RIP Tiger Stadium

By Rick Morris

One of America's finest ballparks -- nay, finest overall landmarks -- is biting the dust tonight, another shameful development in a world that only values the brand new. The demolition of Tiger Stadium is now underway and the people of the Detroit area are being sold a bill of goods about how the destruction of this proud, historic structure will benefit the greater good in terms of redevelopment.

A look at the history of the region and the deterioration of the Motor City into a Third World economy should tell us all that the tales spun to sell this great lie should never have been given any credence. Now, I fully admit to being a mark for classic ballparks, and for that matter, old-school stadiums and arenas of all types -- but my own biases aside, this is a sad day for anyone who was ever invested in this great park in any way. I never made it to a game at Tiger Stadium, but, notwithstanding the fact that I have also never been a Tigers fan, I listened to countless games broadcast from there via the dulcet tones of Ernie Harwell on AM 750 across the Great Lakes. I wish that the efforts of the local preservationists had been given a chance and that the park could have been refashioned somehow as a living piece of history. Instead, the corrupt local politicians have torn down one of the only institutions worth saving in that once-great American city.

RIP Tiger Stadium.