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Queen of Diamonds: The Tiger Stadium Story
Book by Michael Betzold, Ethan Casey, Casey, Ethan
- GenresSports
341 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 20, 2025
This is my second time reading, “Queen of Diamonds.” The first quarter of the book is a fantastic history lesson on Tiger Stadium and baseball at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull.
The remainder details the Tigers and/or the city of Detroit’s desire for a new ballpark, starting with a failed plan for a domed stadium along the Detroit riverfront in the 1970s and then into the early 90s.
It’s fascinating reading this book with 30+ years in the rear view. The Tigers ultimately did move into a new park in 2000, but one that more resembles what the author called the, “fake antique” of Baltimore’s then brand-new Oriole Park at Camden Yards, vs the SkyDome clone the city and organization seemed to want to build at the time. There’s no question that Tiger Stadium was a far superior ballpark to its predecessor. But, when you step outside of a Tigers game in 2025, you look around at a vibrant, energized downtown Detroit and know that Comerica Park anchored that turnaround, it’s hard to say the team and the city got it wrong.
The Tiger Stadium Fan Club’s fight to save the Stadium was a noble cause, but their renovation plan seems downright silly by modern standards. Things like putting Luxury Boxes at the very top of Tiger Stadium (or better yet, no luxury boxes at all!), were simply not practical or reasonable ideas which is probably why the team would never give the “Cochrane Plan” any consideration. The Fan Club comes across so entitled, you almost come away from the book happy the Tigers tore the old park down.
The remainder details the Tigers and/or the city of Detroit’s desire for a new ballpark, starting with a failed plan for a domed stadium along the Detroit riverfront in the 1970s and then into the early 90s.
It’s fascinating reading this book with 30+ years in the rear view. The Tigers ultimately did move into a new park in 2000, but one that more resembles what the author called the, “fake antique” of Baltimore’s then brand-new Oriole Park at Camden Yards, vs the SkyDome clone the city and organization seemed to want to build at the time. There’s no question that Tiger Stadium was a far superior ballpark to its predecessor. But, when you step outside of a Tigers game in 2025, you look around at a vibrant, energized downtown Detroit and know that Comerica Park anchored that turnaround, it’s hard to say the team and the city got it wrong.
The Tiger Stadium Fan Club’s fight to save the Stadium was a noble cause, but their renovation plan seems downright silly by modern standards. Things like putting Luxury Boxes at the very top of Tiger Stadium (or better yet, no luxury boxes at all!), were simply not practical or reasonable ideas which is probably why the team would never give the “Cochrane Plan” any consideration. The Fan Club comes across so entitled, you almost come away from the book happy the Tigers tore the old park down.
April 6, 2008
This book makes the case for saving Tiger Stadium. Obviously it didn't work. Though I agreed with their cause, the polemics is a little heavy-handed. A slightly more neutral tone might have made a better book. For a history of Tiger Stadium, I would recommend A Place for Summer
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews