Showing posts with label Detroit Tigers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Detroit Tigers. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Accessibility Review: Comerica Park

Parking at Comerica Park was easy to find right in front of the ballpark. They have a surface lot just for handicap parking. They are not official handicap spots for the most part, but they place cones in every other spot, so actually it is even better than handicap parking spots, since this makes every spot van accessible on both sides. It is not cheap parking at $25, but it was worth the convenience of being right next to the park and the Team Shop (Dad was able to put the souvenirs in the car before the game so we did not have to drag them around).

Getting inside the park is pretty easy, although it seems you have to go through the one that says no bags to be checked through, as all the other areas seemed to have turnstiles. However, they did not even seem to mind other people going through that line and needing their bags checked, since there were not that many people going in at that time.

Getting around the main concourse of the park is pretty easy. There are a few areas that have steps up to (ferris wheel and carousel), but the ramped way up is nearby. Just walking around the park on the first level, though, is rather flat. It is a little hard to navigate through at parts because the concourse is not very big and the crowds were heavy, such as behind the bleachers and by the statues behind center field.



Our seats were located in the upper deck in section 343. The first usher we encountered tried to put us in the wrong seats and was rather clueless, but later the usher from a nearby section came by and said basically that if we needed any further help he would be better able to help. The seats had a great view of the field. The bar in front of us was somewhat in the way, especially since the seats were so far back from it, but mostly it just blocked the view of the foul territory and a little chunk of left field. The view of the scoreboard was awesome, as we were rather close to it, but at a good angle to still be able to see most of it. Just a little bit of the left screen was hard to see, but nothing important was put there.

There were cup holders, but the ones on the bar for wheelchairs blocked the view according to Mik. The other cup holders were in the arm rests and did not work very good since the arm rests were very short and not long ones like in movie theaters. Plus, mine was between me and Mik and Mik kept leaning over and would have certainly knocked the drink over if I had put it there. Thus while it did have cup holders, they were disappointing, especially for it being a newer ballpark. It is just plain sad that Wrigley Field rates higher in the cup holder situation, which is one of Mik's top things he looks for accessibility wise at the seats.

Overall Comerica Park would get a great accessibility rating from us, but the leaving the ballpark situation kind of tainted the feelings about the park. Getting up to the seats on the elevator was not hard, although they did cram in several that were just riding to get to the suite/club level. At the end of the game, however, it became apparent that the elevator situation was not very good because the line for the two elevators was out the door and it did not even look like most of those people really need an elevator. Plus, who knows how many they were letting on at the club level. We decided to take the ramps down, which we found not too bad to do at Wrigley. However, the whole ramp was extremely packed with people. I think it was because we went down the one near the escalators and they did not have the escalators going down. Also, the ramps are probably only half as wide as the ones at Wrigley.

Car Sticker Update: Detroit Tigers


We could not find any single stickers at Comerica Park for the car, but we found a sheet of logo stickers that had some interesting ones on it. Dad ended up making a combo sticker like he did for the Royals. He used one sticker with the Tigers D logo in a baseball mitt and one that said Detroit Tigers.

Kj's Baseball Collection: Comerica Park

The second baseball I got at Comerica Park is one of the park. One strip has a brick background. On this strip is a Comerica Park logo and a Detroit Tigers D logo. The other strip has an image of the park. Many of the ballpark balls I have gotten just have a field view on this strip and the view does not look too unique. This one is unique because its view is of the two tigers on the scoreboard.


Kj's Baseball Collection: Tigers 1984 World Series Champions 25th Anniversary

One of the two baseballs I got at Comerica Park was a 25th Anniversary one. This ball commemorates the Tigers winning their last World Series in 1984 when they triumphed over the Padres. The ball has a 25th Anniversary logo that says World Series Champions in a ribbon above the 25 and a ribbon that says 1984 and 20099 with a Detroit Tigers D logo in the middle. On one strip of the ball their is a SD Padres logo on one side, a little version of the 25th logo in the middle, and a Tigers D logo on the other side. Opposite the big 25th logo is World Series 1984 logo.




Mik's Mini Bat Collection: Comerica Park



I just posted about the Orange Detroit Tigers bat Mik got at Comerica Park. He got that one because he does not have a logo one for the Tigers and it looked cool. He also spotted this one of Comerica Park. He asked me to choose which one he should get and I just told him he could get both, since I was also in the same predicament trying to choose between two balls and was leaning towards getting both. It certainly was not fair for me to end up with my two balls and still make him choose only one bat, so we both got two things at Comerica Park.

The Comerica Park mini bat is natural on the bottom and has a brick design background on the top. On the brick design is an oval image of the park that has Comerica above the image and Park below the image. It is a lot like Mik's Wrigley Field bat.

Mik's Mini Bat Collection: Orange Detroit Tigers

At Comerica Park there was quite a few mini bats to choose from. Mik had a hard time deciding and actually ended up with two bats from here. This one is an Orange colored one. It has the Tigers D logo in the middle of the words Detroit Tigers.

Mik’s Food Scrapbook: Comerica Park

At the Detroit Tigers game Mik had a Coney Dog. It was not as good as the Skyline Chili one he had at the Reds game or in Cincinnati yesterday. The main thing he did not like about it was that Dad did not realize he could ask for it with cheese. Also, Mik thought the hot dog in it and the chili on it was not as good as the Skyline Chili ones. It was not horrible, but it just was not as good as he thought it would be. Mik also tried the fries and did not really like them because they had an odd seasoning on them.





Mik did enjoy the Pepsi Icee, though. He also had a Cherry one, but he said the consistency of that one was not very good. That might have been because we got it when the park first opened and the machines had not been running long, though. He thought the Pepsi one tasted like a Coke Icee and while he does not usually like Pepsi over Coke because Pepsi tastes bad warm the Icee tastes good because it the Pepsi stays cold long enough for you to finish it.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Day 32: Tiger Stadium

After the Detroit Tigers game on June 20, 2009, we drove by the ballpark they used before moving into the current park. Not much is left of Tiger Stadium, as they began the final demolition earlier this month, but there still was a good chunk of it left to see and photograph. It certainly is not the best way to have seen it, but it is better than missing it entirely, since it is supposed to be entirely gone by the end of this month.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Game 17: Milwaukee Brewers 5 @ Detroit Tigers 9



We got to the game a little before they opened the gates, although we hit the Team Shop before actually going into Comerica Park. Once inside we walked all the way around on the first level. They have some interesting displays by decade with Tigers memorabilia and history. We also found some fun places for photos including the Tigers Statue of Liberty (we have found several of these on the trip at various ballparks) and a Mickey statue dressed as a Tigers fan.



The game was a good one hitting wise, but not so good pitching wise, although the Tigers pitcher, Figaro, did get a win in his MLB debut. The Brewers took the lead with a run batted in in the top of the 2nd inning. The Tigers then came back in the bottom of the 2nd by scoring three runs. The Brewers got a lead off homer in the top of the 3rd, but the Tigers then increased their lead by getting a two run homer in the bottom of the inning. The Tigers tacked on two more runs in the fifth and another two in the sixth to give them a 9 to 2 lead. The Brewers tried to come back by scoring two in the 7th and one in the 8th, but it was no where near enough, as the Tigers shut them down in the 9th with a 3 up 3 down inning to give them a 9 to 5 victory. Of course, being Cubs fans we wanted the Brewers to lose, so it was a good game not only with all the hitting action, but also with the end result.