More Sports
From Columbus, we headed north on Sunday to spend the afternoon at my mom’s place near Toledo. Then we drove up to Detroit to watch the Tigers play the Angels (wherever they’re from; the ticket said, “LA Angels of Anaheim”). We grew up following the Tigers in the 50s and 60s, cheering for the likes of Norm Cash, Rocky Colavito, Al Kaline, Bill Freehan, Mickey Lolich, Willie Horton and Denny McClain, the apotheosis of which was the 1968 World Series victory. So the Tigers game Sunday was a sort-of nostalgia trip. Except the Tigers no longer play at Tiger Stadium - they now occupy a combination ballpark and theme park called Comerica Park.
The park affords wide-open views of downtown Detroit, and on this gorgeous night it was pretty sweet:
Click any picture to enlarge
When I was working in Detroit for a short period in the late 70s, the Renaissance Center was the beachhead around which the city was to be revitalized, and had just opened to much fanfare. It’s been through more hands than a B-movie starlet since then. Its construction was spearheaded by Henry Ford II, and when I was there, Ford occupied much of the office space, and I think the building bore the Ford logo. I was surprised to see the GM logo on the building Sunday, but I now learn that GM bought the center a while ago and has put $500 million into its renovation.
No irony here!
Tiger manager Jim Leyland went to my high school and was 4 or 5 years ahead of me. A star athlete, he went by the name “Jimbo”. I believe I was in the 8th grade, chubby, struggling socially and with poor academic work habits, when my math teacher started calling me “Philbo”. I disliked it then, but only later realized what a mean sort of taunt it was. Of course, it stuck with me throughout high school, but it faded in significance as I found my place a little, and I even had a little fun with it.
But it’s not about me, it’s about the job Leyland has done with the Tigers this year in what amounts to a homecoming (Detroit is about 45 miles from our home town). I haven’t really been a fan of any baseball team since the late 60s, but September will be an interesting month for the Tigers, and I’ll follow along with more interest than I might have.
On a sad note, I must report the loss of a highly-valued companion during the course of this trip. On the way back to Perrysburg after the game, a couple of us implored our designated driver to navigate with alacrity to a comfort station. Once parked, in my haste to be comforted, I apparently kicked my Canon S2-IS out of the van. Upon returning, the serenity of my comfort was curtailed when they told me someone had backed over the camera. It was toasted, but the memory chip was still good, which is why I can post these pictures.
Later in the week, in Milwaukee, I was shopping for a replacement, and saw that bestbuy.com was within $5 of the lowest mail-order price, and that I could pick up my new Canon S3 IS from a local store that very day. You’ll see its work soon enough.
