This is Part 1 of a six-part series looking back at the arenas and stadiums that housed some of Detroit’s greatest teams over the past century. Come back to freep.com/sports every day this week for more historic Detroit sports site memories.
Kids in Detroit today can play ball on the same historic grass as Ty Cobb and Charlie Gehringer. The field just looks a little different.
Tiger Stadium was the home of the Detroit Tigers for 87 years, beginning in 1912. Located on the corner of Michigan and Trumbull in Corktown, the stadium was the home of the Tigers and, from 1928-39 and 1941-74, the Detroit Lions.
The Tigers actually played on the site for 104 years when you include the original structure on the site: Bennett Park, which opened in 1895. But the main stadium, known as Navin Field, Briggs Stadium and finally Tiger Stadium, was constructed in 1912 by then-Tigers owner Frank Navin. Around 23,000 seats were originally constructed, and the stadium expanded to more than 52,000 by the end of the 1930s. Bennett was different from Navin in that Navin moved home plate to what was formerly left field, and fans generally entered the stadium to a view of right field rather than the traditional view of home that greeted them at many other stadiums.
The stadium’s defining feature was the double-decker bleachers, a wall of fans that gave it a unique feel. One quirk of the stadium was the flagpole located in center field. Not in the stands beyond center field, but in play in the middle of deep center. The pole was meant to be moved to Comerica Park when that park opened for the 2000 season – the new park also had the pole in play in its early years – but that was never completed, with the pole at The Corner
Over the years, Tiger Stadium featured Lou Gehrig’s last game, Babe Ruth hitting one of the longest home runs in MLB history, and the only mid-game death of an NFL player, when Lions wide receiver Chuck Hughes died of a heart attack on October 24, 1971, in a game against the Chicago Bears. The stadium also played host to multiple MLB All-Star Games, Notre Dame’s first night football game and a 1939 world heavyweight title defense from Joe Louis.
But it was always known for baseball. While there, the Tigers won all four of their World Series titles and appeared in nine in total. Two of the title-clinching wins came at home: in 1935 on what was then Navin Field and in 1984 in Tiger Stadium. It was their home for over a century and remains the site of the team’s greatest victories today.
The Tigers sold the stadium to the city of Detroit in 1977 and the city then leased it back to them. The stadium was repainted and given new plastic seats in Tigers orange, replacing the green that had long decorated the stadium.
Ultimately, Tiger Stadium simply grew too old to be serviceable. When it closed in 1999, it was tied with Fenway Park as the oldest MLB stadium; they both opened on April 20,1912. The Tigers moved to the new Comerica Park in 2000 and Tiger Stadium sat vacant for years, decaying until it was razed by the city in 2008, despite the objections of traditionalists.
Unlike many of the other old sports sites around Detroit, Tiger Stadium managed to retain its original purpose even after its major occupant left. The lot was sold to Larson Realty Group for $33 million in 2014, but from its demolition until the purchase, a volunteer group maintained the field and pickup baseball was played there. Though apartments and retail spaces were constructed on part of the lot, the Detroit Police Athletic League (PAL) moved into another part with the promise to reopen the field for various levels of youth and semi-pro baseball.
The field reopened on March 24, 2018, now known as The Corner Ballpark, with a youth ballgame. One resident remarked that it was exactly as he remembered Tiger Stadium – right down to the flagpole.
Contact Matthew Auchincloss at mauchincloss@freepress.com.
The series
Come back all week for our series on Detroit’s fallen stadiums:
July 21: Tiger Stadium.
July 22: The Palace of Auburn Hills.
July 23: Cobo Arena.
July 24: Joe Louis Arena.
July 25: Pontiac Silverdome.
July 26: Olympia Stadium.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit’s fallen stadiums: What happened to Tiger Stadium?
