I've been putting off going to Comerica Park for years now. I figured I wouldn't like it.
I was right.
Some background: I was a die hard baseball fan from the age of about eight to about 38. But the dilution of talent caused by bilious expansion and the musical chairs caused by free agency (sorry Curt Flood, but it's a bummer) made me eventually drift away from the sport.
The sorry sellout of Tiger Stadium by an assemblage of rich guys just confirmed what I already knew ... baseball was about bucks. Not that it wasn't always. It's just that the scales fell from my eyes.
Back to Comerica Park ...
My office held a a "team builder" and took us all to the stadium. It was nice to sit in the sunshine and watch the current (very good) edition of the Tigers go through their paces. Kenny Rogers had his second start back from a long injury layoff and looked sharp.
It was my first visit to the new park and allowed me to either confirm or deny my suspicions about it. The news is not good. Former Tigers General Manager/President Jim Campbell must be rotating in his grave at about 300 RPMs these days. Jim's idea of "entertainment" at Tiger Stadium was to play a baseball game. Oh, and occasionally have somebody plunk on a Hammond organ.
But the new stadium is not aimed at baseball fans, it's aimed at consumers. Every square inch of the park is plastered with advertising, mostly digital and constantly changing. I was exhorted to buy a car, eat a pizza, get insured, slurp a soft drink, take a vacation and improve my lawn. I knew that somewhere in this commercial bazaar a baseball game was going on, but it was sometimes hard to pick it out of the static and din.
The cheap bleachers at Tiger Stadium, which introduced so many generations of kids to the big league game, have been replaced by luxury boxes, restaurants and clubs, and pavilions where people wander around checking each other out.
I was right.
Some background: I was a die hard baseball fan from the age of about eight to about 38. But the dilution of talent caused by bilious expansion and the musical chairs caused by free agency (sorry Curt Flood, but it's a bummer) made me eventually drift away from the sport.
The sorry sellout of Tiger Stadium by an assemblage of rich guys just confirmed what I already knew ... baseball was about bucks. Not that it wasn't always. It's just that the scales fell from my eyes.
Back to Comerica Park ...
My office held a a "team builder" and took us all to the stadium. It was nice to sit in the sunshine and watch the current (very good) edition of the Tigers go through their paces. Kenny Rogers had his second start back from a long injury layoff and looked sharp.
It was my first visit to the new park and allowed me to either confirm or deny my suspicions about it. The news is not good. Former Tigers General Manager/President Jim Campbell must be rotating in his grave at about 300 RPMs these days. Jim's idea of "entertainment" at Tiger Stadium was to play a baseball game. Oh, and occasionally have somebody plunk on a Hammond organ.
But the new stadium is not aimed at baseball fans, it's aimed at consumers. Every square inch of the park is plastered with advertising, mostly digital and constantly changing. I was exhorted to buy a car, eat a pizza, get insured, slurp a soft drink, take a vacation and improve my lawn. I knew that somewhere in this commercial bazaar a baseball game was going on, but it was sometimes hard to pick it out of the static and din.
The cheap bleachers at Tiger Stadium, which introduced so many generations of kids to the big league game, have been replaced by luxury boxes, restaurants and clubs, and pavilions where people wander around checking each other out.
I also felt like I had wandered into a Konrad Lorenz or B.F. Skinner experiment. There were huge signs telling me when to "MAKE SOME NOISE!!!," etc. And people did. When instructed.
A couple miles away Tiger Stadium is a rusting hulk waiting for the wrecking ball. What a shame.
