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DETROIT — Crowds of spirited sports fans clad in navy blue and orange. The charred smell of barbecue wafting through streets. Pubs crammed with thousands of partygoers.
The age-old chant “take me out to the ball game” gains new meaning on opening day of the Detroit Tiger’s baseball season — an annual tradition that attracts masses of fans, including throngs of Windsorites.
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Well before the first pitch crossed over home plate at 1:10 p.m. Friday afternoon, hundreds of thousands of raucous fans had already flooded into downtown Detroit to kick off the festivities.
Just as thousands of ticket-holders assembled at Comerica Park to witness the game live, many others crowded into nearby bars and party tents. With eyes glued to the screen, and hands gripping pints, onlookers watched the Tigers go head-to-head against the Oakland Athletics.
Among the celebratory crowd was MaryAnn Sobocan from Windsor, who boarded the 10 a.m. Transit Windsor tunnel bus to Comerica Park.
She booked the day off work with her partner, Phil Savereux, to attend the home opener game together for the first time. Sobocan’s message to her boss: “If you see me on the news, I did take the day off!”
“It just brings everyone together,” she said.
“There’s just so much going on, and to be able to do something fun and see everyone having fun, its just a nice atmosphere.”
For Sobocan, the day holds special meaning because her dad used to play minor league baseball for Oakland.
The downtown ballpark boasting a capacity of 41,000 spectators has been home to Major League Baseball’s Detroit Tigers since 2000 after the team left storied Tiger Stadium.
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Last year, the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel saw an additional 500 to 1,000 vehicles cross the border on opening day, the border crossing’s CEO Tal Czudner told the Star.
Pam and Tony Rinna, donning Tiger-esque face paint, were among the throngs of fans in front of Comerica Park Friday morning. This is the fifteenth consecutive year the pair has been to the home opener together with festive face paint.
For Pam, these home openers are all about enjoying “the team, the people and the city — I love it.
“Everybody is wonderful and friendly, and they show the spirit well by coming out here for the Tigers.”
Added Tony: “You can’t find a better crowd than Detroit.”
Ahead of this year’s home opener, the Detroit Tigers had been diligently working on video and audio upgrades at Comerica Park, which ticket-holders enjoyed on Friday.
Most notable is a new video board, second-largest in Major League Baseball, measuring 15,688 square feet.
The new screen, boasting an additional 9,500 square feet compared to the original which ranked eighteenth-largest in the MLB, also offers high-definition viewing. Ballpark attendees will certainly notice the difference with 14.1 million pixels compared to the previous 2.4 million.
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New speakers were also installed adjacent to the video board to improve the audio in the stadium. Additionally, all of the televisions within the ballpark were upgraded.
Transit Windsor provided special event bus service on Friday to ferry Windsor residents to Comerica Park. The bus ran every half-hour from 10 a.m. onwards, with return trips scheduled every 30 minutes after 4:40 p.m.
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