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Thanks for joining us at Detroit's college football for adults! We're signing off for now, but don't fret. There's still a party to be had out there.
5:10 PM: Over At That Other Ballpark
The Tigers have already won, but the Navin Field Grounds Crew is still playing ball at the old stadium site at Michigan and Trumbull.
The group of volunteers has come to the Tiger Stadium site every Sunday for the last few years to tidy up. They mow the lawn, pick up trash, and take down the "Ilitch forest" of weeds, according to Grounds Crew volunteer Allan Miller. "It was like cutting down bamboo." Allan asks to use this as a psyuedonym because he's "said some things before."
He then tells us that last week, the group installed flags with no pulley so that they can't be jimmied down and stolen "by the city."
The Navin Field Grounds Crew would like to see old Tiger Stadium site turned into a public park, but there are currently no on-the-books plans for changes.
From left: Christina Pappas bats as Bart Wilhelm pitches (both are Navin Field Grounds Crew volunteers), Henry shows off his Grounds Crew shirt (it reads "Preserving Detroit's Field of Deams"), the flagpole.
4:10 PM: Tigers win 8-3, stadium begins to empty.
3:00 PM: Even Pingree Is Watching The Game
From left: stick ball in the field on Grand Circus between Bagley and Washington, "Jesus hates the Yankees" sign on Adams St., and a dancing Subway sandwich worriedly overlooking the Woodward traffic under Hazen Pingree's watchful eye.
2:00 PM: A Horse, Of Course
The Detroit Mounted Police Force has four city mounties stationed on Adams street just south of Comerica because "they're a hell of a lot cheaper than cars," according to this officer.
Also, you don't want to pet a car.
Although regular, untrained folks are not allowed to keep horses in Detroit because of a city ordinance, the Detroit Mounted Police are exempt and keep their partners at a stable in Palmer Park.
1:30 PM: Welcome Home, Boys
The game has officially begun! We naturally gravitate to the spot with the most shouting and the least rules -- just outside the ballpark with the scalpers.
Tickets are running at no less than $100 for now. (Unless you walk away, of course, and then it's $70, or you look like you have money and then it's $110).
Despite the legality of scalping, no one wants their picture taken or their name published. A Rochester Hills man (let's call him Joe) brought his 10 year old son to his first opening day and set about on a mission to find $30 tickets. He failed.
"Not even Illitch is giving them away that cheap!"
1:00 PM: The Importance Of Signage In Public Spaces
12:30 PM: Snapshots From The Tailgates
From left: A tree stump grows in a parking spot on the southeast corner of Cass Ave and Columbia street, tailgaters gaming with Tom Neu from T&J's Custom Cornhole, Grand Circus Park.
10:30 AM: An Opening Day Poem
Thank you lady right there
Don't just walk by and stare
If you have something you can share
I'm a real nice guy I swear
Oh that lady right here
Right this way and have no fear
After you go drink your beer
Could you please bring me one here?
- Nahru Lampkin, River Rouge resident
Nahru later tells a brunette passing by that she's too pretty to smoke because "It'll make you choke. I'm not kidding, that's no joke."
He plays his drums on Montcalm street just west of Comerica when he has time away from his job driving the Bongo Man Taxi Co cab. Which he does when he has time away from his job as a teacher.
When the game is over, he'll pack up the drums and drive people home. It's a one man operation "for now." Next year, he hopes to have the Bongo Man Party Van, "a tricked out limo."
Welcome To The Opening Day Live Blog
"You need a beer!"
It was 8 AM and we were clearly late to the party. He yelled across the parking lot, beer coozy in one hand, water bottle in the other, while sitting on the trunk of a car.
He was probably right.
There's more to the first game than baseball. So today, on Detroit's most hallowed day, Deadline will be out and about, stowing away in the crowds to write stories about Detroit's biggest holiday. ("It's no tripping," if I sit and write for a while at Hockeytown, according to my waitress.)
Have a tip? A good story or an interesting spot? Drop us a note at info@deadlinedetroit.com.
