.
Note the big tiger and bat statues at the entrance.
A statue of Ernie Harwell, legendary Tigers radio play-by-play announcer, graces the concourse just inside.
Tigers’ Den chairs. Padded, and about 50% bigger than Fenway box seats…with three times the leg room. Plus a side table and waitress service. Seats are priced halfway between Fenway Grandstand and Box seats ($60).
Gary Sheffield at bat.
The Pepsi Porch is high above the right field bleachers.
Marlon Byrd, who played briefly for the Red Sox in 2012, at bat for Texas.
First game: September 3, 2002. I went to Detroit for a music test sort. It was a sort for Magic 106.7 in Boston, but our consultant was from Detroit and the company also had a Magic 105.1 in Detroit. I decided that rather than having our consultant fly in to Boston for the sort, I’d fly out there. Perfect excuse to go see Comerica Park without paying for the trip.
I went with consultant Gary Berkowitz, his wife BJ and son Corey and the tickets were from the station so I didn’t pay for anything. Gary thought he could get me in to the broadcast booth to meet legendary Tigers play-by-play announcer Ernie Harwell (see photo above) but that didn’t work out.
We saw the Tigers and Indians. Sat in the upper deck right behind home plate. Excellent view. Downtown Detroit looks great from that vantage point. In the backdrop is the Ren Cen and the Fox Theatre marquee. The skyline makes downtown Detroit look much better than it is. Old Tiger Stadium was only about a mile away. Comerica is a great park with many nice touches. They actually have a kids amusement park (ferris wheel and all). The Tiger roars every time Detroit scores a run. Ford Field, the new stadium for the Lions is right next door.
In 2002 the Tigers lost 106 games and finished in last place, 39 games out. That’s why there were only 11,000 fans that night, so we moved down to box seats on the 3rd base side between home plate and the dugout. The Tigers won, 4-0. A hometown September callup named Andy Van Hekken threw a complete game shutout for his first win. But he never made it back to the majors. Former and future Red Sox player Ellis Burks, future Sox players Josh Bard (the guy who couldn’t catch Tim Wakefield) and John McDonald played for Cleveland and Carlos Pena played for Detroit i the game.
Second game: June 25, 2007. I was back in Detroit, working with Magic 105.1. This time it was me consulting them. Went to a Tigers-Rangers game. The Magic seats were gone, but I went to the box office and they offered me a seat in the Tiger’s Den. Tiger’s Den seats are ridiculously comfortable compared to normal ballpark seats. Wide, wooden seats with arm rests and padded seat cushions. Waitress service as well, and a separate side table to put your stuff on. Texas beat Detroit 8-3. Jeremy Bonderman took the loss. Future Red Sox 1b Sean Casey played for the Tigers.
When the World Series was played in Detroit in 2012 the network put up fake fronts on some buildings nearby so that the neighborhood would look less ratty on TV.
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