Category Archives: Fan Experience

Comments on the experience of being a Tigers fan, including views on Comerica Park and fan relations.

Midweek Linking

Tigers to FM Radio?

It looks like the Tigers might be heading to FM radio. WKRK 97.1, which like WXYT is owned by CBS Radio, let their evening hosts Parker and the Man go. This could mean that the station is vying for the Red Wings and Tigers contracts.

The story in the Freep speculates that the evening games would be simulcast on WKRK as well as 1270. The move would help those in metro Detroit who currently have issues picking up WXYT’s signal as it gets washed out by power lines. But those that are out-state will still be relying on the radio network and partner stations.

TigerFest Announced

FanFest 2006 at Joe Louis ArenaThe 2007 edition of TigerFest will take place on January 20th from noon to 6:00pm. For the first time it will be held at Comerica Park. According to the release:

Most fan access areas within the event will be heated and covered – as the Tigers create the ultimate “summer time” experience in the middle of winter!

It will be interesting to see how this comes off. There are numerous areas under the stands where autograph tables could be set up as well as areas like the Tiger Club and Beer Hall. But it just seems like it could be pretty congested trying to get around.

The players who’ll be attending won’t be announced until January, but the event will feature the typical photo booths, seminars, tours, face painting, etc. One new item will be the opportunity to see the AL Championship Trophy.

Tickets go on sale at 10am Friday. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for kids.

Short cuts

While I wait for the BCS results, I’ll let others do the heavy lifting and link out:

  • There’s an interesting look at the results by count, and more importantly by what happens after a certain count. The Tigers swung at a ton of first pitches, and Tom Gage even had some stats saying it was a good idea. My issue with Gage’s stats were that they simply showed the result when the ball was put in play. It didn’t take into account the adverse effect of fouling a ball off or swining and missing and putting yourself in a hole. He also didn’t mention sample sizes. By only looking at balls in play, he essentially takes out the possiblity of striking out which isn’t realistic and then there is the issue of not enhancing your OBP via the walk. I didn’t really have the comparisons for what those numbers should look like, but they’re available now. We still don’t know the complete picture on the Tigers at-bats, but it is an interesting comparison nonetheless.
  • Baseball Analysts took a look at the best and worst defenders in the minors from 2006. The good news is that no Tigers showed up on the worst list. Kevin Hooper rated as the 2nd best defensive shortstop last year.
  • Via Knuckle Curve Baseball America has put out a scouting dictionary. So if you want to know what a long swing is, or what it means for a pitcher to throw downhill, this is the place to check.
  • Finally, it looks like there will be a DVD chronicling the Tigers season. It will be available December 7th and exclusive to Meijer stores. The DVD will retail for $18.99. For those interested in a sneak peek, the premiere will be December 6th at the Uptown Palladium in Birmingham. Dan Dickerson, Mario Impemba, and Nate Robertson will be on hand. Tickets are $10. Call 313-471-2052 for tickets and premiere information.

Tigers announce 2007 Ticket Prices

The Tigers announced their 2007 ticket prices, and as expected there were some increases. This only makes sense as the American League Champion Detroit Tigers are surely a better ticket than the xx consecutive losing season Detroit Tigers. And even though there were increases, they were modest.

Ticket prices for the entire upper level of the ballpark will remain the same in 2007 and have not changed since the ballpark opened in April of 2000. Total seating capacity at Comerica Park is 41,070 and over 11,000 of those seats are priced at $15 or less.

For the upcoming 2007 regular season, the On-Deck Circle ($65), Infield Box ($40), Outfield Box ($30), Right Field Grandstand ($20) and Pepsi Bleacher ($10) areas have all been increased.
The ten remaining seating price areas are unchanged for next season. Those seating areas include the Tiger Den ($60), Terrace ($35), Club Seats ($25), Upper Box Infield ($20), Upper Box RF ($20), Upper Box LF ($20), Pavilion ($15), Mezzanine ($15), Upper Reserved ($12) and Skyline ($5).

Fans with full and partial season ticket plans in 2007 will continue to see a discount of up to 40% off the regular ticket price, based on seat location. Season ticket packages of 81, 41 and 27 games will be available in 2007 and include Opening Day tickets, complimentary food vouchers and post-season ticket priority.

The areas that increased all appear to have increased by $5, with the exception of the Bleachers which increased by $2. Those seats that increased were a pretty good value for the most part. While I typically didn’t spring for the infield box or Tiger Den seats, I did enjoy the bargains on Outfield Box and the Grandstand. The Grandstand seats always seemed to sell quicker than the rest, and I have a feeling would have been increased regardless of the teams’ outcomes.

Also of note, the 21 game packages are gone in favor of 27 game packages.

I have to say I’m happy about this. Mike Ilitch gets additional revenue, yet it is still affordable for a family to head down for a game.

ALCS – My Clinch Story

My 5 year old son is a huge Tiger fan. We’d been watching the game Saturday night and he’d wandered into the other room to help his sister with something after Oakland’s half of the 9th. When Craig Monroe and Placido Polanco both singled bringing up Magglio Ordonez (that’s his Tiger) I called to him. He came into the room and I said to him, “I think you might want to be watching right now.”

I reset the situation and he said, “this is kind of scary.” By scary I think he meant nerve-wracking, but he’s 5 and I figured it was close enough and simply agreed.

He picked up his rally towel he’d gotten the previous night and started waving it. Moments later Ordonez connected and sent the ball high into the chilly night. I of course jumped up off the couch and had my hands raised in the air as the ball nestled into the crowd. I looked over at my son and he was expressionless. I yelled, “Can you believe Magglio did it?” He put his head down, incapable of speaking as tears started streaming down his cheeks.

To say that I was able to maintain my compsure would be a lie. I misted up just as much as he did. (heck, the screen is getting a little blurry as I write this) My 3 year old daughter came running in to join the celebration. We all were hugging in the middle of the room as we watched Monroe, Polanco, and Ordonez circle the bases and launch into celebration.

I was happy for the Tigers. I was happy for my son. Mostly I was thrilled that he understood just how big the moment was, even if he couldn’t fully process it or voice it.

ALDS Final Celebration Tidbits

Here are some celebration miscellaney…

First, Joey C found this YouTube video of the celebration. It was somebody with a camcorder recording the TV broadcast so the quality isn’t the best, but you definitely get the gist of what’s going on.

You can download the whole game 4 for free from MLB.com. Or if you prefer, for $0.99 you can get 4:48 of bliss that includes the last out and celebration.

Buster Olney called it “perhaps the greatest team celebration you will ever see.” While Jerry Green said it brought back memories of the 1968 party that spilled from the clubhouse to the Lindell AC.

Some may have been put off by the celebration, but The Bleacher Guy explains that those who didn’t appreciate the celebration didn’t experience the depths of despair this team had encountered.

Finally, Peter Gammons weighs in. It’s premium content, but I’ll excerpt the sweetest stuff below:

Those were the Tigers of 1984, of Alan Trammell and Jack Morris, Sparky Anderson and Kirk Gibson, and they may or may not have meant more to the city’s psyche than the Tigers of 1968. Yankees or no Yankees, these 2006 Tigers are summed up by manager Jim Leyland’s simple phrase, “We showed we belong,” which may not sound like much in New York or Boston or Chicago, but to a franchise that hadn’t had a winning season since 1993 in a town where baseball not only mattered but was Cobb, Gehringer, Kaline, Lolich, et al — lords and masters — just to “belong” with the Yankees is a measure of the self-respect that somehow got lost.

So to hear the chants for Kenny Rogers, the 23rd winningest left-hander in history yet an abused postseason figure, was a wonderful thing. To watch the standing ovations for Craig Monroe, Todd Jones and Carlos Guillen made them all the stars that went on top, and, best of all, seeing Leyland carried off the field like Knute Rockne made the weekend.

Random Acts of High Five-itude

Tonight was simply an amazing experience at Comerica Park. I eagerly waited for this game all day and arrived when the gates opened. And even though I had prepped myself, I still couldn’t believe I was watching a playoff game in Detroit. I also couldn’t believe the choice seat I had 3 seats in from where the wall starts to rise along the left field line. It was a great spot for seeing Polanco’s double land fair, only to be called foul (really, what else is the left field umpire looking for?)

I want to paint the scene of what happened immediately following the game. The crowd was on their feet for the entire bottom of the 9th inning so when Jonesy fanned Matsui to end the game, it couldn’t conceivably get any louder. So the fans cheered some more, and then everyone just kind of stood there looking at the field. Nobody really moved at all. I can only imagine what might happen should the Tigers clinch tomorrow.

When people finally did start making their ways to the exits, everyone was high fiving. Again, I mean everyone. People were high fiving up the aisles. They were high fiving in the concourse. They were high fiving in the street and on the sidewalk outside the stadium. And it wasn’t just drunk frat guy with his buddies and anyone else who might join in. These were all strangers. They were young and old. They were guys and girls. They were black and white. It was just amazing that you would end up high fiving every 10th person you saw and say a simple “Go Tigers.”

I know that a winning baseball team has served as a unifier in this city in the past. And I don’t mean to compare people simply being excited to what happened in the aftermath of the 1967 riots. But tonight was certainly special in more ways than one.

Game 3 Comerica Park festivities

The Tigers announced that The Four Tops will be performing the National Anthem prior to game 3. Other stuff of note is that Al Kaline will throw out the first pitch, Ernie Harwell will be in the house on ESPN and WXYT, and the Joint Services Color Guard from Selfridge Air National Guard Base will present the colors. Here’s hoping for a fly-over also. I’m a sucker for the fly-over.

For those of you heading down, gates will open at 6pm.

Make a Tiger Connection

I received a request a couple days ago from a Tiger fan who was moving to San Francisco. He was looking to meet some fellow Tiger fans in the area to enjoy the rest of the season and hopefully the post season.

I know from my hit trackers and commentors that there are people all over the world who read this site (that still is hard for me to comprehend). I figured I’d help him out.

So if you are a displaced Tiger fan and are looking for other in the same region of the country, here is the place to identify yourself. Also, I set up one of them Frappr maps to aid in this.

I hope this will be helpful to you guys, and the benefit for me is that I learn a little bit more about the people visiting the site.

Hawking Hot Dogs

Hebrew National, who supplies the all-beef dogs at Comerica Park held a contest over the last month to select the best hot dog hawker. Tonight they announced the winner and it was Charley Marcuse, the operatic hot dog guy. The 4 finalist demo’d their hawking call for the fans tonight. If you’re interested, the finalists can be seen in action here.

Charley was a lightning rod of controversy several years ago when season ticket holders complained. The Tigers told him to stop singing and it somehow became an international story (first reported by Tigerblog).

In any event, whether or not you like Charley, he is headed to New York after winning the contest. He’ll get a first class travel package to see the Tigers take on the Yankees.

If it were up to me the biggest differentiator would be the vendor who came prepared with mustard in a jar and then applied it with a tongue depressor, just like the old days. While the individual packets are probably tremendously more advantageous from a Board of Health perspective, it’s just not the same.

Shortly after winning, Charley and the other finalists were right back at work on a sell out Friday night.

Where am I?

So the family and I decided to head down for tonight’s game. The plan was to have dinner at Cheli’s Chili before heading into the park. We parked at Grand Circus just before 5:00pm and were quite surprised to see a line of 20 people waiting to get into Cheli’s. This is 2 hours before game time, on a Thursday, against the Royals.

Seemingly thwarted at Cheli’s, we turn the corner to head to Hockeytown, only to see another line.

What’s going on here? They weren’t playing the Yankees and it wasn’t a weekend. Roger Clemens wasn’t even in town. This is the Royals and it isn’t opening day.

We reversed course and decided to wait it out at Cheli’s, and really the wait wasn’t bad. Within 15 minutes we were sitting in the patio area outside. As we enjoyed our drinks (beers and lemonades) and waited for our food I was looking toward Comerica Park and the surrounding area. People were all over. They were laughing and smiling and enjoying a very warm summer night. It didn’t feel like Detroit. Continue reading Where am I?