Bottom Of The Seventh, Two Beers To Go: Drinking and Baseball

Paul Goedert — Mon, 12 May 2008 08:08:44 -0400

Beer and Baseball. Both are great seperate, and they go together wonderfully. I love baseball, and I love having a cold brew while watching a game.

I am a huge proponent of having a beer at baseball games.

But I go to a baseball game, get this...to watch a baseball game.

A couple of weeks ago I went with my wife and her sister to see the Detroit Tigers take on the L.A. Angels. Her uncle had given us the tickets because he was unable to attend.

We arrive to Comerica Park and it happens to be Kids Day. They are collecting used ball gloves at the park. What a great night.

When we get to our seats, there is hardly anyone around. But as it gets closer to the first pitch, families start filtering in.

I see a father with his son. A family of five just in front of us. It looks like its going to be a beautiful night for a ballgame.

About the third inning, that all changed.

A group of three young people arrived behind us. All three visibly drunk, all three cussing loudly. I hear one of the girls exclaim, "Does anybody even come here to watch baseball?"

The answer is obviously yes.

This scene is something I have seen played out over and over again at professional sports everywhere.

I have seen it at basketball games, I have seen it at hockey games, football, baseball, and even college football games.

And it is clear that all this is not to enhance the enjoyment of viewing the game. It is for one purpose only...to line the pockets of the franchise.

I know this has been around long before I started going to games, but it is getting worse every year.

If you're coming to the game, come to the game. Have a beer, hell, have two beers. Enjoy the game, enjoy your friends. But let everyone else enjoy the game too.

Memories at The Corner: Saving Tiger Stadium

Paul Goedert — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 08:12:29 -0400

It has had many names. Bennett Park, Navin Field, Briggs Stadium, The Corner.

It has hosted World Series games, countless playoff games, world champions and some of the worst teams in history. It has seen records come and go, and then its own time. It now sits dormant and unused.

I, of course, am speaking of Tiger Stadium. With plans being resurrected to demolish the old ballpark in 2008, it's time to revisit the reasons why it should stay.

Why tear it down? In case the City of Detroit, in all their perfection, has failed to notice, their are far greater cases of blight in Corktown. Just take a drive down Trumbull and take a right on Michigan Avenue.

Instead of destroying the last true reminder of when Detroit was beautiful (and it was), why not use it to revive a decaying part of the once-great city? Start investing instead of knocking things over.

Michigan and Detroit have lost enough recently; there's no need to lose a historic building like Tiger Stadium.

As a community, let's put our heads together and make it a centerpiece for bringing Detroit back from the edge. Shopping, hotels, museums, the possibilities are endless.

Someone must stand up and do what is right. Didn't the Illitch family just open up a monstrosity of a casino a few blocks away? Its time for the city, the state, the league, and most importantly the Tigers to get it together and finally save what we all cherish at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull.

We all have stories and memories of being at Tiger Stadium. I remember the first game I ever went to with my Dad, the Tigers were hosting the Mariners. What a night.

It was Ken Griffey Jr.'s rookie year. I had never seen anything so big in my life, until the next game, when I met Cecil Fielder at an on-field clinic before the game.

I remember going to my first game without my Dad, just me and my best friend Matt. They played the Red Sox that day. We sat right behind a pole on the first base side.

This place is not just a building, it is part of my life. It is part of who I am.

Ever hear a story about some guy in a historic neighborhood wanting to paint his house aqua green? The neighborhood erupts in protest, people go to the city council and the historical society.

In the end, the poor guy is forced to paint the house brown to preserve the historical feel of the neighborhood.

Did you know that Tiger Stadium was declared a State of Michigan Historic site in 1975? It has been listed as a National Historical Site since 1989.

If a guy can't paint his house because its in a historic district, how can we just knock down such a huge piece of history so that some people can profit from the scrap metal?

I don't have a perfect plan for Tiger Stadium. A lot of my ire is drawn from the fact that a place that holds so many memories for me is going to be destroyed.

But nonetheless, I hold to the fact that their is a better future for The Corner than to be scrapped and recycled.

So please, if you love baseball, if you love the Tigers, and if you love Detroit, stand up and say something. Lets save Tiger Stadium.

Bleacher Report - Articles by Paul Goedert

Bottom Of The Seventh, Two Beers To Go: Drinking and Baseball

Memories at The Corner: Saving Tiger Stadium