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Read with interest your article in the latest edition, dealing with Tiger Stadium. Maybe the solution is a simple one: is there any way to get Tiger Stadium declared a National Historic Site? A lot of old landmarks have been preserved in that way, everything from great old skyscrapers to SF's cable cars. If you or the folks at Michigan & Trumbull LLC or somebody could make that happen, you could conceivably keep it there indefinitely, the same as Yosemite or the Everglades are as National Parks. Don't know how one would go about that, but it's a thought.
And if someone really wants to tear down a ballpark, have them come out to Stockton, CA and blow up dingy old Hebert Field. Maybe then the city fathers will get off the schneid and build our local team a place whose last full-scale renovation wasn't as part of a WPA project ...
An avid reader,
Ray Anselmo -- Stockton, California
Eds: We asked Bob Christensen at the State of Michigan this question, and he wrote: "Tiger Stadium is already listed in the National Register of Historic Places. At one time the National Park Service evaluated it for National Historic Landmark status, but turned it down because of integrity issues such as the exterior covering and replacement seats. The city of Detroit also has a historic district ordinance. I don't believe the stadium is a city district."
When asked if this would help keep Tiger Stadium from the wrecking ball, he wrote: "No. Its an honorary designation that offers little protection."
What's all the fuss about. Baseball? BAH-HUMBUG!
JLR in Plymouth
One small nitpick: in the article about the fate of Tiger Stadium you stated that Peter Riley lived in Grosse Point. It's actually spelled Grosse Pointe, with an "e" on the end. We get no end of ribbing for this, believe me.
Mark
To the Editor:
I understand that California is planning to revise the "three strikes" law. Won't this give the Padres, Angels, Dodgers and Giants an unfair advantage?
Signed,
Irritable Mark
Just wondering if anyone can explain the relatively low amount of career doubles (only 344) by Mantle. Seems like avery small total when you consider his speed and the much larger stadiums.
Best,
Larry Wolfson
Hey Guys, Come on, let's get the players names right! It was John Miller, not Jim, a 60's outfielder who hit his ONLY 2 home runs in his first and last M.L. at bat. His first homer came while playing for the Dodgers in 1966, and his 2nd and last one was as a member of the Yankees in 1969.
And it was Jack Harshman, a 50's pitcher who hit the 21 HR in among his 76 ML hits. By the way Harshman hit over 40 HR's in AAA baseball as a first baseman for the Minn. Millers in the early 50's. He even earned his first couple of big league trials with the N.Y. Giants as a first sacker. He later switched to pitching and had a successful career as a LH starter for the ChiSox and Orioles. His career ended by a sore arm, he went to spring training with the L.A. Angels in 1961, but was cut before the season began.
Do your homework guys!
Thanks,
Gary
Eds: Our misspelling names is new to you? Do your homework Gary!
The Universal Baseball Association: J. Henry Waugh Proprietor is the best book on baseball. Coover is a splendid writer and this book is a serious look at theology and baseball games. It is both fun to read and then it sticks with you as a thought provoking look at who we are as individuals and our own little problems and propensities. A great read during the dog days of summer.
Also any book on baseball by W. P. Kinsella provides an enjoyable experience in literature.
H. TOBEY
Always my favorite was If I Never Get Back by Darryl Brock—a wonderful juxtaposition of English Literature and 19th Century baseball by a professor of both! Can't wait to read his new one, Two in the Field, which is on my bedstand right now.
But then I read Clearing the Bases by Allen Barra. Now I must adjust my thinking and say that I have a favorite baseball fiction, and a favorite baseball nonfiction!
Regards,
Len
As a life-long Tiger rooter, it pains me that the Ilitch family, who've claimed to have done so much for the city of Detroit, have turned their back on Tiger tradition and treated the stadium this way. If for no other reason than to honor and respect the names of Trammell, Kaline, Horton, Newhouser, Greenberg, Gehringer, Cobb, Crawford, etc., the stadium should be treated with reverence and kept in decent shape, not ignored and allowed to fall apart. What does it say about our society when we turn our back on our heritage? I'll be in Detroit at the end of May to see a weekend series at Comerica, but I'll make my pilgrimage to the Corner to see their old home one more time. It will always remind me of the days when being the Detroit Tigers fan meant pride and professionalism. Shame on the Ilitch family and the city of Detroit for their shoddy treatment of history.
Dan Holmes
Cooperstown, NY
You mentioned in "Readings" that a player named Jim Miller homered in his first and last at bats. His name is actually John Miller. He played 6 games for the Yanks in 1966 and 26 games for the Dodgers in 1969. The really funny thing, though, is that those were the only two homers he hit in his brief career!
Cheers,
Terrell K. Holmes
Mr. Mudville,
On the Yankee dynasty... yes, it is good for baseball. Consider the penalties the Yankees pay in order to sustain smaller markets. And add to the profits of other owners who use the money to embellish hot dog/pop corn sales.
And on the Yankee-Boston rivalry... it goes beyond baseball. While recently in Boston, a presumably Yankee fan was seen with a NYY hat on, and suffered the boos and spitting of a pent up hate that goes back to 1918.
So, like others in other sports, there are pacemakers. Similarly, the Yankees are here to stay. They have raised the bar. The rest of baseball is benefiting.
Jerry O'Connor
But, my question - why do you produce all this?
thank you
Larry
Last year my daughter and I took a trip to see the Expos in Montreal (since we figured we would not have that opportunity for much longer). We then toured a few ballparks that had been built since the last time we had seen games in their cities. We started in Pittsburgh, then on to Cleveland, and finally Detroit (with stops in Akron and Toledo added in).
Overall I thought that Pittsburgh's park was very attractive, but we had serious difficulties with the people who ran it. Cleveland seemed old already, a member of a transitional generation now passed. (We are from San Francisco and my daughter is a veteran usher for the Giants.) Detroit's park was attractive and seemed to build on the experiences of other cities. Of course, the area and the depressing nature of the neighborhood is overwhelming. The book review in your current posting alludes to that reality.
Dennis Kelly
Major league baseball, no! International baseball sí!
PCB
Here is my take on the Tiger stadium issue: tear it down. Why are we as a country so obsessed with saving things? If Ebbetts field had but turned into a tourist trap would it have been used as a reference and metaphor copyright Death Of A Sales Man?
Mark
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