A place for summer : a narrative history of Tiger Stadium /

This book is the biography of a location--the baseball field at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull in Detroit. Several different structures have enclosed this particular diamond since it hosted its first game in 1896. These structures have gone by different names. But what has remained effectively unchanged--whether the edifice was called Bennett Park, Navin Field, Briggs Stadium, or Tiger Stadium--is the pattern of baselines and grass that lies at the heart of any baseball arena. Ty Cobb and Al Kaline roamed the same outfield; Mickey Cochrane and Bill Freehan defended the same home base; George Mullin, Hal Newhouser, and Jack Morris commanded the game from the same mound. With Tiger Stadium fated for destruction and abandonment after the season in 2000, Bales's nostalgic tone is probably well chosen. But Bak (Cobb Would Have Caught It, CH Apr'92, and Turkey Stearnes and the Detroit Stars, CH Oct'94) has some broader points to make, among them the conclusion that any site that has drawn over 100,000,000 paying fans to its contests over the years must be regarded as a central institution in the life of the city that surrounds it. Tiger fans will enjoy this attractive book with numerous photographs. R. Browning; Kenyon College