Tiger stadium was magical. The hot dogs were sublime. The peanut shells on the floor. I even saw a Lions game there one freezing winters day when I was a kid.
I grew up going to games at Tiger Stadium. I was 8 years old in 1968 and my Dad got us tickets to a couple of games of the World Series. Of course, all the World Series games in those days were day games so me and my brother got to get pulled out of school to go to the games which we thought was so awesome. I saw many games there through the years. Comerica Park is a really nice ballpark and I understand that the old Tiger Stadium just got to the point that to keep it in good repair would be very difficult, but man I miss that old place. I still remember the feeling after all these years of how you would enter that ballpark at street level and it was just cement and tile and metal girders and ramps to the upper deck and you would walk these hallways and climb these ramps and then cross some little catwalk toward some opening in the wall on the other side, and when you to to that opening, all of a sudden there before your eyes, all of that gray concrete and metal disappeared to the sight of the open air and the blue sky above and the greenest grass that you have ever seen in your life, the perfectly manicured infield and those white Tiger uniforms of the players contrasted against that green grass as they played catch on the sidelines or shagged fly balls in the outfield. I think in the late 60's, it was every kid's dream in that city to be a Detroit Tiger. In my 8 year old's mind, those guys down on that field...Al Kaline and Jim Northrup and Mickey Stanley and Stormin Norman Cash and Denny McLain and Bill Freehan and Willie Horton...they were the coolest guys in town and they had the coolest job that anyone could ever have. Where does the time go? Seems like yesterday...
@AjaxEddiefan Great to hear that a Toronto guy was pulling for us back in 68 here in Detroit. Thanks for that. But I am also pretty sure that if we were talking about the Red Wings it would be a different story. I never met a Maple Leaf fan who would root for the Wings under ANY circumstances! haha... Thanks for your reply. Made my day. Cheers to you my Canadian brother.
@AjaxEddiefan haha....Love it. Miggy is like a little kid trapped in a grown man's body. His interactions with the fans is legendary. If you yell at him he will just come over and shoot the breeze with you. I sure hope there is baseball this year. Stay safe my friend!
I was 8 in 68 as well. As you described, I will never forget the first time I emerged from the darkness and all that green just exploded. 1967, Earl Wilson beat the Red Sox. My old man wasn't much of a sports fan but the company he worked for had box-seats right over first base. We would sit in the front row, upper deck, right over Norm Cash. Dad knew Denny McClain and Al Kaline were my favorite players so whenever he could he would get tickets when Denny was pitching. Every kid I knew had #6 ironed onto their Tiger tee-shirt. I brought my glove every game and never sniffed a foul ball. The next day, I would be watching the game from home and see like six or seven land right where I was sitting the day before. Oh well. Best memory, Tigers against the Angels, I think it was 71, maybe 72. We were down by 8 runs in the 7th and people were heading for the exits. The guy that was with us that day asked the old man if he was ready to leave and he said no, let's let the traffic thin out a bit. We scored 10 runs that inning. Aurelio Rodriguez led off the inning with a triple and hit a three run shot his next time up that same inning. Kaline hit one that inning almost cleared the roof in left-field, furthest I'd ever seen anyone hit one. We ended up winning 13-10. I was so horse from yelling I couldn't talk for the rest of the day. How I loved that old ball park. I've been to several games at Comerica but it's just not the same. The funny thing is, they called the old ballpark a stadium and the new stadium a ballpark. They got it backwards if you ask me. $2.00 seats in the bleachers, doing the wave in 84, banging those old green seats when a rally was going on, Sunday double-headers for the price of one ticket, even those pole seats out in the left-field grandstands. There'll never be another park quite like Tiger Stadium. And that's a shame.
@@itinerantpatriot1196 Thanks for posting these memories. We were lucky to have those days as 8 year olds. Those memories will never leave me. I think that those times probably were some of the best times of our lives. I know that I appreciate it more now than I did then. You and I were lucky kids, my friend.
@@A1Adaydreaming We sure were. We went crazy watching Curt Flood misplay Jim Northrups line shot in game 7 and when Mickey kept the Cards at bay to beat the unbeatable Bob Gibson the feeling was like no other. When you're 8 you think they're going to win the Series every year. Denny ended up breaking my heart (even though he did manage to tie for the Cy Young again the next season, something that's rarely mentioned) but Al remained my hero until the day he died. Good old #6, the only player on any team I cried for when I heard he passed. Such a classy player. And what a cannon. Could he throw? No one took third on Al. And opposing players were unanimous that he never tried any cheap stuff on the field. A true gentleman. Mr. Tiger. Willie the Wonder, trying to hold our bats like McCauliffe, Jim Northrup and his propensity for hitting grand slams, and sitting on the porch with a transistor radio at night, listening to Ernie to call it all ("a young man from Kalamazoo caught that one"). Okay, I'll stop. I could go on and on about that club and the 84 team. I was fortunate enough to attend Sparky's number retirement and Jack Morris's as well. I feel so bad for kids today. Baseball was life to us growing up. You had to get to the schoolyard early in the summer to claim a diamond. If only I could have hit the curve ball. Thanks for posting and getting me thinking about the good old days. Faygo, Vernors, Better-Made, Sanders, Greenfield Village, The Chevelle and The Mustang, and of course the Tigers. The riots were bad but Detroit was a special place at that time. I just finished writing a story that takes place in that era (67-73). Seen through the eyes of a kid of course. Write what you know I'm told. Wouldn't want to re-live most of it but the parts that were good were great. Thanks again.
+num1huskerfan1 been there many times. saw a Brooklyn double header back in 56. Sitting in the Polo grounds was like taking in a museum, no modern amenities, just a primitive place to view great baseball. It's charm was it's lack of conformity, it wasn't designed, it evolved over the vastness of time, that was it's history and you were sitting in it. Uniquely special
+num1huskerfan1 Last summer, I got to go see a game at Kauffman Stadium, in Kansas City MO. Home of the Kansas City Royals. it was them vs. the Los Angeles Angels.
The great thing about baseball parks compared to other sports is that every one is unique. Every basketball court, hockey rink, and football field has the exact same dimensions and features, but every baseball field is different. Things like the Green Monster at Fenway, the Warehouse at Camden Yards, the Ivy at Wrigley and McCovey Cove in San Fran give many baseball parks a unique and one of a kind character that just isn't possible for stadiums and arenas in other sports. Even the fact that no two parks have the same dimensions and many have unorthodox, asymmetrical designs provides them with a distinct character.
And some of them have special effects for home runs; for example at a Tigers game when they hit a homer water shoots out of the fountain with the Chevy cars above it.
Il Exile lI There's even stadiums with minor things like the aquarium at Tropicana Field, the 21 foot wall at PNC Park, and the apple in center field at Citi Field.
Many old NHL rinks used to have differing dimensions. Buffalo Memorial Auditorium - 196' x 85' (Neutral Zone smaller then regulation), Boston Garden - 191' x 83' (One offensive zone was smaller than the other), Chicago Stadium - 188' x 85' (Smallest rink in the league), Detroit Olympia - 200' x 83' (2 feet shorter in width), Maple Leaf Gardens (regulation size 200' x '85, but had sharper, more rectangular corners). Sadly the Olympia was replaced in the 70s and the rest of them were replaced in the 90s.
As a young boy I was blessed to be able to see a game at Connie mack, Forbes field and the old polo grounds. Memories I will never forget. What a wonderful life it was!!! srl
I have been to dozens of games at Tiger Stadium. The best memories of my life have been there. I was in tears watching the closing ceremonies in 1999 on television. And even with the obstructed-view seats it didn't seem to matter much the beams coming down obstructing your view.. I only had to deal with that one time at a game I went to. The only thing I couldn't see was the third baseman. A very memorable game when Aurelio Lopez struck out the last batter in the ninth inning with the bases loaded. The place just erupted. So many memories and I miss that old place so bad. My nephew threw out the first pitch for a game in 96. The only time I got to go on the field. I could go on all day. I'll just say the best years of the major league ballparks have passed never to be seen again.
I travelled from San Diego to Detroit to see Tiger Stadium before it closed. The 17th and 16th to last games. They had a number posted in Centerfield. Very sad. But a wonderful venue to watch a game!
@@ronmyers2317 I am a lifelong diehard Yankee fan from the Bronx. But I adopted the Padres during my 10 years stationed in San Diego. From 1994-2003. Believe it or not, I rooted for SD against the NYY in 1998.
oh man, what i would give to go back and see these beauties. it would be awesome if the next stadium built would be a replica of one of these parks. brought back to life and kind of a tribute to a better time in the history of the game.
The K, Angel Stadium, Nationals Park, Dodger Stadium, and Yankee Stadium. Busch Stadium, Wrigley Field and Fenway Park are a bit of a corner case as yes they are corporate named, but they're corporate named by the the same company that's owned the naming rights for nearly 70 years (Busch), and over a century (Wrigley and Fenway). The naming rights part is a little bit of why I find myself as time goes on missing the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.
Dodger fans here. Love my Dodgers I must say that anyone who removes Fenway Park should be jailed. That is still the park with the most character. Lucky to have been there twice.
Red Sox fan here. I love Fenway Park. A true treasure. But then I went to Gillette Stadium to see the Patriots play and immediately wanted the spacious seating and leg room I enjoyed there at Fenway.
My Dad told me stories of Sportsmans Park in St Louis....In the 40's they had a thing called the "knothole club" the Cardinals gave free passes to kids to see the game....not trying to look thru the "knotholes" in some of the old boards, ...he had that card up until our house burned down March 14 1968 in a snowstorm....I would've loved to have that now...he was a Navy diesel/electric sub sailor YN 1 (SS) ...20 years...passed in 2003....I miss his stories
Interesting for the most part how we all get sentimental about these old ballparks, but except for a very few, football stadiums on the other hand mean very little, yet we all love our football teams.
Sitting in Ebbet's field was like being invited to a drunken party with a raunchy band bellowing none stop, A thousand billboards to read, uniquely Brooklyn with players as colorful as their fans. Ebbets field had the intimacy of a phone booth and a baseball culture as strong as it's smell of sharp mustard and cigars . To see the Duke of Flatbush paste one deep into Bedford Avenue against the black night sky, as a memory, it will last eternal.
I saw the Phils vs Dodgers in September 1963 and the Phils vs Cards in September 1964 at old Connie Mack Stadium. (I also saw Phils vs Braves at Veteran Stadium, and saw the Phils vs Astros at Citizens Bank Park.) I watched hundreds of games of the Phillies play the NL on black and white TV. Most of my memories of Connie Mack Stadium are B&W.
The Polo Grounds. What a crazy place to play baseball with the horseshoe dimensions and I love how the clubhouses were in center field and they had to use stairs to get to them.
I saw my first professional game at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The Cardinals were playing the Dodgers that afternoon--Bob Gibson vs. Sandy Koufax. But since I was only 3 years old, I have no conscious memory of it; only a Polaroid my father took of me and my twin sister by one of the concession stands. I cherish that photo because I'm sure that was the moment when my father handed down his love of baseball and the Cardinals to me and my sister.
I was old enough to have been able to go to Shibe Park, later named Connie Mack Stadium but I never got to go. The final year was 1970 when I was 5 years old. My first ever live game was at the brand new Veterans Stadium which, at the time, was the future of sports stadiums, the multipurpose stadiums. Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis all had these stadiums. To me, it was the greatest thing in the world with the 2 giant scoreboards, the dancing green fountains in center field, the big Liberty Bell on the façade of the upper deck flanked by Phil & Phillis(the Campbell Soup Kids who still live at Storybook Land in Egg Harbor Township, NJ). To a kid like me it was a palace. Eventually that stadium resembled a large urinal in both looks and smell but now that it, too, is gone, I kind of miss it. 1971-2003. My childhood officially ended when they imploded it in 2004. I did have the pleasure of visiting Yankee Stadium in 1979 and will never forget it. Oh, and that is gone now too.
My Dad grew up in Brooklyn and saw many games at Ebbets Field. I think he also saw some games at the Polo Grounds as well, even though he was strictly a Dodgers fan. I remember seeing some of these old ballparks on TV when my Mets played at them in the early 1970s, before the "Stadiums R Us" cookie-cutter design craze took over. (When Citi Field was built to replace Shea Stadium, it was supposed to be reminiscent of Ebbets Field. When my Dad and I went there for the first time, my Dad said to the ticket taker--whom he could tell was about his age--"This doesn't look like Ebbets Field at all!" To which the guy replied, "Ya got that right!" 🙂
I grew up a Tigers fan and I certainly loved Briggs/Tiger Stadium. Without a doubt, a great place to watch a game. But I do have a confession to make. Growing up in west Michigan, I wished my dad had taken me down to Chicago just once because every time I saw Comiskey Park, I saw something special about the architecture. Take another look at this video and you'll notice the almost church-like windows in the background.
Ive been to Detroit and saw the exterior of Tiger Stadium, similar to Yankee in size, but yes I saw the windows as I passed.Comiskey had some great external features as well.
This was in an era when the fans appreciated their players, as with the woman in Cincinnati who said they would bake cakes for players on their birthdays. Fans weren't ill mannered as we see in many venues today. Of course, you always had a few jerks from time to time, but nothing like now.
716fishing Are you sure about that? I mean, I'm willing to say the players were not quite as bad overall, but they weren't saints either. Remember that back then (a) there was no internet and (b) the sportswriters had to watch what they wrote or they wouldn't get into the clubhouse next time, which would ultimately cost them their jobs. A lot of stuff got swept under the rug as a result - that's why the entire baseball establishment couldn't attack Jim Bouton fast enough when Ball Four came out.
+terrafirma91 The big difference is, players weren't paid what they were worth back then due to the system that was in place (i.e. no free agency). This means players got paid about as much as carpenters and accountants back then, even though they had a much more marketable skill. With players and fans being paid about the same amount (or close enough to avoid mass jealousy and resentment), the rapport was much greater between the two. Of course, it's human nature to generally dislike anyone who is rich if they aren't themselves, and when the market was corrected and players were paid what they were truly worth, their salaries escalated and the rapport died with it. Rich people and "not rich" people understandably don't mesh well by nature, and there's not really much you can do about that except make the rich people "not rich" again. The only way to do that is quit consuming the product.
+716fishing Yes, they absolutely were. Players held out all the time, refused to play with blacks, smoked, drank, slept with multiple women (even married players). All humans are greedy, it's what makes the world go 'round. Players were indentured servants back then and didn't have the basic freedoms they enjoy today (i.e. free agency), that's the only difference . They had to "play nice" back then...no other choice.
So I work in TV and I meet Vin Scully, what wonderful gentleman he is, but I had to tell him I’m a Giants fan, he says “I hope to change that”. Anyway, I tell him that if I had a Ballpark to pick as my favorite it’d be Ebbets Field ..... he looked at me a bit askew and asked “now why would a Giants fan say that?” So I explained that I loved hearing the stories about how close the fans were to the players and action on the field to which he agreed and said it was his experience that ol’ Ebbets was not unique in that a number of the old stadiums were like that. Too bad those old ballparks aren’t still around, completely different atmosphere and society now. By the way...... I’m still a Giants fan 😉
Man... I could listen to Vin Scully call on my boring life hahaha. Just too much knowlege about the game and many of it's greatest figures. I mean, he met Connie Mack in person. And he ended his career three years ago. He met people born over 100 years apart. It would take a lifetime to hear it all
Great video. I loved the color footage; really brings the past to life! I also enjoyed learning more about some old parks I’d only known of by name. Specifically Crosley with its interesting path to the clubhouse and it’s hill in left. Being a NYer Yankee fan, I liked seeing the subway stop over the stadium. I knew where the Grounds were but seeing the subway it was like I still could tell exactly where it was, passing that area in the Deegan Expwy every day.
At the old Yankees Stadium... You could leave after the game via the outfield. So we walked on the same field as the Babe, Lou, Joe and the Mick...who had played that day!
A question: could you visit Monument Park on the way? I think you're talking about the stadium pre-1973, when the original plaques were in playing territory
If you have a chance, listen to Frank Sinatra sing, "There Used To Be a Ball Park Right Here". It's thought the writer was referring to Ebbets Field, but a listener can dream about any of these old ball parks.
I'll never forget sitting in the front row of the right field upper deck at Tiger Stadium. You had to stand up and lean over the railing to even see the warning track below.
I went to Griffith stadium with my uncle, dad,cousin and brother . Saw Harmon Killebrew when he first came to majors. Calvin Griffith moved the team just when they were getting great players. The Minnesota twins of the 60's and 70's will always be the Washington Senators to me.
R.I.P.: To all the Ball Parks below: The Polo Grounds Ebbets Field Yankee Stadium(The House that Ruth Built) Cleveland Municipal Stadium Milwaukee County Stadium Metropolitan Stadium Veterans Stadium Three Rivers Stadium Riverfront Stadium Atlanta Fulton County Stadium Shea Stadium Candlestick Park Jack Murphy Stadium The Kingdome in Seattle Tiger Stadium Busch Stadium Arlington Stadium Memorial Stadium in Baltimore Exhibition Stadium in Toronto
@SamusAbe Your welcome Samus Abe, I spent my youth in new York's Shea Stadium with many great memories of seeing a ball game with my father. I also was at the original Yankeee Stadium in 1973.
It was a multiple purpose stadium. Yet for me it was the site of my first MLB game in person. The lights were so bright, the baseballs were all new and not recycled one's of Little Leagues of the 70's. The Big Red Machine was right there in September of 1976. Rest in peace San Diego Stadium.
In the early 1970s we used to drive by the old Crosley Field on the way to the then new Riverfront stadium. Always wondered what it would've been like to have seen a game there.
There was Shibe Park in Philadelphia. I went with my late father & late Uncle on Father's Day to watch the Philadelphia Phillies play the Chicago Cubs.
It was the Golden Age of Baseball because many of the great moments in baseball happened during that era. Some of the greatest players to ever roam a baseball diamond played during that time. Also New York was the mecca of baseball at that point with the Giants, Dodgers, and Yankees playing. One of them or sometimes both of them were in the World Series every year. They also played in some of the most cherished sports venues during those years i.e. Crosley Field, Ebbets Field, etc.
I saw hundreds of games at the Old Comiskey Park as a kid growing up. There were even a couple of times when it was called White Sox Park; at the very beginning and then in the early 60's. Parking back then was $1 when I started going with my father, with reserved grandstand seats were $1.50. By the 1980's I was going much more often with friends as well as with my father. It was just a great old ball part and unfortunately I can't afford to go anymore. I've hear parking alone runs as much as $25 at the new park. My last season of regular attendance was 1991 when I purchased two seats for all weekend home games plus opening day, a total of 28 games. It became ridiculously expensive and I didn't renew in 1992.
glad I was lucky enough to see a few games at tiger stadium in the 90s. sat in a few different spots. had one around 3rd base I think once in upper deck, no doubt what a good view.
Old Tiger Stadium, Briggs Stadium when i was a kid in Detroit, was and incredible place to see a game...loved that overhang in Kaline's corner...those were the days
Bill Wilson Comerica Park should have never been built. I wish I could have seen a game at tiger stadium. Unfortunately I was born 3 years after it closed
I always viewed Tiger as one of the quainter parks. it just seemed 100 percent asymmetrical. Even watching my home town Mets there during the first inter league game there, the field even seemed like it was higher at some points. I even noticed the peeling paint behind the field lever seats. But that over hang into the outfield, and those massive light towers, where Oakland's Reggie Jackson hit a homer off of it.
I'm old enough to have attended a Tigers game in Briggs Stadium (renamed Tiger Stadium after 1960). A great place to watch a game as long as you were not behind a support column.
One of the most humiliating things in baseball was when a pitcher was taken out of a game at the Polo Grounds. He didn't just walk the short distance to his dugout. He had to walk more than the length of a football field out to the center field clubhouse. All alone. No golf cart.
Should have included Comiskey Park which I visited in 1990. Before the Detroit Tigers had Tiger stadium, they played at a very quaint small venue called Navin Field.
As of 2018, the site of Navin Field is now a youth baseball park. I'd like to visit it one day. www.freep.com/story/sports/2018/03/24/first-pitch-thrown-former-tiger-stadium-site-now-home-youth-league/455952002/
I would love to go back in time and watch a game at Met Stadium. Or to have one more chance to go back to the Metrodome and see one more game from the left-field seats.
I think the fact that many, if not all, of these ballparks were right there in residential neighborhoods had a lot to do with them being special. Shibe Park was right there at 21st and Lehigh in Philly. My dad used to tell me that a kid would come out and tell you he'll watch your car for a quarter and you better pay it. You don't get that now. Oh, what was said in the beginning, you can now throw the original Yankee Stadium into the lost ballpark heap now.
Grew up going to Crosley Field in Cincinnati, and have made it my mission to see all the older parks before they disappeared. Have no interest in seeing the new ones; you've seen one you've seen them all, but Yankee Stadium, Fenway, Comiskey, Wrigley, Tiger Stadium, Crosley are some I've seen. Wish I'd seen Ebbets, Shibe, Polo Grounds. My favorite stadium is the any one built without public funding, the last of which I believe is Dodger Stadium. That's the last one on my bucket list.
The new parks have the casual consumer in mind, not the purist baseball fan. Now it’s all the extracurricular that get attention including the area around the park. Free Agency killed the game as we know it. They have to pay these huge salaries so they can’t bring in the revenue by just appeasing true baseball fans.
Thinking about Tiger Stadium made me cry. So many wonderful memories. Taking Pop to games, to see the Yankees play. I miss that stadium. Comerica Park isn't a ball park. It is a monstrosity. The Illitch Family can shove it!
I wish to go back in time and see a game at clevel and municipal, Polo Grounds, Shibe Park, Fulton County Stadium of the Braves, Sportsman’s Park. Now we have like Jacobs Field in Cleveland. (Or Progressive Field!) I wish to see Metropolitian Stadium and more! Or Griffith Stadium. Or Comiskey Park and more. I also wish to see a game at the astrodome in Houston. The first indoor arena! For the Astros. Man, I do also miss Candlestick Park on the Giants.
but yankee staduim was soo heavily renovated over the course of its lifespan that it had very little in common with the originally built version. at least with wrigley and fenway those two parks have stayed pretty much the same over the years.
I was honored to have season tickets to the yankees back when old yankee stadium was still up I am honored to still have my seat R.I.P. old yankee stadium 1923-2010 I’ll never forget you
This quote from Field of Dreams speaks volumes when it comes to old time baseball: "People will come, Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. "Of course, we won't mind if you look around", you'll say. "It's only $20 per person". They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it, for it is money they have and peace they lack. And they'll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game; it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again. Oh…people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come."
Tiger Stadium was the best! In the last row of the upper deck, you could still see players' facial expressions. At the new ballpark, the upper deck is in Windsor, Ontario. You've gotta make room for those luxury suites because of the billions and billions of dollars that change hands in today's game...
I have to laugh because when we went to "Gaylord Perry Day", the season after his consecutive win season, it was a packed house. I don't remember if we had tickets ahead of time but we ended up several rows back in the lower level on the 1st base side. My seat was directly behind a support beam. I could not see the pitcher's mound! I was miserable the whole game.
No need to thank me for the post, and please call me Greg. It has been difficult to pin down any changes to Fenway's field dimensions over the years. I remember the TV commentators back in the 60s making comments about the left field line and they themselves not knowing its true length. One commentator claimed to have asked a Fenway official about it and not given an answer. Over the years I have always wanted to sneak in at night with a tape measure to find out for myself.
The aroma of stale cigar smoke and beer embedded into concrete can never be replicated in modern stadiums--something unique that made a ballpark a ballpark. R.I.P. Yankee Stadium.
It is indeed sad to see iconic structures in baseball history razed forever. They should have mandated keeping one historic peice of each razed ballpark, like they did in Pittsburgh.
Most of these stadiums were a bit before my time, but I do remember Cleveland stadium. We use to pile in the car & make the drive up there on weekends & just sleep in the car & then head to the stadium come game time & sit in the bleachers & get autographs of as many players as we could find before the game. Back then, you could get em for free. And I would get em from both teams to. So I don't think there's a player out there of who's autograph I don't have. I even have passed down in my family to me, Walter "Big Train" Johnson, Ty Cobb, & the topper of all topper's The Babe, Babe Ruth. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Nolan Ryan, Ken Griffey Jr. Tom Seaver, & so many more. And there all at my uncles ranch under lock & key with a shotgun & a crazy mother, who shoots first & ask questions later. But at least I know there safe. And I will NEVER part with any of my baseball stuff. I don't care how much there worth, there NEVER FOR SALE. I busted my ass & put this collection together for 1 reason & 1 reason only. For the love. For the love of the game. And love is just something that has no price. And I will continue on, in getting autographs, be it, at the stadiums or at autograph shows. I even have one of Willie Mays. He was way nice about it to. I could listen to him talk baseball 24/7 Just a class act. But I do miss these old stadiums. Such great fun & innocent times back then.
Polo grounds would have been great 2 see. Its sad they tare down all these great baseball stadiums. Being a baseball fan in NY must have been awesome when they had 3 teams in NYC. A time long gone. Very sad
Especially when the World Series was the (ny) World Series. They had ten of the Yankees against the Dodgers or the Giants in the classic era, and another one in 2000 between the Yankees and the Mets
Some Modern ballparks are nice, Camden Yards, GABP, Coors Field, Miller Park, PNC, Petco, Safeco Field, Nationals Park, Busch Stadium III, Comerica (though there was nothing wrong with the old Tiger Stadium), Minute Maid, and Marlins Park. Though as long as the stadiums are structurally sound, the Red Sox, Dodgers, and Cubs should never leave Fenway, Wrigley, and Dodger Stadium
Home of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The site is now occupied by the University of Pittsburgh, where they kept the brick outfield walls, somewhat of a tribute to Bill Mazerowski's homerun in the '60 World Series.Unfortunately they marked home plate,in the men's room.
If I had a time machine, I would go back to the 50s a visit every classic ballpark.
RIP Comiskey Park.
MUSF
AFTER NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, LACROSSE, TRACK, TENNIS AND CANNOT FORGET EVERY OTHER SPORT
Liar, nfl is the best
Tiger stadium was magical. The hot dogs were sublime. The peanut shells on the floor. I even saw a Lions game there one freezing winters day when I was a kid.
So glad I got to go to Tiger Stadium!
I grew up going to games at Tiger Stadium. I was 8 years old in 1968 and my Dad got us tickets to a couple of games of the World Series. Of course, all the World Series games in those days were day games so me and my brother got to get pulled out of school to go to the games which we thought was so awesome. I saw many games there through the years. Comerica Park is a really nice ballpark and I understand that the old Tiger Stadium just got to the point that to keep it in good repair would be very difficult, but man I miss that old place. I still remember the feeling after all these years of how you would enter that ballpark at street level and it was just cement and tile and metal girders and ramps to the upper deck and you would walk these hallways and climb these ramps and then cross some little catwalk toward some opening in the wall on the other side, and when you to to that opening, all of a sudden there before your eyes, all of that gray concrete and metal disappeared to the sight of the open air and the blue sky above and the greenest grass that you have ever seen in your life, the perfectly manicured infield and those white Tiger uniforms of the players contrasted against that green grass as they played catch on the sidelines or shagged fly balls in the outfield. I think in the late 60's, it was every kid's dream in that city to be a Detroit Tiger. In my 8 year old's mind, those guys down on that field...Al Kaline and Jim Northrup and Mickey Stanley and Stormin Norman Cash and Denny McLain and Bill Freehan and Willie Horton...they were the coolest guys in town and they had the coolest job that anyone could ever have. Where does the time go? Seems like yesterday...
@AjaxEddiefan Great to hear that a Toronto guy was pulling for us back in 68 here in Detroit. Thanks for that. But I am also pretty sure that if we were talking about the Red Wings it would be a different story. I never met a Maple Leaf fan who would root for the Wings under ANY circumstances! haha... Thanks for your reply. Made my day. Cheers to you my Canadian brother.
@AjaxEddiefan haha....Love it. Miggy is like a little kid trapped in a grown man's body. His interactions with the fans is legendary. If you yell at him he will just come over and shoot the breeze with you. I sure hope there is baseball this year. Stay safe my friend!
I was 8 in 68 as well. As you described, I will never forget the first time I emerged from the darkness and all that green just exploded. 1967, Earl Wilson beat the Red Sox. My old man wasn't much of a sports fan but the company he worked for had box-seats right over first base. We would sit in the front row, upper deck, right over Norm Cash. Dad knew Denny McClain and Al Kaline were my favorite players so whenever he could he would get tickets when Denny was pitching. Every kid I knew had #6 ironed onto their Tiger tee-shirt. I brought my glove every game and never sniffed a foul ball. The next day, I would be watching the game from home and see like six or seven land right where I was sitting the day before. Oh well.
Best memory, Tigers against the Angels, I think it was 71, maybe 72. We were down by 8 runs in the 7th and people were heading for the exits. The guy that was with us that day asked the old man if he was ready to leave and he said no, let's let the traffic thin out a bit. We scored 10 runs that inning. Aurelio Rodriguez led off the inning with a triple and hit a three run shot his next time up that same inning. Kaline hit one that inning almost cleared the roof in left-field, furthest I'd ever seen anyone hit one. We ended up winning 13-10. I was so horse from yelling I couldn't talk for the rest of the day.
How I loved that old ball park. I've been to several games at Comerica but it's just not the same. The funny thing is, they called the old ballpark a stadium and the new stadium a ballpark. They got it backwards if you ask me.
$2.00 seats in the bleachers, doing the wave in 84, banging those old green seats when a rally was going on, Sunday double-headers for the price of one ticket, even those pole seats out in the left-field grandstands. There'll never be another park quite like Tiger Stadium.
And that's a shame.
@@itinerantpatriot1196 Thanks for posting these memories. We were lucky to have those days as 8 year olds. Those memories will never leave me. I think that those times probably were some of the best times of our lives. I know that I appreciate it more now than I did then. You and I were lucky kids, my friend.
@@A1Adaydreaming We sure were. We went crazy watching Curt Flood misplay Jim Northrups line shot in game 7 and when Mickey kept the Cards at bay to beat the unbeatable Bob Gibson the feeling was like no other. When you're 8 you think they're going to win the Series every year. Denny ended up breaking my heart (even though he did manage to tie for the Cy Young again the next season, something that's rarely mentioned) but Al remained my hero until the day he died. Good old #6, the only player on any team I cried for when I heard he passed. Such a classy player. And what a cannon. Could he throw? No one took third on Al. And opposing players were unanimous that he never tried any cheap stuff on the field. A true gentleman. Mr. Tiger.
Willie the Wonder, trying to hold our bats like McCauliffe, Jim Northrup and his propensity for hitting grand slams, and sitting on the porch with a transistor radio at night, listening to Ernie to call it all ("a young man from Kalamazoo caught that one").
Okay, I'll stop. I could go on and on about that club and the 84 team. I was fortunate enough to attend Sparky's number retirement and Jack Morris's as well. I feel so bad for kids today. Baseball was life to us growing up. You had to get to the schoolyard early in the summer to claim a diamond. If only I could have hit the curve ball.
Thanks for posting and getting me thinking about the good old days. Faygo, Vernors, Better-Made, Sanders, Greenfield Village, The Chevelle and The Mustang, and of course the Tigers. The riots were bad but Detroit was a special place at that time. I just finished writing a story that takes place in that era (67-73). Seen through the eyes of a kid of course. Write what you know I'm told. Wouldn't want to re-live most of it but the parts that were good were great.
Thanks again.
I really wish I could go back in time and see a game at the Polo Grounds.
Same
+num1huskerfan1 been there many times. saw a Brooklyn double header back in 56. Sitting in the Polo grounds was like taking in a museum, no modern amenities, just a primitive place to view great baseball. It's charm was it's lack of conformity, it wasn't designed, it evolved over the vastness of time, that was it's history and you were sitting in it. Uniquely special
Me too
i just wish i could go back in time to get rid of this whole mess
+num1huskerfan1 Last summer, I got to go see a game at Kauffman Stadium, in Kansas City MO. Home of the Kansas City Royals. it was them vs. the Los Angeles Angels.
Miss those old parks.
The great thing about baseball parks compared to other sports is that every one is unique. Every basketball court, hockey rink, and football field has the exact same dimensions and features, but every baseball field is different. Things like the Green Monster at Fenway, the Warehouse at Camden Yards, the Ivy at Wrigley and McCovey Cove in San Fran give many baseball parks a unique and one of a kind character that just isn't possible for stadiums and arenas in other sports. Even the fact that no two parks have the same dimensions and many have unorthodox, asymmetrical designs provides them with a distinct character.
And some of them have special effects for home runs; for example at a Tigers game when they hit a homer water shoots out of the fountain with the Chevy cars above it.
Il Exile lI There's even stadiums with minor things like the aquarium at Tropicana Field, the 21 foot wall at PNC Park, and the apple in center field at Citi Field.
Agreed, this very fact makes classic ballparks not only intimate and unusual, but makes them hallowed ground.
Many old NHL rinks used to have differing dimensions. Buffalo Memorial Auditorium - 196' x 85' (Neutral Zone smaller then regulation), Boston Garden - 191' x 83' (One offensive zone was smaller than the other), Chicago Stadium - 188' x 85' (Smallest rink in the league), Detroit Olympia - 200' x 83' (2 feet shorter in width), Maple Leaf Gardens (regulation size 200' x '85, but had sharper, more rectangular corners). Sadly the Olympia was replaced in the 70s and the rest of them were replaced in the 90s.
As a young boy I was blessed to be able to see a game at Connie mack, Forbes field and the old polo grounds. Memories I will never forget. What a wonderful life it was!!! srl
"Theres something beautiful about being lost". There isn't a better description of nostalgia
So glad we still have Wrigley Field!!! Nothing like getting a sunburn while sitting in the bleacher seats with a breeze coming off the lake!
Would love a longer segment of each ball park. Not a big baseball fan. But a huge fan of the history of baseball.
I feel the same, it was a network documentary, using amateur footage compilations. I feel MLB should have a documentary produced, but just a dream.
I have been to dozens of games at Tiger Stadium. The best memories of my life have been there. I was in tears watching the closing ceremonies in 1999 on television. And even with the obstructed-view seats it didn't seem to matter much the beams coming down obstructing your view.. I only had to deal with that one time at a game I went to. The only thing I couldn't see was the third baseman. A very memorable game when Aurelio Lopez struck out the last batter in the ninth inning with the bases loaded. The place just erupted. So many memories and I miss that old place so bad. My nephew threw out the first pitch for a game in 96. The only time I got to go on the field. I could go on all day. I'll just say the best years of the major league ballparks have passed never to be seen again.
I travelled from San Diego to Detroit to see Tiger Stadium before it closed. The 17th and 16th to last games. They had a number posted in Centerfield. Very sad. But a wonderful venue to watch a game!
@@TheBatugan77 were you a Padres fan or were you just surrounded by them being in San Diego? You would have wanted to be here in 84.
@@ronmyers2317
I am a lifelong diehard Yankee fan from the Bronx. But I adopted the Padres during my 10 years stationed in San Diego. From 1994-2003. Believe it or not, I rooted for SD against the NYY in 1998.
oh man, what i would give to go back and see these beauties. it would be awesome if the next stadium built would be a replica of one of these parks. brought back to life and kind of a tribute to a better time in the history of the game.
Amazing now as the "K" in Kansas City..built in '72..is now a veteran ballpark..and increasingly unique with no corporate sponsor
The K, Angel Stadium, Nationals Park, Dodger Stadium, and Yankee Stadium. Busch Stadium, Wrigley Field and Fenway Park are a bit of a corner case as yes they are corporate named, but they're corporate named by the the same company that's owned the naming rights for nearly 70 years (Busch), and over a century (Wrigley and Fenway).
The naming rights part is a little bit of why I find myself as time goes on missing the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.
@@katherineberger6329 Camden Yards also doesnt have a corporate sponsor and I hope it stays that way
Dodger fans here. Love my Dodgers
I must say that anyone who removes Fenway Park should be jailed.
That is still the park with the most character. Lucky to have been there twice.
Same
Red Sox fan here. I love Fenway Park. A true treasure.
But then I went to Gillette Stadium to see the Patriots play and immediately wanted the spacious seating and leg room I enjoyed there at Fenway.
Agreed , Fenway must live eternally along with Wrigley Field.
I cannot imagine life without Fenway Park.
Wrigley Field too.
Forgot Comiskey Park in Chicago 1910-1990.
And did they seriously forget to show Ebbets Field.
Is 0:07 - 0:14 Comiskey?
Dylan Hanson I went there for the last night game. You were on top of the action. I felt the ghosts from players past. Was a great evening.
toll_booth: Yes I know but didn't talk about the Baseball Palace of the world.
Yes sir, major mistake here, Comiskey when it opened I believe in 1908 or 9 was touted as :the "Baseball Palace of the World"
My Dad told me stories of Sportsmans Park in St Louis....In the 40's they had a thing called the "knothole club" the Cardinals gave free passes to kids to see the game....not trying to look thru the "knotholes" in some of the old boards, ...he had that card up until our house burned down March 14 1968 in a snowstorm....I would've loved to have that now...he was a Navy diesel/electric sub sailor YN 1 (SS) ...20 years...passed in 2003....I miss his stories
Those old ball parks had amazing character and where magical looking.
I wasn't born until 1971,but it is fun to look back at all the lost ballpark especially the polo grounds or ebbits field
Comiskey in Chicago was one of the best,I went to hundreds of games there,I still miss it to this day.
Interesting for the most part how we all get sentimental about these old ballparks, but except for a very few, football stadiums on the other hand mean very little, yet we all love our football teams.
RIP yankee stadium
We shoulda kept it 😭😭
I like that they made the new stadium look like the old stadium (before the renovation).
Sitting in Ebbet's field was like being invited to a drunken party with a raunchy band bellowing none stop, A thousand billboards to read, uniquely Brooklyn with players as colorful as their fans. Ebbets field had the intimacy of a phone booth and a baseball culture as strong as it's smell of sharp mustard and cigars . To see the Duke of Flatbush paste one deep into Bedford Avenue against the black night sky, as a memory, it will last eternal.
I like this reply only because there's not many who I know that had the Ebbets Field experience. A truly legendary ball park.
I envy you. If I could go back in time and go to just ONE ballpark it would be Ebbets Field...
I saw the Phils vs Dodgers in September 1963 and the Phils vs Cards in September 1964 at old Connie Mack Stadium. (I also saw Phils vs Braves at Veteran Stadium, and saw the Phils vs Astros at Citizens Bank Park.) I watched hundreds of games of the Phillies play the NL on black and white TV. Most of my memories of Connie Mack Stadium are B&W.
I’m so thankful I spent some time at Tiger Stadium watching ballgames there. Rip
The Polo Grounds. What a crazy place to play baseball with the horseshoe dimensions and I love how the clubhouses were in center field and they had to use stairs to get to them.
I always liked to tell myself...
"I could have hit a home run there!" (258 ft. to right ..)
@@TheBatugan77 Hell yeah! It would be a dream to take BP there!
PG ...great mystique all 4 of them
Tiger stadium was my second home. I lived about 2 miles west of there. 4 generations of my family has been at that park including my son.
I saw my first professional game at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The Cardinals were playing the Dodgers that afternoon--Bob Gibson vs. Sandy Koufax. But since I was only 3 years old, I have no conscious memory of it; only a Polaroid my father took of me and my twin sister by one of the concession stands. I cherish that photo because I'm sure that was the moment when my father handed down his love of baseball and the Cardinals to me and my sister.
Thank you for sharing this memory. I loved the in sturdy looking stands this classic park had. And don't forget the Browns played there!
Gibson vs Koufax? I would have loved to have seen that!
@@grumpyoldgraymetalhead2441 even if each of them give 10 runs, is a good one to see
I was old enough to have been able to go to Shibe Park, later named Connie Mack Stadium but I never got to go. The final year was 1970 when I was 5 years old. My first ever live game was at the brand new Veterans Stadium which, at the time, was the future of sports stadiums, the multipurpose stadiums. Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis all had these stadiums. To me, it was the greatest thing in the world with the 2 giant scoreboards, the dancing green fountains in center field, the big Liberty Bell on the façade of the upper deck flanked by Phil & Phillis(the Campbell Soup Kids who still live at Storybook Land in Egg Harbor Township, NJ). To a kid like me it was a palace. Eventually that stadium resembled a large urinal in both looks and smell but now that it, too, is gone, I kind of miss it. 1971-2003. My childhood officially ended when they imploded it in 2004. I did have the pleasure of visiting Yankee Stadium in 1979 and will never forget it. Oh, and that is gone now too.
My Dad grew up in Brooklyn and saw many games at Ebbets Field. I think he also saw some games at the Polo Grounds as well, even though he was strictly a Dodgers fan. I remember seeing some of these old ballparks on TV when my Mets played at them in the early 1970s, before the "Stadiums R Us" cookie-cutter design craze took over. (When Citi Field was built to replace Shea Stadium, it was supposed to be reminiscent of Ebbets Field. When my Dad and I went there for the first time, my Dad said to the ticket taker--whom he could tell was about his age--"This doesn't look like Ebbets Field at all!" To which the guy replied, "Ya got that right!" 🙂
I grew up a Tigers fan and I certainly loved Briggs/Tiger Stadium. Without a doubt, a great place to watch a game. But I do have a confession to make. Growing up in west Michigan, I wished my dad had taken me down to Chicago just once because every time I saw Comiskey Park, I saw something special about the architecture. Take another look at this video and you'll notice the almost church-like windows in the background.
Ive been to Detroit and saw the exterior of Tiger Stadium, similar to Yankee in size, but yes I saw the windows as I passed.Comiskey had some great external features as well.
This was in an era when the fans appreciated their players, as with the woman in Cincinnati who said they would bake cakes for players on their birthdays. Fans weren't ill mannered as we see in many venues today. Of course, you always had a few jerks from time to time, but nothing like now.
The players weren't greedy ignorant srubs back in the day either
716fishing Are you sure about that? I mean, I'm willing to say the players were not quite as bad overall, but they weren't saints either. Remember that back then (a) there was no internet and (b) the sportswriters had to watch what they wrote or they wouldn't get into the clubhouse next time, which would ultimately cost them their jobs. A lot of stuff got swept under the rug as a result - that's why the entire baseball establishment couldn't attack Jim Bouton fast enough when Ball Four came out.
+terrafirma91 The big difference is, players weren't paid what they were worth back then due to the system that was in place (i.e. no free agency). This means players got paid about as much as carpenters and accountants back then, even though they had a much more marketable skill. With players and fans being paid about the same amount (or close enough to avoid mass jealousy and resentment), the rapport was much greater between the two.
Of course, it's human nature to generally dislike anyone who is rich if they aren't themselves, and when the market was corrected and players were paid what they were truly worth, their salaries escalated and the rapport died with it. Rich people and "not rich" people understandably don't mesh well by nature, and there's not really much you can do about that except make the rich people "not rich" again. The only way to do that is quit consuming the product.
+716fishing Yes, they absolutely were. Players held out all the time, refused to play with blacks, smoked, drank, slept with multiple women (even married players).
All humans are greedy, it's what makes the world go 'round. Players were indentured servants back then and didn't have the basic freedoms they enjoy today (i.e. free agency), that's the only difference . They had to "play nice" back then...no other choice.
This is of course before the game became a business. so interesting to hear from the old time fans.
so sad to watch ......but yet it made me smile .........cleveland municipal stadium ......loved that old " dungeon "
Shea, Veterans,Cleveland Indians old park, Tiger stadium all were great parks in had the pleasure visiting.
So I work in TV and I meet Vin Scully, what wonderful gentleman he is, but I had to tell him I’m a Giants fan, he says “I hope to change that”. Anyway, I tell him that if I had a Ballpark to pick as my favorite it’d be Ebbets Field ..... he looked at me a bit askew and asked “now why would a Giants fan say that?” So I explained that I loved hearing the stories about how close the fans were to the players and action on the field to which he agreed and said it was his experience that ol’ Ebbets was not unique in that a number of the old stadiums were like that. Too bad those old ballparks aren’t still around, completely different atmosphere and society now.
By the way......
I’m still a Giants fan 😉
Man... I could listen to Vin Scully call on my boring life hahaha. Just too much knowlege about the game and many of it's greatest figures. I mean, he met Connie Mack in person. And he ended his career three years ago. He met people born over 100 years apart. It would take a lifetime to hear it all
My choice would be Ebbets Field as well, it seemed to have all the charactor of a classic baseball park you could ever want.
Great video. I loved the color footage; really brings the past to life! I also enjoyed learning more about some old parks I’d only known of by name. Specifically Crosley with its interesting path to the clubhouse and it’s hill in left.
Being a NYer Yankee fan, I liked seeing the subway stop over the stadium. I knew where the Grounds were but seeing the subway it was like I still could tell exactly where it was, passing that area in the Deegan Expwy every day.
PNC Park in Pittsburgh is a great intimate park , its probably the nicest ballpark around now......just needs a few more fans!!
In my heart Pirates play at 3 Rivers and Reds at Riverfront. Loved those days
Come on they never mentioned Forbes Field. Pittsburgh. 1909-1970.
I'm guessing it's because of 1960.
Yes agreed 100 percent, but the outfield walls remain today, but ,yes, home plate is in the men's room, fact.
You got it!
or Fenways brother, Braves Field
Great park and neighborhood!
Was at Connie Mack Stadiums last game. Had a great time running on the field. Took home a seat.
Great post and memory, have you a photo sir?
Damn. I'm a giants fan and I will never forget polo grounds
I was at the last game at Comiskey Park.
I really miss that place.
I went to a game in 1984. Sat along 3B/LF. Kept thinking... "Shoeless Joe played...right there..."
At the old Yankees Stadium...
You could leave after the game via the outfield. So we walked on the same field as the Babe, Lou, Joe and the Mick...who had played that day!
A question: could you visit Monument Park on the way? I think you're talking about the stadium pre-1973, when the original plaques were in playing territory
@@otaviofrnazario
You are correct. Only three monuments. In dead centerfield. Pre-1973.
Tiger Stadium was fantastic. I flew there from SD in its final year. Terrific.
If you have a chance, listen to Frank Sinatra sing, "There Used To Be a Ball Park Right Here". It's thought the writer was referring to Ebbets Field, but a listener can dream about any of these old ball parks.
Agreed, anyone who mourns the loss of their home town park can relate to this song.
I'll never forget sitting in the front row of the right field upper deck at Tiger Stadium. You had to stand up and lean over the railing to even see the warning track below.
I went to Griffith stadium with my uncle, dad,cousin and brother . Saw Harmon Killebrew when he first came to majors. Calvin Griffith moved the team just when they were getting great players. The Minnesota twins of the 60's and 70's will always be the Washington Senators to me.
I'm not even a baseball fan, but I love the history of long gone ball parks
R.I.P.: To all the Ball Parks below:
The Polo Grounds
Ebbets Field
Yankee Stadium(The House that Ruth Built)
Cleveland Municipal Stadium
Milwaukee County Stadium
Metropolitan Stadium
Veterans Stadium
Three Rivers Stadium
Riverfront Stadium
Atlanta Fulton County Stadium
Shea Stadium
Candlestick Park
Jack Murphy Stadium
The Kingdome in Seattle
Tiger Stadium
Busch Stadium
Arlington Stadium
Memorial Stadium in Baltimore
Exhibition Stadium in Toronto
@SamusAbe Your welcome Samus Abe, I spent my youth in new York's Shea Stadium with many great memories of seeing a ball game with my father. I also was at the original Yankeee Stadium in 1973.
It was a multiple purpose stadium.
Yet for me it was the site of my first MLB game in person.
The lights were so bright, the baseballs were all new and not recycled one's of Little Leagues of the 70's. The Big Red Machine was right there in September of 1976.
Rest in peace San Diego Stadium.
"They see it as some kind of hallowed ground."
It is.
In the early 1970s we used to drive by the old Crosley Field on the way to the then new Riverfront stadium. Always wondered what it would've been like to have seen a game there.
6 minutes of awesomeness!!!
There was Shibe Park in Philadelphia. I went with my late father & late Uncle on Father's Day to watch the Philadelphia Phillies play the Chicago Cubs.
It was the Golden Age of Baseball because many of the great moments in baseball happened during that era. Some of the greatest players to ever roam a baseball diamond played during that time. Also New York was the mecca of baseball at that point with the Giants, Dodgers, and Yankees playing. One of them or sometimes both of them were in the World Series every year. They also played in some of the most cherished sports venues during those years i.e. Crosley Field, Ebbets Field, etc.
yep , missed a few of the classic ballparks ........even still ...really cool
I saw hundreds of games at the Old Comiskey Park as a kid growing up. There were even a couple of times when it was called White Sox Park; at the very beginning and then in the early 60's. Parking back then was $1 when I started going with my father, with reserved grandstand seats were $1.50. By the 1980's I was going much more often with friends as well as with my father. It was just a great old ball part and unfortunately I can't afford to go anymore. I've hear parking alone runs as much as $25 at the new park. My last season of regular attendance was 1991 when I purchased two seats for all weekend home games plus opening day, a total of 28 games. It became ridiculously expensive and I didn't renew in 1992.
Good lord, I love baseball!
Love baseball history
Unfortunately, time moves on. Oh to be able to go back in time to go to catch a ball game here and there.
Sitting behind third base at Forbes Field, we spent most of a game talking to Pete Reiser, who was coaching for the Cubs
glad I was lucky enough to see a few games at tiger stadium in the 90s. sat in a few different spots. had one around 3rd base I think once in upper deck, no doubt what a good view.
Never got to see a game at Tiger Stadium and it hurt to watch it get torn down.
Old Tiger Stadium, Briggs Stadium when i was a kid in Detroit, was and incredible place to see a game...loved that overhang in Kaline's corner...those were the days
Bill Wilson Comerica Park should have never been built. I wish I could have seen a game at tiger stadium. Unfortunately I was born 3 years after it closed
I always viewed Tiger as one of the quainter parks. it just seemed 100 percent asymmetrical. Even watching my home town Mets there during the first inter league game there, the field even seemed like it was higher at some points. I even noticed the peeling paint behind the field lever seats. But that over hang into the outfield, and those massive light towers, where Oakland's Reggie Jackson hit a homer off of it.
I'm old enough to have attended a Tigers game in Briggs Stadium (renamed Tiger Stadium after 1960). A great place to watch a game as long as you were not behind a support column.
Second to classic rock n roll and old school cinema I love 50s 60s baseball
One of the most humiliating things in baseball was when a pitcher was taken out of a game at the Polo Grounds. He didn't just walk the short distance to his dugout. He had to walk more than the length of a football field out to the center field clubhouse. All alone. No golf cart.
The double decker wonder that was Tiger Stadium.
I sometimes wonder what it would be like if those classic ballparks were actually recreated?
Should have included Comiskey Park which I visited in 1990. Before the Detroit Tigers had Tiger stadium, they played at a very quaint small venue called Navin Field.
As of 2018, the site of Navin Field is now a youth baseball park. I'd like to visit it one day.
www.freep.com/story/sports/2018/03/24/first-pitch-thrown-former-tiger-stadium-site-now-home-youth-league/455952002/
Thank you very much for sharing this it’s a great review!
I would love to go back in time and watch a game at Met Stadium.
Or to have one more chance to go back to the Metrodome and see one more game from the left-field seats.
I think the fact that many, if not all, of these ballparks were right there in residential neighborhoods had a lot to do with them being special. Shibe Park was right there at 21st and Lehigh in Philly. My dad used to tell me that a kid would come out and tell you he'll watch your car for a quarter and you better pay it. You don't get that now. Oh, what was said in the beginning, you can now throw the original Yankee Stadium into the lost ballpark heap now.
Would love to go back in time and watch a game at Ebbets Field.
Ive had my share of these at Shea Stadium!
Ballparks are hallowed grounds. The greatest game ever.
Grew up going to Crosley Field in Cincinnati, and have made it my mission to see all the older parks before they disappeared. Have no interest in seeing the new ones; you've seen one you've seen them all, but Yankee Stadium, Fenway, Comiskey, Wrigley, Tiger Stadium, Crosley are some I've seen. Wish I'd seen Ebbets, Shibe, Polo Grounds. My favorite stadium is the any one built without public funding, the last of which I believe is Dodger Stadium. That's the last one on my bucket list.
The new parks have the casual consumer in mind, not the purist baseball fan. Now it’s all the extracurricular that get attention including the area around the park. Free Agency killed the game as we know it. They have to pay these huge salaries so they can’t bring in the revenue by just appeasing true baseball fans.
I loved Baseball's Golden Age. I particulary loved the poems. Could someone please upload some of them?
Thanks for uploading I love this show
There’s a replica of Crosley Field about 10 minutes north of Cincinnati, smaller dimensions but it’s still pretty cool.
Thinking about Tiger Stadium made me cry. So many wonderful memories. Taking Pop to games, to see the Yankees play. I miss that stadium. Comerica Park isn't a ball park. It is a monstrosity. The Illitch Family can shove it!
This should be much longer and include at least a few minutes about ALL the lost ballparks.
No it shouldn't.
The ticket office, 1st base grandstand, and outer wall are still standing from Braves field in Boston
They should of preserved all these old parks.,
I wish to go back in time and see a game at clevel and municipal, Polo Grounds, Shibe Park, Fulton County Stadium of the Braves, Sportsman’s Park. Now we have like Jacobs Field in Cleveland. (Or Progressive Field!) I wish to see Metropolitian Stadium and more! Or Griffith Stadium. Or Comiskey Park and more. I also wish to see a game at the astrodome in Houston. The first indoor arena! For the Astros. Man, I do also miss Candlestick Park on the Giants.
but yankee staduim was soo heavily renovated over the course of its lifespan that it had very little in common with the originally built version. at least with wrigley and fenway those two parks have stayed pretty much the same over the years.
I was honored to have season tickets to the yankees back when old yankee stadium was still up I am honored to still have my seat R.I.P. old yankee stadium 1923-2010 I’ll never forget you
Was at the old one in its last year in '73, im grateful for that.
prausch65 my great grandma and my grandma we’re at the first yankee stadium I would’ve loved to seen the original they are classic stadiums either way
@@prausch65 same here.
They had souvenir programs from 1923.
Ebbets Field, Tiger Stadium and the Astrodome we're my favorites and I really wish it added in mlb the show someday
I would have loved to see a game in Shea stadium !
I did, a real no frills ball park.
This quote from Field of Dreams speaks volumes when it comes to old time baseball:
"People will come, Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. "Of course, we won't mind if you look around", you'll say. "It's only $20 per person". They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it, for it is money they have and peace they lack. And they'll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game; it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again. Oh…people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come."
Shine Park and Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia, I will miss forever!
Its all about the dollar 💵 🤑 these days/ i love ❤ ole school ball parks 😊
Tiger Stadium was the best! In the last row of the upper deck, you could still see players' facial expressions. At the new ballpark, the upper deck is in Windsor, Ontario. You've gotta make room for those luxury suites because of the billions and billions of dollars that change hands in today's game...
well done, thanks for this post.
Some of these ballparks should have been perserved as museums instead of being torn down.
The old Astrodome still stands but it's pretty much unused.
I have to laugh because when we went to "Gaylord Perry Day", the season after his consecutive win season, it was a packed house. I don't remember if we had tickets ahead of time but we ended up several rows back in the lower level on the 1st base side. My seat was directly behind a support beam. I could not see the pitcher's mound! I was miserable the whole game.
No need to thank me for the post, and please call me Greg. It has been difficult to pin down any changes to Fenway's field dimensions over the years. I remember the TV commentators back in the 60s making comments about the left field line and they themselves not knowing its true length. One commentator claimed to have asked a Fenway official about it and not given an answer. Over the years I have always wanted to sneak in at night with a tape measure to find out for myself.
The aroma of stale cigar smoke and beer embedded into concrete can never be replicated in modern stadiums--something unique that made a ballpark a ballpark. R.I.P. Yankee Stadium.
I was on Crosley Field as a kid one time. The foul line past first base and out to the right field wall was wooden.
It is indeed sad to see iconic structures in baseball history razed forever. They should have mandated keeping one historic peice of each razed ballpark, like they did in Pittsburgh.
Most of these stadiums were a bit before my time, but I do remember Cleveland stadium. We use to pile in the car & make the drive up there on weekends & just sleep in the car & then head to the stadium come game time & sit in the bleachers & get autographs of as many players as we could find before the game. Back then, you could get em for free. And I would get em from both teams to. So I don't think there's a player out there of who's autograph I don't have. I even have passed down in my family to me, Walter "Big Train" Johnson, Ty Cobb, & the topper of all topper's The Babe, Babe Ruth. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Nolan Ryan, Ken Griffey Jr. Tom Seaver, & so many more. And there all at my uncles ranch under lock & key with a shotgun & a crazy mother, who shoots first & ask questions later. But at least I know there safe. And I will NEVER part with any of my baseball stuff. I don't care how much there worth, there NEVER FOR SALE. I busted my ass & put this collection together for 1 reason & 1 reason only. For the love. For the love of the game. And love is just something that has no price. And I will continue on, in getting autographs, be it, at the stadiums or at autograph shows. I even have one of Willie Mays. He was way nice about it to. I could listen to him talk baseball 24/7 Just a class act. But I do miss these old stadiums. Such great fun & innocent times back then.
Polo grounds would have been great 2 see. Its sad they tare down all these great baseball stadiums. Being a baseball fan in NY must have been awesome when they had 3 teams in NYC. A time long gone. Very sad
Especially when the World Series was the (ny) World Series. They had ten of the Yankees against the Dodgers or the Giants in the classic era, and another one in 2000 between the Yankees and the Mets
Some Modern ballparks are nice, Camden Yards, GABP, Coors Field, Miller Park, PNC, Petco, Safeco Field, Nationals Park, Busch Stadium III, Comerica (though there was nothing wrong with the old Tiger Stadium), Minute Maid, and Marlins Park. Though as long as the stadiums are structurally sound, the Red Sox, Dodgers, and Cubs should never leave Fenway, Wrigley, and Dodger Stadium
This should make them National landmarks, but MLB is a business, but I agree, they have to be preserved
GABP sucks ass to be honest. So does Miller Park.
Home of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The site is now occupied by the University of Pittsburgh, where they kept the brick outfield walls, somewhat of a tribute to Bill Mazerowski's homerun in the '60 World Series.Unfortunately they marked home plate,in the men's room.