Summer, 1945-1985 (Self-Portrait @ Tiger Stadium).
Photographer Carl Schurer saw his first Tigers game as a kid in 1945, then kept going back for more than 50 years. He took the 200 shots of this large (5’x7′) photo-collage during four games in the summer of ’85.
Frank Lary, the Yankee killer Willie Horton, the Colossus of the Batters Box Al Kaline, moving like Fred Astaire through each phase of the game Sparky Anderson, finest skipper of them all Mickey Lolich putting every pound into the torque of his curve Stormin Norman, the Gator, Tram and Sweet Lou.
Saying goodbye to the perfect corner of Michigan and Trumbull, goodbye geometry of heaven on earth. Well remember those joyous, packed, pennant-race bleachers and the lovely lethargy of a hot summer evening when the boys were dead last.
It all blends together the sounds, the smells, the heart-stopping vision of big open green. And when the umpire dusts off home plate that one last time, it will all matter forever.
This article appears in Sep 29 – Oct 5, 1999.
