DETROIT - More than 50,000 people - Detroiters at heart, but they came from all over - gathered at an intersection that has become a legend to send an old friend off into time.
They came from down the street and they came from around the world. They came to see the 6,873rd and final baseball game at Tiger Stadium.
After 104 years at the corner of two streets called Michigan and Trumbull, professional baseball is gone. Next year, it moves to another corner, but that location is a mere meeting of streets.
Tiger faithful from across the country had a difficult time saying good-bye last night.
Jim Biondo stared at two large screen televisions inside the stadium from behind the surrounding gates. Biondo flew to Detroit from his new home in Los Angeles to catch the final weekend at the Corner.
Hoping to slip into the old ballpark in the eighth or ninth inning, Biondo didn't even have a ticket. So instead he watched the postgame festivities from the sidewalk along Trumbull.
Last night, past and present intersected both during the game and a 90-minute postgame ceremony that featured Tigers players from the 1938 team through this year's squad.
"They brought back names that had forgotten," Biondo said.
One by one, the members of the Tigers all-time team trotted out onto the patch of grass and soil they will forever call home. Nearly every fan stayed to stand and cheer.
"Before you stands 70 years of history, from Willie Rogell's 1930 squad, to Brad Ausmus from 1999," longtime Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell said, moments before the players clasped hands to form a living timeline from the 440-foot mark in centerfield to home plate.
After lowering a Tigers flag from the pole in centerfield, the players forming the timeline passed it along themselves until it reached current Tigers catcher Brad Ausmus.
"It's a great honor to get to present this flag to you, Brad," said Eldon Auker, who pitched for the Tigers from 1933-38. "Each of us has touched this flag today, as this ballpark has touched not only the players, but the many millions of fans to ever watch a game at Tiger Stadium."
During the game itself - a 8-2 Tigers victory - the Tigers of the present wore numbers of the Tigers voted to the all-time team.
At first base, Tony Clark wore Hank Greenberg's retired No. 5, shortstop Deivi Cruz wore the No. 3 of his hitting coach, former shortstop Alan Trammell.
In centerfield, Gabe Kapler patrolled the same turf Ty Cobb once did, his back devoid of any number as Cobb's was.
In the bottom of the eighth, Tigers designated hitter Rob Fick - recently called up from triple-A Toledo - launched a grand slam to the foot of the light tower on the right-field roof. The blast, hit by a Tiger of the future, will stand as the final hit, home run and RBI ever in Tiger Stadium.
"Do you believe in fate?" Trammell asked after the postgame ceremony, "I do."
The Detroit Police Department had 150 officers patrolling the stadium and surrounding area following the game, although fans were relatively peaceful and no rioting occurred.
"It was like a family atmosphere," said Chuck Darany, a Birmingham resident. "People were celebrating but people were respectful. It was like a funeral for the stadium."
Despite warnings that Detroit Police officers would arrest anyone removing items from the stadium, many fans couldn't resist chipping paint from the walls.
John Gruse and Andy Ryba used an adjustable wrench to take a piece of stadium history home with them.
"We worked for two innings to get the seat out," said Gruse, a Henry Ford Community College student. The pair snuck the seat out of the stadium by placing it beneath their shirts.
"I've been a Tigers fan my whole life, now I've got a piece of history," Gruse said.
Following the game, many fans removed dirt from the field, filling plastic cups and any other containers they could find.
"I'll probably save it and give it to my kids," said Livonia resident Dan Plinka who, along with Dearborn resident Matt Pimp, carried two cups of dirt from the stadium.
Michael and Cara Curry didn't just want to bring their son home a piece of history, they wanted him to experience it too.
At seven weeks old, Joseph Curry attended his first and last game at the Corner last night.
"We had been planning this since before Joseph was born," said Joseph's father, Michael Curry who purchased the tickets eight months ago. "I think he's the youngest fan here today at Tiger Stadium."
When he found out that Tiger Stadium would be closing its gates, New York resident William McPharlin said he wanted to be sure he could attend the final game.
"It was very emotional," McPharlin said, while carrying two brimming cups of dirt yesterday. "We bought season tickets just to have tickets to this game."
Two Tigers fans hefted a condiment sign from the stadium, and said they picked up the sign after it had been knocked loose from the wall.
"We have stadium seats from the '50s we got from a garage sale," said the Wayne State University student who did not want to be identified. "We'll probably put (the sign) with the seats."
Some of the stadium's youngest vendors worked the crowded streets outside the stadium after the game, selling their SportsService shirts and hats.
"It was fun and the last game was the funnest," said Troy Hardges, who was offering his hat to fans for $2.
Home plate was immediately unearthed after the game, and whisked across town to a private ceremony at the Tigers' new home, Comerica Park. The installation at the new park, televised on the Tiger Stadium scoreboard, drew boos from the fans whenever the park's corporate nickname was invoked.
Trammell sympathized with fans upset that they would never again be able to return to Tiger Stadium. But as Ausmus pointed out, still clutching the flag that had crossed the hands of 70 years of Tigers history, "the people, players and memories of Tiger Stadium will never be forgotten.
"See you next year."
- Daily Sports Writers Stephanie Offen and Jennifer Yachnin contributed to this report.
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| AP PHOTO ABOVE: Tiger fan Mark Lee holds up a sign in the center field bleachers yesterday during the final game played at Tiger Stadium.
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09-28-99
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