Grading Comerica

I really liked this one. Highlights:

The concourse is like a big carnival. They even have a ferris wheel (where you ride tigers, not steeds). There are games going on everywhere for the kids and a wide selection of food. You can see the field from everywhere, like all of the best new parks. You can't go five steps without running into a beer salesman, though.

The big left-field scoreboard is cool, with two tigers prowling on top. Their eyes flash green when a Tiger hits a home run. It has too many stats, though. (Too much information, not enough to go on, now who said that?) They have a huge area for situational stats, such as how the batter does when he has an 0-2 count. Several of the people around me glanced at that and thought those were current, complete stats (Carlos Delgado has no home runs this year?) So it's confusing.

They have six statues placed in very un-fan-friendly positions along the concourse in center field. They face the field, so if you want your picture with one you have to get the back of his head. These are presumably the greatest Tigers. And they are Ty Cobb, Al Kaline, Hal Newhouser, Hank Greenberg, Charlie Gehringer and Willie Horton. To which I say: Willie Horton? Quick quiz: Which one of those six have I interviewed? Hint: It wasn't Cobb. The Cobb statue, BTW, throws bottles at you. In right-center field they have names, but no statues, of older Tigers, at least one of whom, Sam Crawford circa 1900-1917, was better than Horton. Presumably there are no statues of these because no one remembers what they looked like.

Big flaw: They don't keep you updated on out-of-town scores. They stream them on message boards along the grandstand, while they waste scoreboard space with their esoteric stats. Full disclosure: They might have had a scoreboard on the right-field fence, but from where I sat I couldn't see it. I know I could have gotten up and moved to a spot where I could see it, but we've agreed that lazy, shoddy reporting is perfectly acceptable for a blog.

I was really surprised how close Ford Field is. It's, like, just behind the left-field stands. Barry Bonds, if right-handed, could hit it.

I also have always liked that path between home plate and the mound, which I think is just here and in Phoenix. But again, from our seats -- right at the base of the right-field foul pole -- I couldn't make it out. From TV watching, I can assure you it is there.

Wanted to give the place an A, but because of my frustration over out-of-town scores and the presence of Willie Horton's statue, we'll make it an A-minus. It still might be my favorite of all 25 stadiums I've visited.