Tiger Stadium off limits

Tiger Stadium is history now; Detroiters know that and have come to accept it, so far as they can. Yet an interesting things has been happening the last couple of years. People have come out and done what they can to maintain the basic integrity of the baseball diamond. They have cut the grass and removed weeds from the infield. They have played pickup games on it, for sentiment's sake, on Detroit's own field of dreams.

But can it last? A police officer was stationed at one of the gates in the fence which now surrounds the site, checking to see if it was locked securely. When asked, he explained that it was not legal to enter the field. Since a building once stood there, a building owned by the city of Detroit, no one could be allowed in, for liability reasons. They might get hurt and sue.

The sad part about that is it is easily imaginable that someone would do just that. A handful, or even just one person, could very well make it bad on everyone else by doing something stupid, or even completely accidental, and effectively deny the ones who simply want to have a catch on a former Major League diamond the opportunity. Detroit may well be protecting herself from frivolous lawsuits by keeping folks off the property.

But is that the case, or is this simply lawyers running amok to prove their validity and earn their city pay? As there are many city owned sites around town not similarly fenced off, it seems a stretch to think that only the Tiger Stadium field would offer hazards no different than those. Granted, more people are likely attracted to Michigan and Trumbull. Yet we have to ask: is that property being subjected to closer scrutiny because it is a greater hazard, or because the city wants us to forget what it means to Detroit baseball fans?

Maybe Detroit wants the psychological distance so that it can offer the property for development. Or to sound really conspiritorial, perhaps the Ilitch family who own the Tigers don't want attention taken from their park? It is even possible that Detroit actually has the best interests of its citizens and taxpayers at stake and truly wants to protect us. Still, it seems fair to ask that, if certain dedicated people want to keep up appearances on a treasured local landmark, to keep it from becoming just another weedy vacant lot in a town overgrown with them, and by their own efforts with their own money, and even playing a game or two on it, why not set aside concerns about liability and let them?

Whatever the reason, the situation rather stinks. We cannot help but think that the City's concerns are overblown. Sadly, common sense takes another blow, and the real baseball fans are the ones hurt the most. Our governments claim to care for history, yet abort work done to preserve it. These days, while hoping for more, we should expect nothing less.