Loooonnngggg Goooonnnnnne?

The latest scuttlebutt** emanating from the sanctum sanctorum of Mayor Kilpatrick's office is that Tiger Stadium (shown here in its former incarnation as Briggs Stadium) is even more decidedly on the endangered species' list.  While most would like to preserve it, few have any ideas as to how to do so.  It's existence, therefore, appears to be in imminent peril. The photo on this postcard represents the city when it was clicking on all cylinders. This is the Way We Were.

**a drinking fountain on a ship; hence, the source of rumors


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Just in case you give a Hoot's...

After Tiger Stadium shut its doors and the team moved on over to Woodward Avenue, the writing was on the wall for neighborhood bars like Hoot Robinson's on Trumbull.  A popular pre-and post-game gathering spot for generations of Tiger fans, Hoot's is now long gone, though the building, in remarkably good shape, still stands.


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Former Administrative Office entrance, Detroit Tigers, Inc., 2121 Trumbull Ave.  (Note Hoot Robinson's Bar -- and photographer -- in reflection)


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The old ticket office, Tiger Stadium, Michigan & Trumbull


Get yer red hots!

photo by WOM

Tiger Stadium remains standing, but like another Detroit monument, the nearby Michigan Central Railroad Terminal, it's just a shell waiting for the wrecking ball.  This shot, from the mid-70s, gives you a pretty good idea of what a buck could buy you at the concession stand back then...a red hot for 60 cents?  Hell, give me two!  WOM 


 

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When Jason and I came upon Tiger Stadium a few weeks ago (April 2006) after lunch in Corktown, I spontaneously decided to pull over for a few minutes and snap some shots of the Old Ballpark, as it lives out its final days on the corner of Michigan and Trumbull.  Among the photos I took was the above shot of the Tigers' historical marker, and as it turns out, my timing was pretty good...It was stolen last week, right off the stadium wall, bolts and all!  Having personally dealt with one of these cast-iron montrosites up at the depot in Wolverine, I can tell you that it must have taken a crew of at least four well-conditioned thieves to pry that sucker off and then heft it into the bed of their truck, probably in the dead of night.  Crazy bastards.  WOM (6/06)