Stadium Fridays - Tiger Stadium

 Today I'm featuring a stadium I'm sad I never got to see a live game at.

It was such an institution at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull that the area was called "The Corner" 

Of course, it's Tiger Stadium

Isn't that a beautiful sight? 

An aerial view of the place. 

So baseball was played at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull from 1895 until 1999. 

Originally, a wooden park named Bennett Park was on the site until 1911, and was named for a former player, Charlie Bennett.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

In 1911, Frank Navin, owner of the Tigers, commissioned a new concrete and steel park on the site of Bennett Park and named it Navin Field. 

Navin Field opened the same day as Fenway, April 20, 1912. The field was oriented differently in this version of the stadium. The Home plate area in Navin was where Left Field was for Bennett Park. 

In 1935, following Navin's death, Walter Briggs Sr took over ownership of the team and worked on expanding the stadium for more spectators. The action taken was to expand the upper deck to the foul pole and across right field. 

In 1938, the city of Detroit agreed to move Cherry Street so the left field stands could be double-decked as well. The stadium was renamed Briggs Stadium and had a capacity of 53000 people. 

The final name change for the stadium happened in 1961, when it became Tiger Stadium

You would not believe how difficult it was to find this card!

By the 1990s, the team and the city wanted a new stadium. Plans were tried to renovate and modernize Tiger Stadium, but none were seriously considered. 

The flagpole in centre field here was supposed to go with the team to Comerica Park, but that fell through. Instead, the new park got a new pole in the spirit of the one at Tiger. 

Night ball didn't come to Tiger Stadium full time until 1948, due to Walter Briggs not liking the idea of night baseball. 

As well as baseball, Football was played at The Corner for many years. 

The Detroit Heralds of the Ohio League played from 1912-1919

The Heralds/Tigers played in the APFA from 1920-1921

The Detroit Panthers played in the NFL from 1925-1926

And the Detroit Lions played in the NFL from 1938-1939. 1941-1974, at which point they moved to the Silverdome. 

Soccer was also played here in 1967-1968.

Courtesy of Wikipedia. Navin Field was the host of a demonstration against a school amendement in 1920.

As we all know, the old Ballpark was eventually demolished. A ball diamond remains. Some redevelopment of the site has happened with residential and retail buildings around the site as well. 

Really a sad end to a great old yard.