Looking Back at Old Tiger Stadium, 20 Years After Closing

Despite the construction of a new downtown stadium, closing Tiger Stadium was not popular with the team’s fans. To this day, “The Corner” remains a beloved memory for thousands of Metro Detroiters.

Tiger Stadium Navin Field

On September 27, 1999, fans made their last pilgrimage to Corktown for the final game at Tiger Stadium.

When the first grandstand was built in 1895, few could have predicted that more than 100 years later, baseball would still be played on the corner of Trumbull and Michigan Avenue. 

Despite the construction of a new downtown stadium, closing Tiger Stadium was not popular with the team’s fans. To this day, “The Corner” remains a beloved memory for thousands of Metro Detroiters.

Bill Dow is the author of “Tiger Stadium: Essays and Memories of Detroit’s Historic Ballpark 1912-2009.” He also recently wrote an article for the Detroit Free Press commemorating the 20th anniversary of Tiger Stadium’s closing.   

Dow, along with Navin Field Grounds Crew founding member and writer Dave Mesrey, share their memories of Tiger Stadium with CultureShift’s Amanda LeClaire and Ryan Patrick Hooper.  

Click the audio player to hear Dow and Mesrey remember the legacy of Tiger Stadium.

Author

  • Amanda LeClaire is an award-winning journalist and managing editor and lead reporter of WDET's new environmental series, the Detroit Tree Canopy Project, as well as WDET's CuriosiD podcast. She was the host of WDET’s CultureShift and a founding producer of the station’s flagship news talk show *Detroit Today*. Amanda also served as a Morning Edition host at WDET and previously worked as a host, audio and video producer, and reporter for Arizona Public Media.