Detroit Tigers (1999)

1999 Regular Season: Tigers vs. Kansas City Royals

     For over 100 years, major league baseball was played at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull, whether it was Bennett Park, Navin Field, Briggs Stadium or Tiger Stadium. In 1999, the Tigers played their final year at "The Corner", moving to Comerica Park in 2000.
     1999 was a miserable year for the Tigers on the field. The team was in the middle of a 12-year stretch without a winning season. The rebuilding plan started in 1995 was not materializing, as the Tigers slumped to 69-92, 27-1/2 games behind first place Cleveland in the AL Central. Their only winning record was against last-place Kansas City (7-5).
     Third baseman Dean Palmer slugged 38 home runs that year to lead the team. First baseman Tony Clark joined him with 31 homers, and Damion Easley was the only other Tiger with at least 20 homers. Deivi Cruz led the team with a .284 batting average.
     The Tigers pitching staff that year was brutal. Dave Milicki was the only starter with a record above .500, a pedestrian 14-12.  Brian Moehler was the only other starter with 10 wins (10-16). Milicki's ugly 4.60 ERA was the lowest on the rotation, as every other starter was significantly over 5.00. Detroit did feature a decent back end of the bullpen, with setup man Doug Brocail (4-4, 2.52) and closer Todd Jones (4-4, 3.80, 30 saves).
     As you can tell, this program is from the final game at Tiger Stadium. I didn't go to this one, but got the program as a Christmas gift. That day's opponent was the Kansas City Royals. The Tigers celebrated the final game by having the current Tigers wear the numbers of Tiger greats and brought back numerous former Tigers for a postgame celebration. As for the game, the Tigers led 4-2 in the 8th inning when Robert Fick crushed a grand slam that nearly went over the right field roof to give Detroit an 8-2 win.
     In typical Detroit fashion, Tiger Stadium was left abandoned after the Tigers left. It was used for filming of the movie 61*, but that was about it. Rumors flew about what to do with the ballpark, from tearing it down to minor league baseball. By 2008, the City of Detroit began demolishing Tiger Stadium, with work completed by 2009. The playing surface and original flagpole still stand today.
     This is a 136-page program, mostly in color on glossy paper. Due to the special occasion, there are tons of articles about the historic moments that happened at "The Corner", from legendary Tigers, championships by the Tigers and Lions and construction of Comerica Park. There are even pictures of the domed stadium planned for 1972 that never got off the ground. Local advertisements include KMart, WKBD UPN 50, The Detroit News and DTE Energy.

References:

Baseball-Reference.com: 1999 Detroit Tigers