Comerica Park

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Comerica Park is a baseball stadium located in downtown Detroit, Michigan. It was constructed as a replacement for the popular, but aging, Tiger Stadium for the Detroit Tigers. It is located next door to Ford Field, the home of the Detroit Lions and near Joe Louis Arena, home of the Detroit Red Wings. The park is also featured briefly in the movie Driven, as well as several rap videos.

Capacity 40,950

Opened April 11th 2000

Owner Detroit-Wayne County Stadium Authority

Cost $ 300 million

Architect HOK Sport

Groundbreaking for a new ballpark to replace Tiger Stadium for the Detroit Tigers was held on October 29, 1997 and the new stadium was opened to the public in 2000. The first game was held on April 11. The new stadium is part of a downtown revitalization plan for the city of Detroit, which included the construction of Ford Field, adjacent to Comerica. In December 1998, Comerica Bank agreed to pay $66 million over 30 years for the naming rights for the new ballpark. Upon opening, there was some effort to try to find a nickname for the park, Mike Stone on WDFN tried “The Copa”, but none caught on it is most commonly referred to as “Comerica”, a major financial services firm in Detroit, and also name holders to Comerica Tower at Detroit Center at 500 Woodward Avenue.

Groundbreaking for a new ballpark to replace Tiger Stadium for the Detroit Tigers was held on October 29, 1997 and the new stadium was opened to the public in 2000. The first game was held on April 11. The new stadium is part of a downtown revitalization plan for the city of Detroit, which included the construction of Ford Field, adjacent to Comerica. In December 1998, Comerica Bank agreed to pay $66 million over 30 years for the naming rights for the new ballpark. Upon opening, there was some effort to try to find a nickname for the park, Mike Stone on WDFN tried “The Copa”, but none caught on it is most commonly referred to as “Comerica”, a major financial services firm in Detroit, and also name holders to Comerica Tower at Detroit Center at 500 Woodward Avenue.

One of the early complaints about the park was its expansive outfield dimensions, making the stadium a pitcher’s park initially. There was some debate about moving in the left field wall. The Tigers’ longtime broadcaster, Ernie Harwell, for instance, publicly supported the original dimensions. Nevertheless, the Tigers chose to bring in the left field wall, which would make the many long fly outs to left potential home runs. Thus prior to the 2005 MLB season, the bullpens were moved from right field to an empty area in left field created when the fence was moved in. In place of the old bullpens in right field, 950 seats were added for a new capacity of 40,950.

Comerica Park hosted the 2005 MLB All-Star Game and its related activities. On July 11, 2005 Comerica Park hosted the Home Run Derby, in this event Bobby Abreu slammed out 24 home runs in the first round, smashing the old record of 15 (David Ortiz also surpassed the old record by hitting 17) Abreu won the Derby over Tiger Iván Rodríguez and hit a record 41 homers during the event. The following night, the park hosted the 76th MLB All-Star Game. The American League won 7-5, with Miguel Tejada winning the game’s MVP award.

Comerica Park has played host to major recording acts in concert such as Eminem (2005), The Rolling Stones (2005) and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (2004). The first act to play the venue was the Dave Mathews Band in the summer of 2000. In full stage shows fans actually are seated on the infield diamond and the stage is in the outfield grass.

(source .. wikipedia) reproduced under GFDL

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