Skip to main content

Throwback Thursday Downtown Detroit

By
Given the World Series will have concluded by the time (I'm writing this at 1:30 PM on 11/1/17) this road blog gets published I figured this one would be fitting since it involves baseball.  Originally I'm from the city of Detroit and I grew up as Tigers fan and attended countless games at Tigers Stadium.  In fact, I was at the last series at Tigers Stadium in 1999 with my Dad and Grandfather when the Tigers swept the Kansas City Royals.  Despite the Tigers completely sucking in 1999 having lost 92 games it was still an appropriate way to send out the old stadium before it was replaced by Comerica Park.  I didn't move from Michigan to Arizona until 2001 but for some reason I never found time to attend a game at Comerica Park.  By 2010 Comerica Park was already well established and I returned to the city for a family visit.  I actually stayed at the Motor City Casino which ironically had opened back in 1999.  I thought the view was pretty cool with a nice overlook of down town, the M-10/I-75 junction and even Grand River Avenue (former US 16).






I could also see something far more grim out the window as well; the Ruins of Tigers Stadium.  The old stadium had been completely razed by 2009 despite many private interests attempting to save it.  A lot of people blame the former major of Detroit Kwame Kilpatrick for Tigers Stadium falling into ruin.  Whether that is true or not I couldn't speculate on but I can understand the suspicion given Kilpatrick is now occupies a cell in El Reno, Oklahoma.  Regardless the city of Detroit had already been going through hard times and they were only going to get worse in the years following my 2010 visit.  On a brighter note I could also see Michigan Avenue (US 12) and the Ambassador Bridge south where Tigers Stadium once stood.





Comerica Park is located on M-1/Woodward Avenue (former US 10) across from the Fox Theater.  I thought the new stadium really was in the perfect spot for some awesome views of downtown.  There was some nice tributes to Tiger's players of old in the outfield with statues and plaques.  Ford Field had opened a couple years after Comerica and I still haven't attended a Lions game there to date (oddly the Lions played a lot of games in Phoenix in the 2000s).  Really though at the end of the day despite the downtown setting and cool motif near the Fox things just aren't the same.






 
Tigers Stadium was a dump but it also had charm that can't be replaced by a newer structure.  Despite some of the shitty sight lines and highly questionable neighborhood you were right on top of the game.  I've never been to another Major League Stadium anywhere else of any vintage that had you so close to the actual game.  I might swing through downtown Detroit now and then but things will never be quite the same.  The city of Detroit post bankruptcy seems to be finally trying to embrace it's history rather than rip it to the ground.  If the Packard Plant has hope to survive then Tigers Stadium certainly could have too, but that's my opinion and it is too late now. 



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What's In a Name?: When the Roads Really Do Tell a Story

By
  Our tagline on the Gribblenation blog is "because every road tells a story". Some roads tell different stories than others. Along our travels, we may see historic markers that tell us a little story about the roads we travel or the places we pass by. Some historic markers are more general, as to telling us who lived where or what old trail traversed between two towns. During my travels across New York State and other states or provinces, I pass by many historic markers, some with interesting or amusing references to roads. I wanted to highlight a few of the markers I've seen along my travels around the Empire State and help tell their stories. Those stories may be as specific as explaining the tales of a tree that was used to help measure a distance of eight miles from Bath to Avoca in Steuben County, as referenced on the Eight Mile Tree historical marker above. They may also help point the way along historical roads first used centuries ago, or may help tell a local l...
Post a Comment
Read more

2018 Mojave Road Trip Part 2; The deadly desert highway (California State Route 127 and Nevada State Route 373)

By
After leaving Barstow via Old Highway 58 my next destination was in Death Valley.  To access Death Valley from rural San Bernardino County required a trek on north on Interstate 15 to California State Route 127 which becomes Nevada State Route 373 at the state line. Along I-15 I encountered the road sign oddity that is Zzyzx Road about eight miles south of Baker.   Zzyzx Road is a four mile road that used to go to the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa.   The spa was founded in the 1940s and the owner made up the name "Zzyzx" to claim it was the last word in the English Language.  The spa has been shut down since the 1970s and is now part of a Desert Studies Center for California State University. The southern terminus of CA 127 in Baker is located at I-15 exit 246.  CA 127 is a 91 mile north/south highway which runs to the Nevada State Line in Inyo County.  CA 127 is called Death Valley Road from I-15 northward.  South of CA 127 ...
4 comments
Read more

May 2023 Ontario Trip (Part 3 of 3)

By
  Over the years, I have made plenty of trips to Ontario, crisscrossing the southern, central and eastern parts of the province. Living in Upstate New York, it's pretty easy to visit our neighbor to the north, or is that our neighbor to the west? Ottawa is one of my favorite cities to visit anywhere in the world, plus I've discovered the charm of Kingston, the waterfalls of Hamilton (which is on the same Niagara Escarpment that brings us Niagara Falls), the sheer beauty of the Bruce Peninsula, and more. But I hadn't explored much of Cottage Country. So I decided to change that, and what better time to go than over Memorial Day weekend, when the daylight is long and I have an extra day to explore. On the third and final day of my trip, I started in Huntsville and made my way through Muskoka District and Haliburton County, passing by many lakes along the way. I stopped in towns such as Dorset, Haliburton and Bancroft before making a beeline down to Belleville and then over th...
Post a Comment
Read more