Tiger Fever is Here

Win or lose, Sally Grappia has always been a staunch supporter of the
Detroit Tigers. But if you ask Grappia whether the Tigers’ miraculous
turnaround this season played a role in her decision to attend Friday’s
home game against the Cleveland Indians, she is quick to respond with a
“yes.”

This was the Midland resident’s second Tigers outing, and
it was obvious she’s not only sold on the Tigs, but she’s also a fan of
the whole Comerica Park experience. “I love it here,” she says. “The energy and the people … it all makes for a great experience.”

Leaning
back against a banister on the north-side of the stadium, her eyes
shift between the hoards of people that whoosh by – moms and dads with
small children in tow, a hand-locked couple sporting identical Inge
jerseys, groups of church and college alumnae 20 to 40 people deep –
and the surreal-looking Detroit skyline that lies above the pristine
grass of the playing field. Behind her in the distance lies Brush Park.
A historic neighborhood nearly abandoned 10 years ago it’s now a hotbed
of new lofts, condos and restored mansions.

Grappia is hardly
the only person enticed to Detroit this baseball season, hungry to see
the league-leading Detroit Tigers in action. And what greets them is a
different city than they might remember.

So far, the team is
75-36, 7.5 games ahead of their closest competitor, the New York
Yankees. Stats through August 6 include 16 sellouts of the 40,950-seat
stadium. These hard numbers are music to the ears of city-supporters
and business owners, not to mention the Tigers organization.

“This
really is a baseball town, and I’m so excited that metro Detroiters are
bringing their families downtown to enjoy Comerica Park and all of the
entertainment, dining and night-life options before and after the
game,” says Chris Ilitch, president and CEO of Ilitch Holdings, Inc.,
which not only owns the Tigers, but many Foxtown businesses that
surround the stadium, including the popular pre-game perch at
Hockeytown Café’s rooftop.

Exactly how big of an impact are the Detroit Tigers having on the city this year?

A
huge one. Attendance at regular season home games is currently up more
than 245,000 over this time last year. That means a lot more people
will experience not only the inside of Comerica park along with some of
downtown’s now brighter attractions, like Campus Martius Park and the Detroit Riverfront, not to mention the surrounding businesses.

Ilitch
adds that the Tigers’ successful season is also helping coax people
from all over the state to get out from behind their living room TV
sets and into the ballpark: “We’ve had several large groups from
western and northern Michigan visit Comerica Park this season, which is
a clear demonstration that the Tigers are hot and that the city is
worth the drive.”

Comerica Park’s visitors also include people
like Justin Duimstra, a 23-year-old graphic designer who drove two
hours from his hometown of Grand Rapids to attend a Friday night game.

While
out-of town Tigers fans may be hard-pressed to pinpoint the city’s
clean-up and construction efforts in detail, they taking notice. “I’m
not sure what they’re building, but my three friends and I were just
talking about all the cranes we’ve seen around town today. There are
tons of them!” Duimstra says.

Duimstra – a first-timer to
Detroit and a quintessential example of the impact the Tigers have had
on the city this year – said he was surprised by the lot of
architecturally-significant buildings downtown “that I never knew
existed.”

For Kristine Glotzhober of Livonia, the city’s
activity level is much greater than she’s seen in the past.  “It’s
nice to see. Everything seems more fun and the crowd is really into it
… there’s a ton of energy and electricity in the air.”

Glotzhober,
33, attended her first game this season on July 15 with her husband
Ben, a native of Chicago. Pleasantly surprised to see people waiting in
long lines to get inside restaurants near the park, she says the
biggest shock of the evening came when the couple walked from the Town
Pump Tavern, where they stopped for a drink, to Comerica Park.

“Ben
is from Chicago, so we used to go to games at Wrigley (Field) all the
time and it was always sold out, no matter how good the Cubs were
… and now I see that same thing here. I see the revival of Detroit and
I actually commented to Ben about it. It’s really looked like a real
city — it was great.”

Judging from the slew of pre-game fans packed into Cheli’s Chili Bar Friday night, David Starczyk Sr. must think it’s pretty great, too.

Starczyk,
executive chef and operations manager at Cheli’s, says Glotzhober’s
observations about the increased energy surrounding the Tigers are
right on the mark. Granted, Cheli’s – which opened just in time for
Super Bowl XL – hasn’t been open long enough to draw year-over-year
comparisons, but Starczyk says there’s no doubt the Tigers are
responsible for most of the people inside the place tonight.

Ian Washington, manager of Cliff Bell’s, agrees, saying the Tigers also deserve credit for helping the fledgling bar gain some exposure.

The
unique, swanky establishment on Park Avenue is brand new to the Detroit
scene. It opened for three days during Super Bowl XL, but the bar
closed when the big game left town so some finishing touches could be
added. It re-opened in April, just in time for baseball season.

“Every
time the Tigers win, we get people stopping in … whether it’s for one
drink or just to check the place out, it’s definitely helping our
business,” Washington says.

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Jaime Pfeffer also writes her blog, Girl in the D.

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All Comerica Park Photographs Copyright Dave Krieger