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July 26, 2010
Tiger Stadium gone, but ballplayers are back
The attempt to save Tiger Stadium as an amateur baseball field may have failed, but the site of the historic ballpark is currently in use ... as an amateur baseball field:
Every Sunday, people from the city and suburbs come to chop weeds, mow the outfield lawn and pick up trash.
And play a little baseball.
This group has no formal name. They are folks from everyday walks of life who love baseball -- and Tiger Stadium.
They've made the field playable, and if the city stays out of their way, they've got goals of doing more. They want to get rid of the high weeds where the grand stands used to stand guard, and they want to bring in seating and permanent bases.
"I just think it would be nice if there were a little ballpark until a larger project comes along," said David Merser of St. Clair Shores.
Which, the way things are going, could be forever.
in the "field of dreams" world this is fun, but that's not the real world...
hope nobody sustains an injury there, there's a liability issue.
won't be surprised if those who wanted the place leveled will really crack down on this.
Since this location has been used as a baseball stadium (and public field, a looong way back) for around 100 years at least, I think this is great. Navin/Briggs, whatever you want to call it, just do it.
The city should designate this as a public sports field and allow volunteers to both use and enhance the facility (not sure about permanent stands, though... at some point Paul's point regarding liability does become a significant issue. I wish it weren't true, but it is.)
If the Yankees ever come through on their promise to renovate the old stadium site into a public field of play, this would make two "historic" locations that youth (and adults who never quite outgrew their youth...) to play "in the footsteps" of their heroes.
Posted by John Bladen on July 26, 2010 05:30 PM