WDET News
- Todd Jones Recalls Tiger Stadium Days
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Sep 29, 2008General - Link to Audio
September 29, 2008 by Pat Batcheller
It’s been a tough summer for baseball fans in Detroit. They watched the Tigers collapse under the weight of lofty pre-season expectations…and they finally saw much of Tiger Stadium collapse under the weight of demolition equipment. Both were difficult for one Tigers player. WDET’s Pat Batcheller reports… with an assist from Matt Watroba.
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Todd Jones threw the last pitch at Tiger Stadium…striking out Kansas City’s Carlos Beltran to end the 1999 season…and decades of baseball at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull. Jones recalled that moment as he watched Mariano Rivera record the final out at New York’s Yankee Stadium earlier this month.
“They brought out all their legends and I thought I wonder if they saw our closing ceremonies and we brought our legends on the field. I wonder if they took a page out of our book. Mariano threw the last pitch and I’m like…I’ve been there [laughter]”
Jones retired this weekend after 16 Major League seasons…eight of those as a Tiger. When he and the team moved to the much more spacious Comerica Park in 2000…Jones instantly felt the contrast between the old ballpark and the new one.
“You know Tiger Stadium is vastly different than Comerica Park. You could hear conversations in the upper deck…you could hear ‘well Jones is coming in, I’m leaving’. It’s so compacted on you, you can feel everything about it.”
Today, all that’s left of Tiger Stadium are the stands in foul territory…which Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell and others are trying to save. Even if they can’t…Todd Jones says his memories…and those of Tiger fans…will keep the old ballpark alive for years to come.
“Tiger Stadium meant so much to so many other people that you hear…’my granddad used to bring me to this park.’ Grown men walk into a ballpark and their 10 years old sitting right next to their granddad who’s been dead 20 years. It just brought people back to a place in their lives that has long gone.”
This is Pat Batcheller, WDET News