Detroit Tigers

By Patrick Harrigan

Book Overview

This study of the Detroit Tigers over a half-century demonstrates how baseball has reflected the fortunes of America's postwar urban society. Patrick Harrigan shows that the declining fortunes of this franchise have been inextricably linked with those of its city and surrounding community. Attention is paid to major on-field exploits, but the focus is on the development of the ball club as a corporate enterprise and its symbiotic relationship with metropolitan Detroit.

The Detroit Tigers, established as a club in the nineteenth century, have been an integral part of the community in and around Detroit. At one time, Detroit was even regarded as the best town for baseball in the country. The club has interacted with the city's various communities, but it has also neglected or clashed with some - most notably with the African-American community.

The relationship of club and community in Detroit has distinctive features, but it also has much in common with baseball in other metropolises. Harrigan examines the development of baseball's modern institutional and economic structure; the role of major-league teams in large urban centres; the influence of radio and television on the popularity of the game; racial integration; unionization and free agency; and stadium renovation or rebuilding, and the financing of such projects. A declining city population base, the riot of 1967, and alienation between the city, its suburbs, and the state have highlighted the Tigers' own troubled history. The controversy surrounding the building of a new stadium - viewed as the key to revitalizing the downtown core, as well as the team's fortunes - demonstrates that baseball is still a major community concern in Detroit.

The Detroit Tigers is the most complete view of the finances of any sports organization yet published. It also illustrates baseball's human dimension. Harrigan has conducted more than a hundred interviews with former players, their wives, team executives, media personalities, sports writers, and politicians and uncovered many previously unused sources to give us a vivid portrayal of a sport and its far-reaching influence.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802079032
• ISBN13: 9780802079039
• Release Date: March 1997
• Publisher: University of Toronto Press
• Length: 496 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Author should have checked facts

As a Tiger fan I've been rather disappointed in the last few years but I still love to read books about them. I have a few problems with some of the errors in the book such as the 1967 riot beginning on a Saturday when it began on a Sunday. Also the Tigers played their first interleague game with the Expos(and got swept) not with the D-Backs. Jose Feliciano performed his controversal National Anthem before the fifth game of the Worlds Series when Lou Brock was thrown out at home, changing the fate of the World Series and not before the dismal 10-1 loss in the fourth game. otherwise it is a good book but the author should have checked these things.

The best book on the Detroit Tigers.

If you want a big, glossy picture book on the Tigers, don't buy this book. But if you want to know about the history of the club, both on and off the field, then this is the book for you. It is a very detailed account of the history of the club since 1945. The author interviewed many former players and managers, and their memories give color to the text. He also examined the club's financial records, which tell a very interesting story. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the history of the Detroit Tigers.