The end is near

(Photo by Rashaun Rucker of The Detroit Free Press)

Demolition has begun on Tiger Stadium. Bill McGraw of The Detroit Free Press reports:

"Amid the dust and bulldozers and roving bands of middle-aged men with cameras on the first real day of demolition at Tiger Stadium on Wednesday, it emerged that the city is planning to save three of the stadium's historic elements -- the flagpole and both foul poles."

Ernie Harwell, who is still fighting to save part of the stadium through the Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy, remembers the good times at the corner of Michigan & Trumbull.

Field of weeds

Photo courtesy of Fabrizio Costantini for The New York Times

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick may have perjured himself to hide an affair, but his biggest crime just might be what's happened to Tiger Stadium on his watch. Joe Lapointe of The New York Times reports:

"The stadium sits empty. Late last year, the city auctioned mementos like grandstand seats, a dugout urinal, Al Kaline’s locker and the fence in front of the right-center-field light tower, hit by a Reggie Jackson home run in the 1971 All-Star Game. Last month, the city tentatively awarded a partial demolition contract for the stadium, which opened in 1912 as Navin Field.

"An opposition group, the Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy, has until June 1 to raise $369,000 to try to save part of Tiger Stadium, even temporarily. The group includes Ernie Harwell, the retired Tigers radio broadcaster.

"If that goal is reached, Senator Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, said he would seek greater financing in the 2009 federal budget to preserve the oldest part of the structure around the infield and redevelop the playing field for amateur teams.

"'The field is sort of sacred ground,' Levin said in a telephone interview."