Sunday, May 16, 1999
Five storied ballparks are going, going ...
Take a tour before 229 years of history are gone
BY SCOTT MacGREGOR
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Ever wanted to see the Eighth Wonder of the World, or walk where Ty Cobb ran and Lou Gehrig rusted out? Ever want to have a brat and a beer old Milwaukee style, catch a Ken Griffey, Jr. homer launched in a king's dome, or whip in the cold, swirling winds of a candle stick?
If ever you did, you better hurry. Time's running out.
In this, the decade of death for old ballparks and grand birth for new ones, it is fitting that in its final year, no fewer than five ballparks will bid farewell.
Barring postseason play, by Oct. 3, the last day of baseball's 1999 regular season, the doors will close on the Houston Astrodome, Tiger Stadium in Detroit, Milwaukee County Stadium, the Seattle Kingdome and 3Com Park at San Francisco's Candlestick Point.
The Seattle Mariners will open their new stadium (Safeco Field) July 15, just after the All-Star break, while the other four clubs (the Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers and San Francisco Giants) will move into new confines for next Opening Day. All promise to be spectacular feats of late 1990s lavishness — retro-style look, cup holders in the seats, scores of skyboxes and tons more cash flowing into the team's coffers. That, of course, is the principle — and in some cases, perhaps only — reasons to replace a park anyway. But none will have any history to speak of, at least for a while.
Though Tiger Stadium — which opened in 1912, the same day as Boston's Fenway Park — is the only gem among the condemned bunch, wouldn't it be a baseball fan's dream to see all five parks in their farewell years? Wouldn't it be better if you could see all five in an eight-day blitz?
It sounds nearly impossible, but you can.
THE GRAND TOUR
|
What: Watch a game at each of the five ballparks that are closing in 1999: 3Com Park, San Francisco; Kingdome, Seattle; Astrodome, Houston; County Stadium, Milwaukee and Tiger Stadium, Detroit
Time needed: Eight days, seven nights
Cost: $2,981 on Delta (consult a travel agent for competitive pricing)
Thursday, June 8 — travel to San Francisco
Wednesday, June 9 — 3Com Park, San Francisco. Giants vs. Angels, 12:35 p.m. PDT
Thursday, June 10 — off day
Friday, June 11 — Kingdome, Seattle. Mariners vs. Giants, 7:05 p.m. PDT
Saturday, June 12 — Astrodome, Houston. Astros vs. Padres, 7:05 p.m. CDT
Sunday, June 13 — County Stadium, Milwaukee. Brewers vs. Twins, 1:05 p.m. CDT
Monday, June 14 — Tiger Stadium, Detroit. Tigers vs. Mariners, 7:05 p.m. EDT
Tuesday, June 15 — return home
West Coast swing
Friday, June 25 — Kingdome, Seattle. Mariners vs. Rangers, 7:05 p.m. PDT
Saturday, June 26 — tour San Francisco
Sunday, June 27 — 3Com Park, San Francisco. Giants vs. Dodgers, 1:05 p.m. PDT
Great Lakes Getaway
Thursday, July 22 — County Stadium, Milwaukee. Brewers vs. Phillies, 1:05 p.m. CDT
Friday, July 23-Sunday, July 25 — Tiger Stadium, Detroit. Tigers vs. Red Sox, 7:05 p.m. EDT Friday, 5:05 p.m. EDT Saturday, 1:05 p.m. EDT Sunday
Texas one-step
Saturday, June 27-Sunday, June 28 — Astrodome, Houston. Astros vs. Reds, 7:05 p.m. CDT Saturday, 1:35 p.m. CDT Sunday
|
After combing through game schedules, consulting endlessly with travel agents and trying to make a quick killing on the stock market to pay for it, the Enquirer has discovered an eight-day window — June 8-15 — in which it's possible to see games in San Francisco, Seattle, Houston, Milwaukee and Detroit (see chart).
It's the second-best ballpark tour you can take this year, beaten only by the mother of all tours, the 30-cities-or-bust marathon tour that would take you to every stadium in the majors.
But you can do that anytime. For this one, you've got one shot. And even if you can't make this whole tour, you must at least make the five-hour up I-75 to Detroit to see Tiger Stadium.
Come, take a magical mystery tour.
3Com Park
Our tour begins with a day game in San Francisco on June 9, the Giants vs. Anaheim. They renamed this circle by the bay 3Com Park at Candlestick Point in 1996, but it will be remembered as Candlestick Park, which opened in 1960. Mostly, this otherwise forgettable park will be remembered for the wind.
The winds coming off San Francisco Bay have created plenty of havoc over the years. Giants reliever Stu Miller was actually blown off the mound in the ninth inning of the 1961 All-Star game, and Cubs pitcher Ed Lynch once had his hat blown off his head — all the way to the outfield wall, on two bounces.
At least one veteran Bay Area sportswriter claims Giants great Willie Mays could have hit 800 home runs, instead of the 660 he did, if so many hadn't been blown back into play.
The wind blows so cold, Pirates coach George Sisler once wrapped his legs in newspaper underneath his uniform to keep warm, and one-time Giant Bobby Murcer used to heat his bat in the clubhouse sauna before each trip to the plate. When the Beatles played their historic last-ever concert there in August 1966 on a stage near second base, John Lennon told the crowd, “It's a bit chilly here.”
Former Giants catcher and Bay Area native Brian Johnson, now with the Reds, knows the feeling. “It's cold even in the dead of summer,” he said. “Baseball's supposed to be played in warm weather, and you really don't get warm weather unless you play during the day.”
The San Francisco fog can sometimes be seen, too, rolling in off the Bay, halting a 1964 game when Dodgers center fielder Willie Davis lost a ball in the fog.
Pacific Bell Park, the first privately-funded baseball stadium in 30 years, may become an instant classic when the Giants move in next April; it sits at China Basin, overlooking the Bay — providing a beautiful view of the San Francisco hills in the background — and the short (307-feet) right field fence will allow home runs to fall into the Bay. There is even a proposal on the table to let dogs jump into the water to retrive lost balls, along with the “Seventh-inning Fetch.”
But PacBell won't have the wind or the cold. China Basin is one of the warmest, sunniest areas of San Francisco, and the design should block the wind.
“It's a lot more mellow, as far as the weather,” Johnson said.
All in all, a much better experience for the fan. But there will be nothing left in baseball like that quirky wind.
“It's said because there's a lot of memories there, but it's not sad because I think the fans there would just like a better place to watch a game,” Johnson said. “I enjoyed playing there, but I'm sure there are a lot of people that will be glad to see it go.”
Kingdome
This is, in one way, the most urgent trip to make; Safeco Field, a retractable roof, natural grass stadium, will open for Mariners business July 15. Other than the time factor, however, there is really no compelling reason to see the Kingdome.
It's just another dome, non-descript other than the fact that the ball carries well, providing good home run theatrics. And with Griffey — who already has 361 career homers at age 29 — that could be a good show.
Perhaps its only two memorable moments came in 1995, when Randy Johnson raised his long, lean arms high in the air after pitching Seattle into the playoffs for the first time, and in the American League Division Series, when Griffey slid home to help Seattle beat the Yankees.
It's so boring, in fact, the Mariners media guide doesn't include any fond farewell words on its closing, unlike the guides of the other four teams. But it's a loud, rockin' atmosphere inside, and it's a great excuse to check out a great city.
Astrodome
Houston's Astrodome, now outdated and ugly, was a technological wonder when it opened in 1965.
Tabbed the “Eighth Wonder of the World,” the dome was a radical new concept in sports. Play baseball inside? Are you kidding? On plastic grass? In a building with an 18-story roof and more than 6,000 tons of air conditioning?
But now domes and Astroturf are commonplace. Which makes the Astrodome a compelling trip — why not see the original, the one that ushered in the bowl stadium craze of the late 1960s, before it's pummelled into history?
The Astrodome is no great sight. Looking at it, you think The Jetsons. It has a classic 1960s space-age design — silver on the outside like old NASA astronaut capsules. And the inside could hardly be more dank, even with the flowers the team added to top of the outfield wall a few years ago.
But come next year, when the Astros move into a retractable roof stadium downtown, there will again be only Seven Wonders.
“I'm not a big dome guy,” said Reds pitcher Pete Harnisch, who spent four years with the Astros. “I can't speak for a whole bunch of people. But I would think there would be some people who think, "It's the Eighth Wonder of the World.'
“But I think it's not a case of looking back. I know the people in Houston are pretty excited about getting a new ballpark. That's more the focus for them.”
County Stadium
This is Milwaukee, circa 1953. You half expect to see Richie Cunningham and the Fonz with Laverne and Shirley in the cheap seats.
County Stadium obviously lacks the history of Tiger Stadium, but believe it or not, its 1953 construction date makes it the fifth-oldest park in the league.
It's a history that recalls more memories of its former inhabitants, the Milwaukee Braves (who played there from 1953-66, between Boston and Atlanta) than its current tenants, the Brewers (who have provided only one postseason, a World Series trip in 1982).
As you sip the home-made Milwaukee beer — perhaps brewed close to the park at the Miller brewery — and lay your teeth into a gooey, spicy Wisconsin bratwurst, you think of Hank Aaron hammerin' all those home runs — he hit more of his record 755 here for the Braves than anywhere — and lefty Warren Spahn pitching the Braves to the 1955 World championship.
Harnisch, who pitched there briefly for the Brewers in 1997, also recalls the solid Brewer teams of the 1980s, with names like Cecil Cooper and Hall of Famer Robin Yount.
This is not a place of expansive history, but there's some. The food court on the lower level may be in the best olefactory experience in the league, owing to the heavy Milwaukee-German influence.
And most notably, it's where Aaron, returning to play for the Brewers at the end of his career, smacked home run No.755, the last of his unmatched power.
Tiger Stadium
Our tour fittingly ends here, in one of the hallowed parks in baseball history, where the whispers of Cobb and Fidrych and Gibson can still be heard in the footsteps walking along the painted paw prints underneath the grandstand.
There is not the beauty of Wrigley Field, the quaintness of Fenway nor the majestic grandeur of Yankee Stadium, the game's other grande dames. But there is the history, the memories of 87 seasons, six World Series and several eras gone by. It hasn't always been called Tiger Stadium, and the park has undergone several renovations, but they've actually been playing baseball on the same spot at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull since 1896.
Ty Cobb rapped most of his one-time record 4,189 hits here (then known as Briggs Stadium) on his way to a still-record .367 lifetime average. Gehrig, on May 2, 1939, withdrew his name from the Yankee lineup before a game here — for the first time in 2,130 games, ending his ironman streak. (Gehrig is rumored to have watched the game at a bar down Michigan Avenue, now called Casey's, which still stands).
Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Jimmy Foxx and Bob Feller all played here in the same American League lineup in the 1941 All-Star game — the year Williams hit .406. Reggie Jackson smashed a light standard in right field during the 1971 All-Star game. Sluggers from Williams to Mickey Mantle to Mark McGwire have cleared the roof with Herculean blasts.
How many parks can boast that?
And besides, Tiger Stadium is a grand park because of its age. These days, going to a new park isn't a big deal. It's going to the old ones — the ones with iron girders rusting, with the pungent smell of decades stuck in the stained concrete — that has become the novelty.
And Tiger Stadium has all the great charm of an old ballpark. No matter where your tickets are, you must — and this is not negotiable — check out the view from center field, where the fence lies a monstrous 440 feet from home plate straight away. There is not a sight like it left in all of baseball, the vastness exposed for all its imposing fear.
And no trip to Tiger would be complete without catching a few innings from the right field upper deck, where you feel as if you're hanging over the field — you are, 10 feet over. The view on a ball hit to the wall is horrible, but you'll never feel as much a part of a game.
In fact, that goes for most of the Tiger Stadium seats; they're so close, you're almost on the field.
“It's the people I will remember,” former Tiger star Willie Horton said in the team's tribute. “Everybody was so close, you got to know them by their faces.”
“I could almost reach out and touch the fans,” said former Tiger George Kell.
It's not as comfortable as a new park. But you'll have more fun.
“It was a great place to call home,” Kell said.
And a great place to visit. If this is the only park you see, don't miss it.
Sports Stories
Four Musketeers graduate after overcoming long odds
REDS 6, PADRES 2
Blister keeps Avery from today's start
REDS NOTEBOOK
Box, runs
