Rebuilding Rob

This is a review that is 24 years in the making. because today, after attending 89 baseball games there, I have finally decided to review Comerica Park.

Comerica Park in the heart of downtown Detroit on what is the city’s most famous street, Woodward Avenue. Fun fact: Woodward Avenue was actually the first paved road in the United States. However, the decision to leave Tiger Stadium, the Tigers beloved home for over a century, was not a popular one.

I, for one, love Tiger Stadium. It will always hold a special place in my heart. Another true story: for several years, I actually had a recurring dream where the Tigers would play one regular season game each year at old Tiger Stadium; unlike the way the Birmingham barons do at historic Rickwood Field. But for all of its intimacy, and its unique quirks, it certainly had its drawbacks. By 1999, building was showing its age.

My family had a partial season-ticket package for Comerica Park from 2000 until 2015. I was fortunate to several key games in the park history, including the very first game, the 2005 All-Star game, game one of the 2006 World Series.

The park has changed considerably in its 24 year history. The massive left field scoreboard has been updated twice since opening in 2000. A few different seats have been added over the years. Outfield fences have been moved twice and the pitchers bullpens were moved from the original position behind the right field fenced behind the updated left field fence.

FIRST IMPRESSION: The first thing that won discovers when they approach Comerica Park from the exterior, is that the team makes it very clear that this is the home of the Tigers. Several massive tiger sculptures flank the main entrance that faces Woodward Avenue. As you can see, the tiger statue on the ground is a popular photo spot.

One thing about Comerica Park that I will always love over Tiger Stadium is this panoramic view of Detroit skyline. I’ve been at several games and heard newcomers to both the park in the city asking incredulously “THIS is Detroit?” It’s Detroit his garner a reputation is being a very dilapidated, very violent city over the last several decades. But downtown Detroit has changed drastically, even since Comerica Park open 24 years ago.

THE FOOD: i’m not really a “Ballpark foodie“. In fact, my typical ballpark fare consists of sodas, beer, water, pretzels, and hotdogs. But not all at once. However, if you’ve never been to Detroit, you must try a Coney dog. “Coneys” our hotdogs that include chili sauce and onions. They are a staple in the city. Since there are “Coney Island“ restaurants all over the city, as well as in the suburbs, it’s something of an on-running. joke that people will compare their favorite Coney Island restaurants to one another.

Besides the skyline, I think my single favorite feature of Comerica Park are the six stainless steel statues of Tiger legends located on the outfield concourse.

The seating: perhaps the greatest change between Tiger Stadium, and Comerica Park is the seating configuration. Classic ballparks such as tiger Stadium used a “patio style” configuration for the upper and lower decks. This month that while upper deck seating was located directly above the lower deck, support columns for the upper deck, seating run directly through the lower deck, resulting in many obstructed view seats.

When the tigers were planning out the design for Comerica Park, one thing the fan said was that they did not want anymore obstructed seating. With that being said, the tigers adopted more modern “Kent lever” style of seating in which the upper deck seats are built directly off the back of the lower decks. This puts the upper deck seating further back in modern stadiums than it was in classic ballpark such as tiger Stadium. Compounded by that fact, luxury boxes are typically situated underneath the upper deck seating which means upper deck seats are even further up.

I would say that the distance for the upper deck seating at Comerica Park is probably the stadium’s biggest drawback, this configuration is no worse than what I found at Cincinnati’s great American ballpark or Atlanta’ ‘s Truist park.

To this point, I feel like the tigers have done a good job fulfilling on all the nooks and crannies of the park. There were several big open area areas built in the stadium, original design that has been transformed into social areas, as that is now all the rage in current ballpark design. This isn’t to say anything about the Ferris wheel and Tiger-themed merry-go-round also located on the lower deck concourse.

Final analysis: I am a homer, so I’m never going to be very unbiased in my views of Comerica Park. That being said, it is probably my second favorite current major league state that I have seen, behind Pittsburgh’s PNC Park.

As I mentioned before, many people who are visiting the city for the first time finally it exceeds their expectations. To that end, Comerica Park does the same. Most people assessed America as being “middle of the pack “among MLB stadiums. That is, until they actually visit Comerica Park.

Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. Be sure to like, comment and subscribe to my blog below. It’s greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to follow me on social media as well! Check out my most recent posts as well as some earlier, related posts:

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• Teacher Armor and the Saturday Clearing
• The Extra Day: A Ten-Year Memory
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• Charity Starts at Home (And I’m Back in My Childhood One)

The article “Rob Reviews: Comerica Park – Detroit, MI” first appeared on Rebuilding Rob.