Oh, did I mention that there were tigers throughout the park?
Or maybe on the door to the tigers den bar which leads to the park.
The Tigers, as one of the oldest franchises in baseball have much to celebrate and remember--and they do a superior job. In their memorial park, there are six larger than life statues of famous Tiger players along with a list of their accomplishments. These statues were all crafted using pictures of the actual players in action as "go-bys." These statues are real works of art.
Of course, the greatest of the great Tiger players was Ty Cobb. As one of the early innovators, he is honored in multiple places through out the park..JPG)
In a separate part of the park, the statue of Ernie Harwell, long time announce for the Tigers and member of the Baseball Hall of Fame is displayed.
As we have seen way too often this season, the bull pen for the Tigers was about AA, and their first reliever, Zumaya, opened the flood gates for the Blue Jays. The Tigers lost game 1.
Between games, we met up with Jim and Julie and ventured off to the Henry Ford Museum. If you are ever in Detroit, this is a must do. We only had about 5 hours so we only scratched the surface. There is so much here about the history of America, that it deserves a couple of days unto itself. Here you see the concrete pad laid for the official opening of the museum--signed by Thomas Edison.
There are a myriad of motor vehicles as one might expect. Some are just great cars on display while others are of historical significance. This bus happens to be the bus that Rosa Parks was riding in when she refused to give up here seat, sparking the Montgomery bus boycott.
Along side of the Rosa Parks display is a display detailing the integration of baseball. I still find it very interesting to look not at the first teams to integrate, bit at the last teams, and to see how long after the debut of Jackie Robinson this occurred. Of particular note is the last team, 12 years after Jackie Robinson.
At the Ford museum there are some great old cars that I include only because they are interesting to look at.
Additionally there is the limousine that took Harry Truman to the Presidential Inauguration following his defeat of Thomas Dewey,
The limousine that JFK was riding in when he was shot in Dallas. Note that is is now a hard top. Following the assassination, the car was significantly modified, but a new limo was not procured.
The limo off of which the bullet ricocheted and struck President Reagan. This limo was kept in service until Clinton was elected.
We returned from a great day with Jim and Julie and sallied forth to the 7:05 game. After five innings, the sky opened and everyone including the players ran for cover from the lightning. However, the grounds crew did and outstanding job and the game resumed about 20 minutes after the rain stopped.
I think that the Tigers would have preferred a rain out. They only had one hit in the first 8 innings. Finally, in the 9th, they scored three runs, but it was too little too late. For the first time since June 21st and only the second time this season, we saw the home team loose both games. In fact, we have seen the Home Team win both games once (Baltimore) and the Home Team loose both games twice (Boston and Detroit). The other sixteen sets of games have been splits.
Being the Disney fans that we are, we could not leave the stadium without a visit to Baseball Mickey who resides in the "Kid Zone." Fortunately, it was after a rain delayed game so most of the kids were gone.
There are a myriad of motor vehicles as one might expect. Some are just great cars on display while others are of historical significance. This bus happens to be the bus that Rosa Parks was riding in when she refused to give up here seat, sparking the Montgomery bus boycott.
Along side of the Rosa Parks display is a display detailing the integration of baseball. I still find it very interesting to look not at the first teams to integrate, bit at the last teams, and to see how long after the debut of Jackie Robinson this occurred. Of particular note is the last team, 12 years after Jackie Robinson.
At the Ford museum there are some great old cars that I include only because they are interesting to look at.
Additionally there is the limousine that took Harry Truman to the Presidential Inauguration following his defeat of Thomas Dewey,
The limousine that JFK was riding in when he was shot in Dallas. Note that is is now a hard top. Following the assassination, the car was significantly modified, but a new limo was not procured.
The limo off of which the bullet ricocheted and struck President Reagan. This limo was kept in service until Clinton was elected.
We returned from a great day with Jim and Julie and sallied forth to the 7:05 game. After five innings, the sky opened and everyone including the players ran for cover from the lightning. However, the grounds crew did and outstanding job and the game resumed about 20 minutes after the rain stopped.
I think that the Tigers would have preferred a rain out. They only had one hit in the first 8 innings. Finally, in the 9th, they scored three runs, but it was too little too late. For the first time since June 21st and only the second time this season, we saw the home team loose both games. In fact, we have seen the Home Team win both games once (Baltimore) and the Home Team loose both games twice (Boston and Detroit). The other sixteen sets of games have been splits.
Being the Disney fans that we are, we could not leave the stadium without a visit to Baseball Mickey who resides in the "Kid Zone." Fortunately, it was after a rain delayed game so most of the kids were gone.
As for the stadium ranking, we both agreed that Tiger Stadium belonged in the First Division with now in order is:
- Wrigley
- PNC Park
- Turner Field
- Tiger Stadium
- St. Louis
The Second Division remains unchanged.
.JPG)
