Opened: April 11, 2000
Capacity: 41,299
Comerica Park
I wanted to visit here for awhile. It became much more of a pull when the Pirates were paired with the Tigers for interleague play. There was a time after all when it seemed like half of the Tigers coaching staff were ex-Pirates. I had flown through the Detroit airport a few times but was never on the ground. I will admit I struggled to find things to do in Detroit but that is another matter.
How did I get there?
Arrived in Detroit in early afternoon up I-75 from Toledo. You can see Detroit coming for miles. There are a large number of surface lots near the park and you can park all day for $25 or for the game for $10. I parked all day for two days and walked around the city. The lot itself was within sight of the stadium. Detroit is the Motor City and at that point there was no train access to the stadium. A light rail line was being built on Woodward when I was there. Figure it’s done by now.
Ticket prices
Ticket prices were not horrible. The cheapest was $12 for the Tiger’s Perch, which was metal bleachers high atop right field. I just wound up standing instead at a lower level. Sat in the upper deck behind home plate one night for about $25. In all, I saw three games for about $50.
Finding my seat and amenities
I was not a fan of the Tiger’s Perch for anything other than the price but you can stand elsewhere so that worked out for me. The stadium had anything you could want, even a cigar lounge. I don’t smoke so that didn’t appeal to me but for some it might. They had a food court for one stop eating and a number of statues highlight great Tigers of the past.
In game experience
This series was right before All-Star game voting concluded so the Tigers were pushing hard to get their players into the game. Most of the downtime was devoted to pushing that.
Getting out
This is where I had a little bit of trouble. Downtown was not marked terribly well and I was staying out near the airport. I wound up getting onto 75 and cutting over Southfield Road to connect to I-94. It turns out that when the highway split I should have gone right rather than left but my road atlas was not clearly marked as well though I also wasn’t quite sure where exactly I was getting on the highway too.
Wrap
Detroit has a reputation and I did get a bit off the beaten path. There were some run down buildings and this city has been hit hard. This was the first trip that I made an effort to visit breweries in the cities I was visiting and I was not disappointed with Detroit but I could have visited more. I’ll be back. My perception of the park was probably also helped by the fact the Pirates swept the series.