DETROIT – At just after 9 a.m. on a chilly Sunday, a 58-year-old man named Byron Steen crosses Trumbull Street and walks briskly up Michigan Avenue. He passes an empty field with overgrown grass, some litter and two wooden benches.

This is where Tiger Stadium used to be.

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But it sure is hard to tell. There isn't a plaque or a statue in sight. If you didn't know where the stadium stood, you would never know it was ever there.

"You know," Steen says, "it never hit me. There's nothing out here."

Tiger Stadium opened on the same day as Fenway Park – April 20, 1912. It was 100 years ago this weekend. Ty Cobb scored the first run by stealing home. From that day until 1999, this very spot rumbled with din and greatness. Pretty much every legend that played in Fenway in the 20th century also played here. Lou Gehrig sat himself down for the first time in 2,130 games here, ending his incredible ironman streak. Babe Ruth hit his 700th home run here. Reggie Jackson hit one into the right field light tower here during the '71 All-Star game. The Tigers won World Series titles here in 1968 and again in 1984, with Kirk Gibson launching a late-inning home run off Goose Gossage that no Tigers fan alive to see it will ever forget. Fair to say this was the most exciting place in the history of Michigan.

And now there's hardly a trace. Fans committed to honoring the old stadium in some form maintain a home plate, a pitcher's mound, two chalk lines for base paths and two benches where the dugouts used to be. The 125-foot flagpole from the old center field is still standing.

That's it. Across the street, there's a Coney Island restaurant, a bar, a Chinese takeout place, and a Faygo sign. There's a large gate from the old stadium, and you can push open a door and take the field, but you have to know where it is. In fact, you have to know the history of "The Corner" to know where this cathedral once stood. The only acknowledgment of the old ball yard is a small plastic sign across the street featuring photos of Mickey Cochrane and Babe Ruth in the stadium and a blurb about plans for development of the area.

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"They should put up a plaque," Steen says.

But the city of Detroit owns this property. And there are far more severe problems around here than commemorating a demolished ballpark. The Tigers have the money, but in an interview Sunday communications director Ron Colangelo explained that it's the city's call – not the team's.

He did acknowledge, however, that there weren't even discussions to honor Tiger Stadium's 100th birthday at Comerica Park this weekend.

So the weekend went by in relative silence at a place that was once so magnificently noisy.

People still visit. A man named Myron Johnson came here from the Upper Peninsula on Sunday morning to mimic a home run swing and run the bases. Asked about why Tiger Stadium mattered to him, he welled up with tears and couldn't answer the question.

He's not alone. Tiger Stadium was old and decrepit, but just about every single memory from there is positive. Tiger Stadium is childhood, family, Ernie Harwell, summer, heroes and happiness. And for those old enough to remember, it's Detroit Lions football when the team was dominant.

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