| | DETROIT -- A little snow and freezing drizzle was not
going to stand in the way of 88 years of baseball history.
After playing at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull avenues
since 1912, the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday passed the torch from Tiger
Stadium to Comerica Park, their new state-of-the-art downtown
facility.
|  | | A worker puts the finishing touches on Comerica Park for Tuesday's opener. |
After about an inch of snow was cleared, 81-year-old Tigers
broadcaster Ernie Harwell emceed a pregame ceremony that
featured former Tiger greats George Kell and Al Kaline along
with former manager Sparky Anderson, who will be inducted into
the Hall of Fame this summer.
Also participating in the ceremony was 89-year-old Eldon Auker,
a pitcher on the Tigers' first championship team in 1935. Auker
and current Detroit catcher Brad Ausmus raised the team's flag
that will fly during the first homestand at Comerica Park.
The Tigers' new ballpark features the largest electronic
scoreboard in existence and favors lefthanded hitters with
center field "only" 422 feet from home plate. That is 18 feet
shorter than at Tiger Stadium, where many potential home runs
went to die.
Comerica Park features an old style scoreboard for out-of-town
scores and a pitch information board, which displays the speed
of each offering. The facility is below street level and also
will have a merry-go-round for fans.
Comerica Park is one of three new facilities to open this year,
along with Enron Field in Houston and Pac Bell Park in San
Francisco.
The snow that fell overnight stuck only to the tarpulin and
members of the ground crew were able to remove it with water
from hoses.
The game began without any precipitation, though players wore
skimasks to combat the 36-degree temperature and fans wore heavy
overcoats more suitable for a Michigan-Ohio State football game.
Two nine-year-olds -- Maggie Dewalt of Hamtrack, Michigan and
Jeff Barswell of Detroit -- were randomly picked out of the
crowd to throw the first pitch.
Brian Moehler threw the real first pitch at Comerica Park at 1:18
p.m. ET, a called strike to Mark McLemore.
The Tigers played their final game at Tiger Stadium on September
27, defeating the Kansas City Royals, 8-2. Rob Fick hit the
final home run at the cherished facility, a grand slam in the
eighth inning.
Detroit finished its tenure at Tiger Stadium with a record of
3,764-3,090 and 19 ties, winning World Series titles in 1935,
1945, 1968 and 1984.
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