Tiger Stadium
Detroit
June 1, 1981
Indians 4, Tigers 2 (12 inn)
Before leaving Cleveland, we have Carm’s cousin, Louie, sign The Babe. We then head Esber Beverage Company, which is owned by Aunt Corrine’s family. Uncle Lou’s famous line, “Back the van in” is still talked about today. We were loaded up with cases of beer and wine that would last us the rest of the trip!
We then headed to the Motor City, Detroit. We pull in town around 4pm. The guy from Toronto that we met in the parking lot was Bill Ready. He owned the bar/restaurant called “The Hummer”. He welcomed us with open arms. We were treated a steak dinner accompanied with many adult beverages.
A side note: Turns out Bill was a close personal friend of Billy Martin. That was why he was in Toronto, to see Billy. Bill was the driver in the car crash that killed Billy on Christmas 1989.
The restaurant was festooned with pictures of Martin and many other baseball players. We also received Hummer t shirts! When we ready to leave, former Tiger catcher, Bill Freehan, stopped by., a vey nice guy. We had him sign The Babe. We thanked Bill R. for the hospitality, and we were then off to the game.
We were expected again, along with free tickets we got field access again. Had our picture taken with Milt Wilcox(who was the Tigers starting pitcher that night). This was our first(and only) extra inning game. Tiger Lynn Jones singles in the winning run in the 12th inning.
Interesting tidbits: Detroit native, Ted Simmons, was honored before game. He homered in the 2nd inning. A girl got hit in the head by a foul ball off the bat of Steve Kemp in the first. She was escorted out. Lebeau vanishes in the 3rd inning and reappears in the 9th. He took a nap in The Babe. We were not happy with that.
After the game we met our Syracuse friends, Dick and Pam Louer at The Hummer. We crashed at their place afterwards.
We then headed to the Motor City, Detroit. We pull in town around 4pm. The guy from Toronto that we met in the parking lot was Bill Ready. He owned the bar/restaurant called “The Hummer”. He welcomed us with open arms. We were treated a steak dinner accompanied with many adult beverages.
A side note: Turns out Bill was a close personal friend of Billy Martin. That was why he was in Toronto, to see Billy. Bill was the driver in the car crash that killed Billy on Christmas 1989.
The restaurant was festooned with pictures of Martin and many other baseball players. We also received Hummer t shirts! When we ready to leave, former Tiger catcher, Bill Freehan, stopped by., a vey nice guy. We had him sign The Babe. We thanked Bill R. for the hospitality, and we were then off to the game.
We were expected again, along with free tickets we got field access again. Had our picture taken with Milt Wilcox(who was the Tigers starting pitcher that night). This was our first(and only) extra inning game. Tiger Lynn Jones singles in the winning run in the 12th inning.
Interesting tidbits: Detroit native, Ted Simmons, was honored before game. He homered in the 2nd inning. A girl got hit in the head by a foul ball off the bat of Steve Kemp in the first. She was escorted out. Lebeau vanishes in the 3rd inning and reappears in the 9th. He took a nap in The Babe. We were not happy with that.
After the game we met our Syracuse friends, Dick and Pam Louer at The Hummer. We crashed at their place afterwards.
