Tigers

Today I visited the Detroit Tigers' new digs for the first time. Okay, I guess the digs aren't so new anymore, but they're still new to me. Comerica Park is a veritable orgy of corporate logos. Cool off under the General Motors misters. Have a beverage on the Pepsi Porch. Little Caesars everywhere you look, of course, thanks to the synergy of the various Mike Ilitch (owner of the ubiquitous pizza chain, as well as the Tigers and Red Wings) holdings. No independent vendors out in the parking lot. No tailgating allowed. The latter, of course, perhaps having to do with Ilitch's hope that all will sate their pre-game appetites across Woodward at Hockeytown, his glossy sports and memorabilia bar.

Comerica Park is the antithesis of the old Tigers Stadium. No fancy suites. Park for a few bucks down Michigan Avenue. Get a cheap bag of peanuts outside of the stadium's gate. Afterword drink at the Gaelic League down the road. Opening days 1994 and 1995 I skipped out of classes to attend the games. Opening days attracted a notoriously rowdy crowd and I remember a guy tossing a toaster onto the outfield from the bleachers. Tiger Stadium, unused since 1999. Just tonight, Detroit's mayor announced he'll roll out a plan for the old stadium. Maybe the 'Little Caesars Pizza Pizza' Museum of Ancient Rome?

Enjoy the holiday snaps from this afternoon
at Comerica.